[pchrisbosh1]

Hey guys I've finally stopped beating around the bush and decided to finally do my own scratchbuild. I've been putting this off for years but now with all the great reference material available I'm going to give it a shot. My goal is to incorporate as much detail as I can and closely match the hero shells as close as possible. I don't really have a timeframe on this as I plan to pay close attention to each piece of the shell before throwing it together.

I'll be using .080 styrene for the body and .125 for the ribs and inner base support when needed. So far I've started with the powercell, heres my step by step progress of this particular piece.

work area

base of the powercell

I like to draw out my measurements before I add the pieces. It helps me better position each piece.

I made sure to do the angled powercell ribs

made sure to taper the powercell box like the hero packs


Comparison shot I made sure to closely match the uneven powercell spacing and angle of the ribs.

I'll post some more progress as I go along. I hope to capture all the detail I can down to the angle of the ribs, tapers, texture, nail marks etc...it will take some time but I think it could be done. Any comments and or input is very welcome.

[egie]

Thats looking great so far! Good luck on the build. This wants me too make my own even more.

Sent from my SGH-T759 using Ghostbusters Fans on Android

[TheRealPonyboy]

Nice job Chris... I look forward to this thread. You always do fantastic work!

[JoeLuna33]

I have subscribed to this thread!

Looking great so far. Looking forward to more.

[Vincenzo330]

Awesome job so far! I'll be keeping an eye on this

[Filandrius]

Oh no you didn't. This will be one for the books, I can tell. I never subscribed to a thread so hard before.

Can't wait to see the rest.

[TheRealPonyboy]

I never subscribed to a thread so hard before.

Just tell me that's all you're gonna do with it...

[WeeMadHamish]

Always good to see another styrene scratchbuild!

[Filandrius]

Just tell me that's all you're gonna do with it...

It's always the quiet ones.

[Phish4dinner]

This is refreshing!

[KagaSakai]

Looks great, Chris! I really wish I had the time and patience to do something like this as well.

[nick-a-tron]

Anything you build Chris is awsome. Gunna be watching this one closely.

[julz]

Just tell me that's all you're gonna do with it...

It's always the quiet ones.

Youuu....You Hound!

God damn Cris you have only done a little bit and i'm already blown away! I expect nothing short of perfection

Totally subscribing to this as well!

[pchrisbosh1]

Thank you guys for the awesome support and comments. I think I've been inspired by each one of you one way or another, I greatly appreciate it.

I've been hitting this project hard and I finished up the powercell and crank gen box today. Here's some pics of the powercell box in better detail. I like to prime my parts when they are nearly finished because it helps me to better see the details and imperfections so I know what to improve and or adjust.

As you could see I made sure the bottom rib was angled correctly so the injector tube plate will sit accurately like on the heros.

better pic of the angled powercell ribs

That's pretty much it for the powercell, I'll go back later and do the rest of the minor clean up when the shell is finished.

Now we have the crank gen box which was a great challenge for me. I think I've put about 20+ hours just on this one piece. I strongly feel this along with the powercell is one of the most standout pieces of the shell. Since my goal is to replicate the hero pack shells as close as possible these pieces are critical. I apologize ahead of time for the quantity of pics but I wanted you guys to see the detail from different angles. The hardest part with this piece is that no plans available accomdate the tapers, angles of the ribs, and height of the boxes correctly, so I had to study the reference photos tediously and make sure to check all angles.

Here's the base of the box. I had to do the boxes in two seperate pieces because the top box is actually tapered inward to the front plate of the box and the bottom box is vertical.

getting the misc curves ready

adding the ribs. Yes I know my 4 is upside down

now were getting there

Here it is primed and nearly finished. Pay attention to the angle of the ribs and placements. I tried my absolute hardest to get the angles, curves of the box, etc as close as possible.

I made sure a accurate sized sticker will sit right on the box. I use the Minnesota pack for the reference of the sticker placement. I also accomdated the uneven size of ribs on the bottom strip. I used miniature files to acheive the grooves.

Here is the top of the crank gen box. I angled the ribs exactly like the hero packs.

Another detail I incorporated was the shorter bottom box. This box is about 1/8 of an inch shorter then the top box.

Exposed the bottom seam from the bottom rib strip




That's it for now, I think i'm going to take a little break then start the gunmount in a couple days. I've putting as much heart as I can on this shell and give it my all. I'll post more pics once I get the gunmount finished. I'll be adding the texture, nail marks, and what not once the whole shell is finished.

[Filandrius]

This is insane. I'm without words. PLEASE GIVE US MORE

[julz]

[MandoMan]

^^^^ Agreed.

[Kingpin]

Beautiful scratchbuilding Chris, you're making this an incredible labour of love.

[Spook]

This is going to be one of those epic pack build threads! I'm excited to see how this turns out!! What are you basing your measurements off of, if you don't mind me asking?

[noslliT]

Really great work so far Chris. Awesome attention to the quirks

[nick-a-tron]

Outstanding work here Chris. Are you making this a one off or will you produce shells?

[julz]

"waves Jedi hand"

YOU WILL PRODUCE SHELLS

[pchrisbosh1]

Thank you guys once again glad to see the hard work show with the pleasant comments.

This is going to be one of those epic pack build threads! I'm excited to see how this turns out!! What are you basing your measurements off of, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm using a combination of V71 plans since I believe much of his measurements are very accurate in certain areas but not all, Stefans plans for reference and certain measurements taken off my production shell mixed with tons of cross referencing to the vast amount of photos I have of the real packs to see what works best. A lot of areas i'm having to improvise due to various tapers that are seen on the screen packs that all plans available don't accomadate for.

Outstanding work here Chris. Are you making this a one off or will you produce shells?

To be honest I haven't planned on it. This has always been something I've wanted to do it just never felt like the right time until now. I've owned a lot of great shells over the years and I always catch myself having to make huge modifications or adjustments to make them more accurate to every single one of them. I told myself it's time to make a shell that you wouldn't make a modification to. Not saying it will be perfect but it will be the best I can do and there is nothing more gratifying then doing it with your own hands. All things are possible though .

[julz]

"waves Jedi hand"

YOU WILL PRODUCE SHELLS

[MandoMan]

^^^^ Agreed.

Again.

[jimbo7]

Very clean work Chris. I will be watching this thread.

[Jc3394]

CHRIS!!! Your timing could not be more perfect. I'm really new to this board and been going thru several posts researching on materials to use for pack building, ranging from aluminum sheeting to different woods types.

Each time i look up something I keep leaning towards styrene but I've never used it before. Seeing your build confirms that styrene is the way to go for me.

Any tips on usage or where to get any?

BeaUTIFL build btw - Like the others I'm def going to be following your work!

-John

[Canthor]

Excellent work!

Thank you for posting so many angles and high quality pictures, they will definitely be a very useful reference for pack builds

[CPU64]

Very nice!
I honestly don't think I could ever do the same, for me stuff like uneven or tilted ribs aren't part of the original design. But this build will definitely end up looking ridiculously amazing.

[Kicked_Its_Ass]

Getting some more popcorn. BRB...