- December 4th, 2009, 11:10 pm#189360
Hello shiny-happy people!
Where do I even begin? I already have a pack, assembled from a Midwest Prop Shop shell, using so many parts, as many real ones as possible at that. It was a fun experience, but it left me wanting more. I have my GB2 pack, LOVE IT, but yearn for more....call me a proton pack mormon if you must.
Well, with the economy in the tanker, my job forcing me to take weeks off throughout recent month, and so many people offering amazing shells, this just adds to the fury and desire for another pack. So, realizing I could tease myself with all these great offerings, I decided to go about making my own. From scratch. This is something I never ever thought I'd do, and in all honesty, I think I got my start the same place everyone else has: the cyclotron.
I was walking around Wal-Mart and spotted a cake pan that was just too good to pass up, and measures about the same dimensions as Stefan's plan lists. I took the plunge, bought it, and here's a little scrapbook of where I'm at now.
So the quality kind of sucks, but my close-range lense was the only way to get shots of it inside, and the lense isn't the best. My 200mm lense works circles around it, but I'd need to be across the room to get it in the shot. I digress.
I found 4 rubber washers at my local Runnings (like a Menards or Lowes, just more Fleet Farm-y), that are close in dimensions to Stefan's plans...not perfect, but not bad either. After I drilled out the holes, I glued the washers into place, and painted it.
For the Syncronus Generator, I decided to take advantage of the holiday season, and knew that my local Hobby Lobby sells gift boxes that are round. As luck would have it, I found one that is 11 3/4" in diameter, and the lower portion is 2 3/4" tall....just like Stefan's plans called for! I picked up two of them...you know, just in case.
For the SG plates, I decided to use foamcore board, 1/4", black in color. I measured out the segments on Stefan's plans and cut 1.5"x2.5" sections from the board. After a few tries, I decided the better, more visually appealing (for me) route to do the plates was to cut out a long piece of 2.5" foamboard, and then instead of cutting them apart, just segment it...leaving them all attached, but able to be bent into place...you'll see what I mean in a bit lol.
For the two circles above the cyclotron, I scoped out Hobby Lobby and Michael's craft stores. For the larger one that holds the Clippard, I found a figure stand that would normally be used to keep our Ghostbusters figured standing straight. 2 3/4" at the widest circle, 2 1/2" at the smaller one. I removed the metal attachment from the stand, filled in the holes with wood putty, sanded it, and painted it. It was nice because this piece had both the large AND small circle portions in one. I found this piece at Michael's.
For the smaller piece, I found a small circular cardboard box, and decided to use the top piece as the larger bottom circle, measuring approximately 1/2" tall by just under 2.5" wide. For the smaller top circle, I found a wooden coin, or dowel, or whatever the hell it is...all I know is it's about 2.25" wide and about 1/4" tall. I found both these pieces at Hobby Lobby.
I spent a few hours scoping out everything round in the stores for possible matches to Stefan's recommended sizes...when you're on a proton pack hunt, everything has possiblities.
More picture and updates to come soon!
Where do I even begin? I already have a pack, assembled from a Midwest Prop Shop shell, using so many parts, as many real ones as possible at that. It was a fun experience, but it left me wanting more. I have my GB2 pack, LOVE IT, but yearn for more....call me a proton pack mormon if you must.
Well, with the economy in the tanker, my job forcing me to take weeks off throughout recent month, and so many people offering amazing shells, this just adds to the fury and desire for another pack. So, realizing I could tease myself with all these great offerings, I decided to go about making my own. From scratch. This is something I never ever thought I'd do, and in all honesty, I think I got my start the same place everyone else has: the cyclotron.
I was walking around Wal-Mart and spotted a cake pan that was just too good to pass up, and measures about the same dimensions as Stefan's plan lists. I took the plunge, bought it, and here's a little scrapbook of where I'm at now.
So the quality kind of sucks, but my close-range lense was the only way to get shots of it inside, and the lense isn't the best. My 200mm lense works circles around it, but I'd need to be across the room to get it in the shot. I digress.
I found 4 rubber washers at my local Runnings (like a Menards or Lowes, just more Fleet Farm-y), that are close in dimensions to Stefan's plans...not perfect, but not bad either. After I drilled out the holes, I glued the washers into place, and painted it.
For the Syncronus Generator, I decided to take advantage of the holiday season, and knew that my local Hobby Lobby sells gift boxes that are round. As luck would have it, I found one that is 11 3/4" in diameter, and the lower portion is 2 3/4" tall....just like Stefan's plans called for! I picked up two of them...you know, just in case.
For the SG plates, I decided to use foamcore board, 1/4", black in color. I measured out the segments on Stefan's plans and cut 1.5"x2.5" sections from the board. After a few tries, I decided the better, more visually appealing (for me) route to do the plates was to cut out a long piece of 2.5" foamboard, and then instead of cutting them apart, just segment it...leaving them all attached, but able to be bent into place...you'll see what I mean in a bit lol.
For the two circles above the cyclotron, I scoped out Hobby Lobby and Michael's craft stores. For the larger one that holds the Clippard, I found a figure stand that would normally be used to keep our Ghostbusters figured standing straight. 2 3/4" at the widest circle, 2 1/2" at the smaller one. I removed the metal attachment from the stand, filled in the holes with wood putty, sanded it, and painted it. It was nice because this piece had both the large AND small circle portions in one. I found this piece at Michael's.
For the smaller piece, I found a small circular cardboard box, and decided to use the top piece as the larger bottom circle, measuring approximately 1/2" tall by just under 2.5" wide. For the smaller top circle, I found a wooden coin, or dowel, or whatever the hell it is...all I know is it's about 2.25" wide and about 1/4" tall. I found both these pieces at Hobby Lobby.
I spent a few hours scoping out everything round in the stores for possible matches to Stefan's recommended sizes...when you're on a proton pack hunt, everything has possiblities.
More picture and updates to come soon!
My Scratch Built Pack and Thrower: http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... 39&start=0
My Spengler GB1 Pack Build: http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... =2&t=35615
My Spengler GB1 Pack Build: http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... =2&t=35615
- By Azirith
- By Indy Magnoli