[PssdffJay]

Hi everyone! With so many people making their own packs and some great tutorials and awesome people making and selling some great parts, I've decided to give it a go. Originally I had contacted Vincenzo to have one of his phenomenal packs made for me sometime next year, and I may need to go that way if I royally *expletive deleted* this one up. I hope he's not mad.

I went to Army Surplus store just to see if they would have one, and low and behold, they had an original Alice LC-1 frame attached to a bag. I asked if I could buy it and he said "don't you want this brand new one with wood land camo straps?" I told him I would prefer the old one he had. He asked me again just to make sure and I said if its not much trouble to remove it from the bag, I would like the old one. In the end, I think he realized he could either make money today or not.

So here is my new (old) LC-1.




The flash makes the straps look like a weird colour.

Now to start assembling a list of parts I'll need and prices and sellers. I'm excited and a little afraid of what I'm getting myself into but I think if I can pull this off, it will be awesome!

[PssdffJay]

I got some parts in from the GBFans shop. Light kits, connecting cables, dry rub stickers. Missed out on the sound board this time. I have put in orders for the GBFans shell and mother board, GB1 Ribbon cable when it was in stock, some various bits and pieces. The deluxe aluminium parts from Vincenzo330, Bumper and Booster Frame from Nick-A-Tron, and bellows and frame mounting hardware from MMM. This should be enough to get me started anyway. I'm off work for 12 days in November (had to use my holiday time or I would loose it) so I should be keeping pretty busy. I know there is lots more to order still but I'll post up a parts list of everything I have once its all it.

[Silverstreak]

Sounds like you're off to a hell of a start with that component list. Looking forward to your feedback on the gbfans shell, I haven't seen too many things (good or bad) said about it.

[KagaSakai]

Great find on the LC-1 frame and kidney pad (it even has the turnbuckle!), but sadly the shoulder straps aren't accurate LC-1. Fortunately, the frame and kidney pad are usually the harder parts to source, so you're of to a great start!

[Hoot]

Sounds like you're off to a hell of a start with that component list. Looking forward to your feedback on the gbfans shell, I haven't seen too many things (good or bad) said about it.

Follow my thread also as my build is a GBFans shell mate.

[KCGhostbuster]

Good luck with your build!

[PssdffJay]

Great find on the LC-1 frame and kidney pad (it even has the turnbuckle!), but sadly the shoulder straps aren't accurate LC-1. Fortunately, the frame and kidney pad are usually the harder parts to source, so you're of to a great start!

I'm not that familiar with the differences on the straps. What about them is wrong? I may just let that fall into my 95% accurate rule! Lol.

[PssdffJay]

Good luck with your build!

Thanks! I'm still looking for the "insert tab A into slot B" instructions... There will be lots of stupid questions in the following posts!

Hoot - your build was one of the first things I subscribed to! Lots to go through in there, I will be making lots of notes.

[KagaSakai]

I'm not that familiar with the differences on the straps. What about them is wrong? I may just let that fall into my 95% accurate rule! Lol.

The LC-1 shoulder straps have a distinct "V" style webbing that connects the straps to the frame and they are also very thin with little padding. The left strap also features a quick release with no button up guard while the right strap has no quick release.





But regardless of any of this information, remember that as long as you're happy with your pack and have fun building it, that is all that matters!

[PssdffJay]

Oh, I see! That makes sense now. I don't think I'll loose sleep on that detail. However, if I ever see some of those straps in my travels, I will definitely be picking them up!

Did you already drill the top hole in your frame before the photo or did it come with that hole?

[KagaSakai]

You'll have to drill the hole yourself. 1/4" is the accurate size. I had no problem drilling and using a Dremel on the shell, but when it came time to drill a small 1/4" hole into a vintage ALICE LC-1 I was a little nervous!

[PssdffJay]

More parts have been ordered and are on the way. Still waiting for my big GBFans order to ship and Vin's alluminum parts to ship and I will be able to start building! Can't wait!!

And, because someone happened to point out that my straps were not LC-1 straps... I decided I needed to find the correct ones. They will be here soon. Thanks Kaga Sakai for pointing me in the correct direction!

[PssdffJay]

My GBFans GB1 ribbon cable arrived today. It's much bigger than I thought it would be, but I have also never seen one live before. Still waiting for my big order to ship out with the shell and various parts. I'm going to need to build a work area in my basement. It's snowing here already and my garage is not heated. My basement is developed but there is some space I can convert for now. That will be my task for the next couple of days while I wait.

[Morydees]

Yeah, good idea to focus on your work area now and get it situated. Having a good spot to work on stuff and the right tools makes all the difference in the world.

[Enderwigan]

Good luck on the build

[PssdffJay]

A little preview of all the parts that have come in so far. My mail carrier must be starting to wonder. The last few days a lot of packages have come in. Just a couple of photos. I need to make a list of what's in and from whom so I'll won't say anything yet because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings if I miss them trying to go off of memory.







Still more to come in. Waiting for Vin's aluminum parts to ship out and some parts from Doug. Then I'll end to really start looking into more gun parts.

[Morydees]

That's one of the things I missed having not built mine from scratch, the "parts laid out all over the bed" shots. Congrats!

[Alex Newborn]

I remember taking similar pics last year, dreading to take the plunge of actually attaching them all (for fear of messing something up).

You seem to have a lot of shock mounts/bellows there for one pack.

And I see you found correct LC-1 straps pretty fast.

Alex

[Krenzy]

Too many Shock Mounts....let me help you with that lol.

Looks like a blast! I'm gathering parts for another build right now; be sure to ask questions!

[PssdffJay]

Haha! The shock mounts... I saw that the ones from the Gbfans store were all gone and I didn't want a resin copy, I'm trying to go for as many metal or real parts as possible so I picked up an MMM shock mount first. THEN AJ decides to sell off some of the scratch and dent ones on EBay. I couldn't let that opportunity pass without getting a couple. I was thinking for future projects too.

It is a little daunting looking at all those bits and pieces. I think it finally hit me last night when I picked up my shell and other parts from the post office. I've never been so excited to open up a box! Then it was an oh crap moment. What have I gotten myself into!

The straps are a little off. I posted in another thread but the stitching on the straps is off. I don't think it will be an wearability issue, I have big shoulders and a large chest and trying to find a suit jacket that isn't custom isn't fun, and my current straps are adjusted as big as they can to fit. I'll try it later when I can mount the shell to the mobo and then to the Alice frame.

Here is what I'm talking about with the straps.

The colour is slightly different and I thought the seller sent a miss matched set but the numbers in the inside look like they are correct. I guess just a bad day on the sewing machine.

[THEbryon]

The stitching on my LC1 straps are lopsided also. Trust me. No one will notice.

[PssdffJay]

Ok, 2014 is in full swing and it's time to start this bad boy.

Disclaimer: Many stupid questions soon to follow and many many photos will be added.

[PssdffJay]

Many parts have come in and I will try to say who or where they came from but if I forget to mention, please feel free to ask. I'll try to break up the posts that are pic heavy into smaller chunks.

First up is my Gbfans shell and mother board. They look pretty good! A few little chips in the (gel coat?) I think it's called but nothing that can't be filed in. I am a little bummed about this part though. I don't know if the mold for the shell isn't hold up well, or if this is normal warping or who knows what, but the shell and mobo don't line up that well at the top. See the follow photos. Maybe this is just how it is.



When I line the bottom up it looks good.





The sides look good too.

[PssdffJay]

Here is where it starts to go a little wonky.










Thoughts? I tried lining it up at the top and it's worse on the bottom. I figure if I have to trim, the top will be easiest. The little tier thing at the top doesn't look fun to trim down.

I've got a good 1/4" or 6mm for you fellow Canadians of overhang at the top.

[PssdffJay]

So I lined up the shell to the best position I can and traced it out onto the mobo. Not sure how well the lines are visible in the photos.







I moved it up a little higher so the bottom has about 1/16" over lap.

[PssdffJay]

I picked up a set of L brackets from Eric (Ejgunth87) and they came in 2 days ago. That's what finally got me off my butt to start something whilst I wait for Vin's aluminum parts to arrive. I want to get the shell mounted and, make the spacer and get the mobo mounted to my frame and then I'll at least feel like I've done something rather then just stare at the large pile of parts and boxes growing in my living room. Btw, basement too cold, and garage too cold so I'm building in my kitchen. Probably going to be a few nights of take out because I don't feel like moving this out of the way. That's ok, I wish I could find Chinese food in those little white box containers. It would just feel right if I could.

ANYWAY... So I placed the brackets down and taped them up really good and did a test fit. A little too low on the bottom 2 so I readjusted and (Video)Bob's (hopefully NOT) your uncle and it fits great. Marked them off and labeled which bracket goes where because I'm OCD like that. Next the drilling and tapping which I've never done before. Or used a rivet gun before. Hopefully I don't rivet my hand to the mobo...

Photos...

[PssdffJay]

Ah crap!! I knew it would happen!

[PssdffJay]

Just kidding!! Don't worry, I'll tell you when there is real blood. This was when I was making some fake blood for a photo shoot.

This isn't from the shoot but I had lots of it so I decided to take a quick selfie!

[Mat]

Rivet guns aren't that hard to use, just make sure you keep pressure on the rivet as you tighten it up.

The aluminum should tap easy, just go slow and use oil. If it binds up, back it off a little bit to clean the filings out of the threads.

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but the hardest part is always getting started.

mmm....blood. Finger wounds really bleed like that; don't ask me how I know *cough* crushed a finger tip */cough*

[PssdffJay]

I was going to drill and rivet the l brackets tonight but just in case I should need to trim the top of the mobo, I'll leave them off until after. It may make it easier. Plus my drill battery is taking a long time to charge.

I need to drill out the holes at the bottom a bit to fit the MMM Alice frame mounting bolt through but I did notice the washer and the L bracket will hit so I'll need to clip the corners on the L brackets first too.

A question about the mounting hardware. I did a test on the frame and is there supposed to be a gap between the frame and the first washer? The washer doesn't fit around the square part of the bolt and I'm thinking it's going to not be tight when I attach the mobo. Here is a phot of the gap.


Should the hole in the washer fit around the square part or is it supposed to have that 1/16" gap?

I can't test until the morning once I drill out the hole on the mobo a bit.