Proton Pack

started: august 09- completed september 09. begged borrowed and stole most of these components. luckily, just helped my dad finish the basement, so there was alot of odds and ends laying around that cut the cost quite a bit. i estimate the whole thing cost about 60-62 dollars. first of all, i'd like to thank venkman71 for his easy to use plans. secondly, Radar, for his 64.71 proton pack which was a real inspiration to me. the labels were the most fun part - i dont have a color printer, so i downloaded the label picture files, reduced them down to 2 colors, (black and white) then reversed the image and printed them on colored construction paper. they turned out really nice, and i recomend that option to those that are stuck in 1997 like i am. i had to buy the dixie cup bracket from the gbprops store, a rudimentary chasing led kit for the power cell, and the alice frame. those were the big ticket items at about 8, 12, 20 respectively. instead of banjos or elbows or whatever theyre called, i used unshielded thin copper wire, coiled tightly around colored shielded wire. looks ok and was free. i used old cereal box prizes wired together for the gun lights. they flash and make the gun look like its doing something. i put a bright led flashlight as the gun tip, activated by the trigger box switch, so at night i can see where i am going, and it kinda looks like proton streams with a lot of imagination. one of my clippards is a old car part from a plymouth sattelite, the other is a vhs rewinder motor, with a capacitor and a glue cap stuck on top of it. film cannisters, milk caps, spray paint caps, peanut butter caps....its all there :) my ribbon cable is from an old pc, and colored with permanent markers. i budgeted myself $200 dollars for the whole costume(pack, trap, goggles, uniform, belt accessories), and i stayed within budget. i am not good with tools and stuff. i got a D+ in woodshop, and my dad built my pinewood derby cars. i wanted to prove to people you can do it yourself, for little time and money, and still get something that looks pretty good. i say 'pretty good' because i lost in the costume contest to a barely dressed girl. oh well...