OK I have studied most of all the plans for a Proton Pack and Wand,
Read nearly every post about using household materials, Dollar Store/ Clearance finds, Cardboard Packs - heck one guy even built a full-sized *ECTO 1 *for Halloween using cardboard!! So I know a light-weight / nearly screen accurate Pack can be made - LOL!
My questions are:
*** Nearly screen accurate, but lightweight? - going the foam and cardboard route
I guess the easiest plans to follow?
Average amount of time to build complete pack? - almost acreen accurate
Most effective glues and paints to use
Will have an MDF motherboard so I will be using wood screws
Best place to find a cheap ALICE pack? If not, best alternative to ALICE pack?
I have 3 to 4 months until Halloween to complete this project - I guess that’s enough time :o
Any other expert advide would be greatly appreciated!
I will post photos of progress once I have all my info - Will probably start after July 4th
go with norms plans. ive always used them. and i like the pretty pictures. he gives all kinds of alternatives and swappable things to use for parts you have a hard time finding.
hot glue for foam boards. i have this weld on #`6 solvent/cement for gluing acrylics, works on plexiglass and styrene. dries clear.
are you going for accurate lights? or cheap? because with some nifty rewiring you can get two push lights for 5 bucks at walmart
Yeah I looked at Norm’s and Stefano’s plans; so I might use both, compare them and go with what looks good, dimension-wise!
OK, I’ll look into those glues, plus hot glue and Goop will work too, I’ve read
As for lights, I just care about the Cyclotron Lights - clockwise rotating, and red LEDs - - - Actually I have a Halloween Pumpkin light with rotating bright reddish-orange LEDs; and for the Power Cell, maybe one of those blue-LED flashing lightsticks, which I happen to own 2 of!!
Any other Blue chasing el-cheapo LED lights I can find, I’ll look into as my budget is $150 including uniform
I would avoid cardboard, and use foam board instead. Also consider wood blocks for some arts that take abuse, like the ion arm, and the gun mount block. (The latter should be wood screwed securely to the mb)
I used a sheet of presanded plywood for our MBs.
One issue you will run into, is attaching real hardware parts to cardboard or foamboard. If you use real wires, the weight of those will tear your cardboard parts apart.
If you are investing that much, I’d use lightweight thin wood instead of cardboard or even foamboard.. why not make something that will last longer?
Also avoid hot glue at all costs if you can. Yeah its quick, but it also has very little strength, and just leaving your pack in a hot car can make parts fall off. Far better to use wood glue, liquid nails, or 2 part epoxy.
I have a lot of tips on our budget builds in my wip thread…
My newest pack is made from 90% mdf. It’s cheap at $4 for a sheet (enough for a whole pack plus leftover). It’s decent;y light, flat surfaces don’t need to be sanded, edges are easily cleaned up after cutting with a file. Elmer’s wood glue seems to like this stuff great too.
I build the whole pack in less than a week. Then I had things come up so I didn’t get to some of the details right away but still. My pack is about 95% accurate or so I would say, weighs about 20-25lbs, and is very durable.
For alice frames, check your local army surplus or ebay. Got mine on ebay for $20 shipped with straps and kidney belt.
I’m planning on using MDF and some lighter materials, as the Pack is mostly for Halloween and Cons in the local area, so I’m looking at around 15 to 20 pounds max, plus it gets quite warm down here in South Florida, and lugging around a 25 pound pack in October - well that’s why I’m going for under 25 pounds - it does’nt get cool here until mid-November if that Plus the flightsuit = sauna LOL!!
* Someone here built a pack weighing somewhere around 12 to 15 pounds if I can just remeber who it was??*
But thanks to everyone so far for their insightful input!!**
You could lighten them more by making the gear and crank boxes from insulation foam as well, and they would be more accurate then ours look, but I prefer the electrical box detail, and the lighting up ability of the crank box.
While you could make the ion arm out of insulation foam as well, it takes abuse when moving it, storage, and at partys, so I think that needs to be something stronger.
I probably could have knocked off another half pound if I made the cyclotron and its lense washers from something different. Those washers weigh a ton since they are solid steel, but I wanted them to have the serious metal appearance.
You have plenty of time to complete this, I made a cardboard pack in 2 months. It’s lightweight and strong. If you do go with card board, use the good stuff(thicker), and not pizza boxes! You can even glue panels of cardboard together for strength, and a few good coats of spray paint and you’ll be amazed at it’s durabilty.
I use foam core for small areas and cardboard for broader areas.
I used foamboard for almost my entire pack and it was very cheap and easy. If you can spend the extra money I would make it all out of styrene, but foamboard works. Cheap out my sig for my pack thread.
I’m starting my build after July 4th, as I have alot of other stuff going on, plus my job gave me more hours even though it’s been slow, so less time to start it - but will soon, and thanks to all for the input!!
