User avatar
By H2Ghost
#4901754
Hello folks, and welcome to my Proton Pack build thread! This is going to be a slow-burn kinda build as it's my first attempt at prop building and I want to do it right. Also, I'm still putting parts together. My shell and motherboard are from BenofKent Props.

Ben included some very nice resin parts but I want to replace them with aluminum parts so those will end up being sold off at some point. I'm going for a GB1 build with an "accuracy vs. personal preference" caveat. Even without a full assortment of pack parts I can still pick at things so let's get started!

WE HAVE THE TOOLS, WE HAVE THE TALENT!

PROTON PACK
1 x Alice Pack Frame (GBFans)
1 x Mother Board - BenofKent
1 x Pack Body - BenofKent
1 x Ion Arm
1 x PPD - On order from FreekyGeeky
1 x HGA
1 x HGA Label - FreekyGeeky
1 x Vacuum Tube - FreekyGeeky
1 x Beam Tube - Freeky Geeky
1 x Bumper
1 x Shock Mount Bellow
1 x Booster Frame - BenofKent
2 x Injector Tube
1 x Gun Mount Bracket
1 x Shock Mount
1 x Ion Arm Assembly
2 x Alkon AQ68-P Male Connector
1 x Clippard Valve R-331
3 x Clippard #11752 Hose Barb - GBFans Shop
3 x Clippard #15090 L-Fitting - GBFans Shop
1 x Raytheon Crank Knob #MS91528
1 x Spectra Ribbon Cable
1 x Dale RH-50 Resistor (Long) - I haven't been able to find a Dale RH-50. I was able to track down a Sage M50W so it will have to do for now.
1 x Dale PH-25 Resistor - GBFans Shop
1 x Sage Resistor (Short) - GBFans Shop
3 x #3109 Legris Gray Elbows
2 x #3175 Legris Brass Straight Male Connector
1 x Ribbon Cable Clamp - GBFans Shop
5 x Hex-Head Screws
1 x Ribbon Cable Plate Set
1 x 5/32” Red Tubing 5 Feet - BenofKent
1 x ¼” Blue Tubing 3 Feet - BenofKent
1 x ¼” Red Tubing 4 Feet - BenofKent
1 x 5/32” Yellow Tubing 2 Feet - BenofKent
1 x ¼” Split Loom Tubing 3 Feet - BenofKent
1 x ¾” Split Loom Tubing 7 Feet
1 x Set of Red And Blue Theater Gels for Cyclotron and Power Cell. - BenofKent
1 x Set Of Labels - Ben included some very nice vinyl labels in his kit. I'd like to find metallic labels, though.
1 x Loom Clamp - Bionic Moon Labs

PARTICLE THROWER
1 x Particle Thrower Body - Thrower parts on order from CPU64
2 x Handle Pipes
2 x Grips
1 x Rear Instrument Bar
1 x Front Cylinder
1 x Rear Cylinder
1 x Trigger Tip (Speculated to be a gun trigger, but I doubt it ever was)
1 x Forward Knob (Next to Clippard)
1 x Stream Adjuster Knob
1 x Bottom Cosmetic Knob Large
1 x Bottom Cosmetic Knob Small
2 x Double Disk Drift Velocity Knurled Knobs (On left side of gun)
1 x Clear Acrylic Tube
1 x Clippard Valve R-701
2 x Clippard #11752 Hose Barb - GBFans Shop
1 x Gun Heatsink
3 x Toggle Switch
2 x Button Switch
3 x Light-White
1 x Light-Orange
1 x Light-Red
1 x Light-Grill (This is a white light.)
2 x Nycoil Banjo #55020
1 x Orange Cap
1 x ¼” Green Tubing 1 Foot - BenofKent
1 x 5/32 Red Tubing - BenofKent
1 x Set Of Labels - Again, Ben included a set of vinyl stickers. I want to get some rub-ons for the build, though.

Electronics
1 x Power Meter Light & Cyclotron Light Kit
1 x Particle Thrower Light Kit
1 x Sound Kit
1 x 12V 9800 mAh Battery Pack
1 x WandTip Expansion Kit - Spongeface
1 x White Strobe LED - Spongeface
2 x Speakers of Some Kind

Other Parts
1 x XLR Deluxe Spengler Plate - nstevic01

I'm probably missing some pieces on this list so feel free to let me know if I am! Constructive criticism is always welcome in this build.
Last edited by H2Ghost on December 30th, 2017, 10:21 am, edited 3 times in total.
twmedford23 liked this
User avatar
By H2Ghost
#4901757
Now, about those measurements. Due to my innate paranoia and lack of confidence in my ability to properly measure things I've started making templates in Adobe Illustrator. This is what I have so far. They're a combination of measurements from Stephen Otto's plans and measurements from my BenofKent shell. If anything looks off, please let me know! I'll post a pic once they're all taped to the shell.

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Last edited by H2Ghost on December 31st, 2017, 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Brads_gimmick liked this
User avatar
By H2Ghost
#4901847
Alright, now that Christmas is out of the way I can get back to work. Got a better drill and some bits (including step-bits which seem to be highly recommended for this project).

I've cut out my templates and taped them to my lovely shell:
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Do these holes look to high up? It's kind of hard to tell the exact location on the plans and photos I've found.
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I'm questioning the hole placement here too. Do they look right to you guys?
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Last edited by H2Ghost on December 31st, 2017, 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By H2Ghost
#4901848
Non-template measurements:
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Now here's a question: Ben's shell comes with a lip for the vacuum line. The idea is that you push a tube into the hole at the top which gives you the look of the Aluminum Welded Vacuum Line part. Personally, I'd rather just have the whole part as opposed to just the illusion of the part. Do you think it would be wise to sand that lip down, strengthen it with bondo or something and then add the actual part? That part of the shell seems to be a solid piece but I don't want to jack the shell up by trying to be clever.
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Last edited by H2Ghost on December 31st, 2017, 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By H2Ghost
#4901920
Small update. I'm going to guess that I'm doing okay so far since no one is leaping through the screen to stop me!

That said: I may have effed something up. I drilled the hole for the ribbon cable but I think I ended up drilling it too close to the edges of the PPD/Crank Generator. Canparahas his (?) cable hole in a similar spot so I may just be panicking for no reason. I added a rubber grommet to the hole to give it more of a "finished" look.
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I also drilled the hole in the crank generator. Nice and slow and in reverse. It took a long time but it worked well. I want to add a potentiometer to control the sound when the time comes. I need to add that to my shopping list.
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I've also marked the spot for the loom clamp mousehole. This bit of drilling has me nervous but my step-bits have come in and I have a Dremel to slowly clean it up.
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Lastly, for today, I marked the spot for the legris elbow on the cyclotron. 16 degrees from the center of the cyclotron and 17.25 mm from the top of the ledge. That seems about right from what i can find in plans and on build threads.
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If anyone sees anything hideously wrong, please feel free to shout out.
Last edited by H2Ghost on December 31st, 2017, 2:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Christof liked this
User avatar
By H2Ghost
#4901929
So this came in the mail today. It's from the GBFans shop. I'm going to try to find the proper straps for it. The only thing that bothers me is that there aren't any holes in the bottom frame piece so I'll have to measure and drill hole points into it. It's not a huge deal but for a noob like me it's intimidating.

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Last edited by H2Ghost on December 31st, 2017, 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Christof liked this
#4901958
The placement of the loom clamp often has at least a partial overlap with the L-brackets. Before you cut the mouse hole, mark the motherboard and test fit the loom clamp in the approximate location to determine if you might have this issue. It’s usually addressable with some minor modification of the clamp. Or you can mount the clamp a bit father into the pack where there’s clearance and reduce the height of the mouse hole to 1”, just enough for the loom to fit through. The latter results in a more accurate looking pack as the original loom just passed through a rough hole I believe.
User avatar
By H2Ghost
#4901960
Venkman's Swagger wrote:Strong start dude. Doing great
Thanks! I was really worried about my abilities to do this but it's going good so far. The electronics will be my big challenge, I think.
thebigone2087 wrote:Loving it so far! Keep it up.
Thank you! I'm having a lot of fun with it.
Christof wrote:Oooh, nice to see one of Ben's kits get a full pictorial treatment! Lookin' good so far, man.
This thing is a tank! I'm doing my best to take pics as I go along. I haven't seen a lot of threads will Ben's shell.
bishopdonmiguel wrote:The placement of the loom clamp often has at least a partial overlap with the L-brackets. Before you cut the mouse hole, mark the motherboard and test fit the loom clamp in the approximate location to determine if you might have this issue. It’s usually addressable with some minor modification of the clamp. Or you can mount the clamp a bit father into the pack where there’s clearance and reduce the height of the mouse hole to 1”, just enough for the loom to fit through. The latter results in a more accurate looking pack as the original loom just passed through a rough hole I believe.
I've studied the crap out of your build thread so I was sure to do the test fittings and mark the loom. I know the basic round mouse hole is more accurate but I really like the way the loom clamp looks. Your build thread has been a huge help.
Last edited by H2Ghost on December 31st, 2017, 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By H2Ghost
#4901963
New Years Eve work update!
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I took a trip up to Lowe's and got some extra bits and bobs I needed. From what I've read, these are considered correct. Please let me know if I'm wrong!

4 x 1/4-20 x 1 - 1/2" socket cap head screws w/ hex bolts and brass washers for the bumper.
1 x 5/16 x 4" carriage bolt w/ hex nut and washer also for the bumper. The nut is to just hold things together until the Shock Mount is available in the shop again.

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Holes in Shells: I talked to Ben and he told me that there'd be no issue sanding off that extra ledge on the vacuum tube shelf so I did just that. Worked out just fine. I also drilled the holes for the straights and somehow managed to get them almost perfectly level with each other. Measure 376 times, use templates, drill once!
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The dry-fitted parts:
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The vacuum tube is just bolted on for dry fitting purposes. My plane is to steal bishopdonmiguel's magnet ideafor the final fitting.
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Mouse-Hole Time: I had the spot for my Bionic Moon Labs Loom Clamp traced out. Now, I was worried about this as it was my first real attempt at a large hole in my shell.

I used my step-bits to drill a starter hole in the center. I got a little too cocky and tried to drill a second hold to cut out some extra shell. This was a stupid idea. It chipped a bit when the drill went mad but luckily it was still within the "cut-out" zone.
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As Bishop mentioned, I had to adapt the loom clamp because of the motherboard bracket. I mangled the crap out of the poor thing but no one will ever see it so I'm not worried. It'll fit perfectly once mounted to the motherboard.

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I slowly shaped the hole out a bit at a time using my dremel. I also wrapped some sandpaper around a ruler and around a large gromet I have that just happened to match the circumference of the arch of the loom clamp. After an hour of futzing with it, it came out just about perfect! I did oversand on the lower right hand corner which left a little gap. I may go back and bondo it to fill that little hole depending on how spazzy I'm feeling at the time. It's one of those things that only the most picky of observers would notice but it will most likely drive me mad if I don't fix it.
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Lastly for today, we have the cyclotron legris elbow. I'd like to find the vintage parts for these but I'm not going to hold my breath.
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Chaos Engine liked this
#4901964
You got mad skills my friend. Great work.
H2Ghost liked this
#4901981
Fyi; bumper is upside down in that pic above
H2Ghost wrote:Let's have some pictures of the parts I already have! As you can see in the pics, I've already started measuring stuff out. More on that shortly.

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User avatar
By tommyb345
#4901982
Thats a china KO alice frame. Ive gotten those before, the metal is much cheaper than a military grade one. I would reinforce the horizontal slat with an Aluminium slat or something. They snap after a while.
H2Ghost wrote:So this came in the mail today. It's from the GBFans shop. I'm going to try to find the proper straps for it. The only thing that bothers me is that there aren't any holes in the bottom frame piece so I'll have to measure and drill hole points into it. It's not a huge deal but for a noob like me it's intimidating.

Image
Image
Last edited by Kingpin on January 3rd, 2018, 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.Reason: Fixed quote code
#4901983
tommyb345 wrote:Thats a china KO alice frame. Ive gotten those before, the metal is much cheaper than a military grade one. I would reinforce the horizontal slat with an Aluminium slat or something. They snap after a while.
^^^
What he said. Seriously.
H2Ghost liked this
#4901984
I only speak from experience. Everything on the gbfans shop is great except the alice frame which is this one:/

Ive had 3 snap on pack builds. And its not a pretty sight when they finally let go.
bishopdonmiguel wrote:
tommyb345 wrote:Thats a china KO alice frame. Ive gotten those before, the metal is much cheaper than a military grade one. I would reinforce the horizontal slat with an Aluminium slat or something. They snap after a while.
^^^
What he said. Seriously.
Last edited by Kingpin on January 3rd, 2018, 1:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.Reason: Fixed quote code
H2Ghost liked this
#4901986
Yes totally a good idea
H2Ghost wrote:I may just go ahead and track down a proper vintage one then. I don't want to put so much effort into something just to have the frame break on me. I'll just e-bay that one or something.
Last edited by Kingpin on January 3rd, 2018, 1:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.Reason: Fixed quote code
H2Ghost liked this
#4901987
And make sure it says US military grade
H2Ghost wrote:I may just go ahead and track down a proper vintage one then. I don't want to put so much effort into something just to have the frame break on me. I'll just e-bay that one or something.
Last edited by Kingpin on January 3rd, 2018, 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.Reason: Fixed quote code
H2Ghost liked this
By jo r
#4901998
These comments about the GB frame are disconcerting- I have been awaiting the arrival of a frame since September.
The shop review shows 5 stars, so I was not anticipating a quality issue.
I appreciate that you have brought up the problem; I will probably go ahead and reinforce as suggested.
However, if this is a common issue, people really should let the shop master know as then, (1) a decision can be made regarding a finding a better frame, or (2) offering a premade structural reinforcement piece
#4901999
The solution is quite easy and doesn’t cost much. Mat posted details in his build thread and I think I linked to that in my build thread. Basically, drill out the rivets on the center support and replace with thicker flat steel bar from Home Depot then paint. Takes about 30 minutes. Best to do early on in your build. There are also a few other safety features that I recommend at very end of my build thread.
#4902000
I second that. ;)
bishopdonmiguel wrote:The solution is quite easy and doesn’t cost much. Mat posted details in his build thread and I think I linked to that in my build thread. Basically, drill out the rivets on the center support and replace with thicker flat steel bar from Home Depot then paint. Takes about 30 minutes. Best to do early on in your build. There are also a few other safety features that I recommend at very end of my build thread.
User avatar
By H2Ghost
#4902063
Alright, update time. A few days of frustration with the build but I think it came out okay. Anyway, here goes:

Frustration 1: Somehow, I don't know how...I don't WANT to know, but somehow I managed to completely off-center the hole for the cyclotron bolt. I had everything lined up with the bumper holes on the side, everything was level...still effed it up by like 1/4th of an inch.
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Brilliant. But not the end of the world. I filled the hole with a JB Weld putty, let it harden overnight, re-drilled it CORRECTLY this time and voilà, it's all level and centered and happy.
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Side Holes:
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Bumper Attached - You can also see where I drilled the holes for the side-nub thing. That was a scary process but it came out okay.
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Frustration 2 - The Friggin' Loom Clamp: Okay, look, it's a lovely piece and the troubles I had were not due to manufacture but if I had to do this again I would just drill a damned hole and stick the loom in.

Somehow I failed to notice that the hole wasn't centered. I have no idea how I did that. It doesn't really matter in the long run because i'm not going for 100% screen accuracy but it OCDs the hell out of me.
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Thankfully the placement didn't interfere with the rivets of the bracket. My drilled holes are ugly as sin. I really need to get tougher drill bits for the rest of the hole work in the motherboard.
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Here it is installed. I futzed with it for hours and I'm not sure I actually improved the look. I've completely lost the plot on this part so I'm just leaving it alone.
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#4902066
When your shell is all painted, it’ll look great. Agree an internal mount is probably a better option which is why we created the “shorty.”

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