User avatar
By roofgoof
#4904087
Im hung up on how to attach a motherboard to the Spirit Pack. Ive asked questions to several posts here with others who have fashioned homemade ones with no reply. I also found some older posts to full size pack mobo's which I believe would've helped however the links and/or photos have long since expired. I plan on using MDF as the MOBO, but how to get it to mount using some sort of L brackets eludes me.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

PS this site is amazing, been lurking for awhile but going to participate much more very soon!!
By Henners
#4904088
You’re going to essentially cut some holes, measure where they are. Mount your l brackets to the motherboard where the holes will align, use a tap and dye to thread the L bracket hole, and use some bolts.
User avatar
By NotSabbat
#4904094
So the reason you probably havent gotten the most detailed replies about this is that its not really a simple answer. The spirit pack basically comes with a "motherboard" already attached; I believe it is a flat piece of plastic that forms the back, but Im not sure. Normally you would take the shell of the proton pack that you are building and attach it with L brackets at specific points along the side of the shell (two points under the cyclotron, one at the ion arm and one at the gun mount). These points should be pretty well documented on the forums and you should be able to find more information about it by doing a search of the forums.
However, the spirit pack is a very different animal from the "standard" proton pack kit. It is meant to be a complete prop, not as a shell to be added to a motherboard. That means you will have to do some modding.
Your first step should be to see how to attach a motherboard to a proton pack shell (take a look at the MANY build threads on the forum and eventually you will see how it is done in detail). Once you have a good idea how this is done (Maybe you already do, I dont know your life), try to do some digging on how to remove the backing on the spirit pack, or find some teardown instructions. Get a good idea of what the spirit pack looks like inside:
This thread has some good pictures of the internals about halfway down
viewtopic.php?t=43678

Now you just apply the process for putting a motherboard from a full size pack to making a motherboard for and attaching it to a spirit pack.

If your end goal is to attach the spirit pack to an Alice pack frame, some people have just drilled some holes to the pack and zip tied it down, its not super "accurate", but it will get the point across.

You may also be able to attach an alice frame directly to the material covering the back of the pack. Keep in mind that I have never seen a spirit pack from closer than 10ft away and I have 0% of an idea what it is made of, so I have no clue as to how strong it is, but it MAAAAAYYYYY work.

So there you go; something to at least give you a direction. Also, I only sporadically check these boards, so if you do have a question for me 1. I will likely not see it and 2. I wont be much help anyway because, again, I have never seen a spirit pack from closer than 10ft away.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Dont Die
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By Henners
#4904115
NotSabbat wrote:So the reason you probably havent gotten the most detailed replies about this is that its not really a simple answer. The spirit pack basically comes with a "motherboard" already attached; I believe it is a flat piece of plastic that forms the back, but Im not sure. Normally you would take the shell of the proton pack that you are building and attach it with L brackets at specific points along the side of the shell (two points under the cyclotron, one at the ion arm and one at the gun mount). These points should be pretty well documented on the forums and you should be able to find more information about it by doing a search of the forums.
However, the spirit pack is a very different animal from the "standard" proton pack kit. It is meant to be a complete prop, not as a shell to be added to a motherboard. That means you will have to do some modding.
Your first step should be to see how to attach a motherboard to a proton pack shell (take a look at the MANY build threads on the forum and eventually you will see how it is done in detail). Once you have a good idea how this is done (Maybe you already do, I dont know your life), try to do some digging on how to remove the backing on the spirit pack, or find some teardown instructions. Get a good idea of what the spirit pack looks like inside:
This thread has some good pictures of the internals about halfway down
viewtopic.php?t=43678

Now you just apply the process for putting a motherboard from a full size pack to making a motherboard for and attaching it to a spirit pack.

If your end goal is to attach the spirit pack to an Alice pack frame, some people have just drilled some holes to the pack and zip tied it down, its not super "accurate", but it will get the point across.

You may also be able to attach an alice frame directly to the material covering the back of the pack. Keep in mind that I have never seen a spirit pack from closer than 10ft away and I have 0% of an idea what it is made of, so I have no clue as to how strong it is, but it MAAAAAYYYYY work.

So there you go; something to at least give you a direction. Also, I only sporadically check these boards, so if you do have a question for me 1. I will likely not see it and 2. I wont be much help anyway because, again, I have never seen a spirit pack from closer than 10ft away.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Dont Die
The back of a spirit pack is literally cardboard with a layer of foam hot glued onto it. It’s held in place by several screws on posts.

I pulled it out and used it as a stencil for the replacement MDF motherboard and treated the new one like a normal one
By senordoom
#4904137
I was able to attach a MDF motherboard to my spirit pack without using L-Brackets. I used the posts that the screws on the cardboard version go into. You will need to get longer screws but its been quite effective for me. Held up for 3 days at ECCC with no problem. I can take pictures if that would help.
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By Maverick1983
#4904147
I made a aluminium motherboard.
Put the Spiritshell on a large sheet of 2,5mm aluminium and paint around the shell with an edding.
Than remove the Shell and cut the board off, along the edding-line.
I closed all the holes in the shell with plastic filler and put on L-brackets on the parts like a normal fullscale-pack.

Works really fine
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By Strider61785
#4904149
I made a mobo out of thin plywood, and traced the outside of the pack. I then found some small l brackets at home depot, keep in mind the width of the channels in the upper section of the pack when choosing a mounting location. I measured how much of the bracket would be in the pack then measured down and made a mark where I was going to drill. You could also hold the bracket in the location and make sure to pay attention where the top of the bracket lands so the motherboard is tight. Once I had the four holes marked I drilled them, I also tapped the holes in the l bracket and mounted them in, don't make them too tight just snug enough so they stay in place for the next step. Once everything was tight and level I placed the mobo on top to make sure it fit well, remember you don't want the brackets sitting to low or you will never get the bolts back in later. With everything how i wanted it i glued the brackets to the mobo with gorilla glue, any really strong glue will work, and let it sit till cured. Next I carefully unbolted everything and took the mobo off, with luck the glue held and the brackets are attacked. You can either try and use the appropriate rivites or some regular nuts and bolts and drill through your mobo and bolts the brackets to the mobo. Every thing so line up just right and the pack isn't going anywhere. With a strong mobo I was able to attach my Alice pack securely. I know this was long winded but I hope it helps. If you have any questions feel free to pm me
User avatar
By WindDrake
#4904175
The two Spirit Packs I've built up so far were done with 18ga steel motherboards, made by tracing around the outside of the shell and cutting it out with a band saw.

The L-Brackets I used, I designed for 3D Printing, using M5 Hardware. These capture nuts, rather than having to thread anything, which is tedious.

Image
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User avatar
By roofgoof
#4904246
Thanks everyone for your replies. I guess I should have elaborated more. I do plan on cutting out an MDF mobo and I have an Alice Frame for which it will be attached to. Im trying to do it as accurate as full size ones instead of taking zip tie cheating way. I purchased angle brackets (L Brackets) from my local hardware store but they aren't threaded so that's why I turned to here for other ideas. Id love to go with the 3D printed ones but have no access to those machines anywhere in my area unfortunately. I suppose I can look for a threaded insert to put into the l brackets if such a thing exists.

If you have any more ideas or pics keep them coming!

Thanks again!!
User avatar
By 2wED1
#4968088
Strider61785 wrote: March 15th, 2018, 7:47 am I made a mobo out of thin plywood, and traced the outside of the pack. I then found some small l brackets at home depot, keep in mind the width of the channels in the upper section of the pack when choosing a mounting location. I measured how much of the bracket would be in the pack then measured down and made a mark where I was going to drill. You could also hold the bracket in the location and make sure to pay attention where the top of the bracket lands so the motherboard is tight. Once I had the four holes marked I drilled them, I also tapped the holes in the l bracket and mounted them in, don't make them too tight just snug enough so they stay in place for the next step. Once everything was tight and level I placed the mobo on top to make sure it fit well, remember you don't want the brackets sitting to low or you will never get the bolts back in later. With everything how i wanted it i glued the brackets to the mobo with gorilla glue, any really strong glue will work, and let it sit till cured. Next I carefully unbolted everything and took the mobo off, with luck the glue held and the brackets are attacked. You can either try and use the appropriate rivites or some regular nuts and bolts and drill through your mobo and bolts the brackets to the mobo. Every thing so line up just right and the pack isn't going anywhere. With a strong mobo I was able to attach my Alice pack securely. I know this was long winded but I hope it helps. If you have any questions feel free to pm me

what was the thickness of the plywood is it holding up still? Also did you attach a alice frame to it?
User avatar
By RiverofSlime
#4968839
senordoom wrote: March 14th, 2018, 11:07 pm I was able to attach a MDF motherboard to my spirit pack without using L-Brackets. I used the posts that the screws on the cardboard version go into. You will need to get longer screws but its been quite effective for me. Held up for 3 days at ECCC with no problem. I can take pictures if that would help.

I am also at the point where I'm creating a mobo for my Spirit pack. Per the above post, I think my main question is what size of hardware is required to screw into the existing posts?

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