Building my second pack.

Equipment Proton Packs
1

So after many years of use my proton pack is going to have to be retired soon, so I started work on a new pack. The last pack I built was made with wood and other materials that I could find around the house. I decided to try a foam core build this time around to help illustrate to some of the people in the our group, The Greater St Louis Ghostbusters, that a pack can be made on a budget and still look nice. This pack will not be 100% accurate but it will be much closer to accurate than the first pack that I built.

I will just leave these here.

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I started with the EDA and Attenuator

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I then built the power cell and crank box

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This is the upper section of the pack with a few resin parts mocked up. The crank knob is one of my own castings and all other resin parts courtesy of KCGhostbuster

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I made a few modifications to the pack before adding the cosmetic plating and Sync Generator. The power cell, EDA, and Attenuator were not the correct size so I built a new power cell, cut the EDA, and removed some of the attenuator to make things a bit more accurate. I then constructed and added the lower part of the pack.

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The plating was added around the outside of the Sync Generator.

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The ribbing was added using 1/8 inch foam sheets.

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Using some PVC I made the vac lines, filler tube and beam line, and booster tube. All parts at this point are mocked up to check for correct fit. Resin bumper courtesy of KCGhostbuster and ION Arm cap courtesy MMM

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I used a 9 inch cake pan for the cyclotron. I attached that to a piece of 1/2 inch foam core and attached that to the sync generator. I cut the holes for the cyclotron lights and N-filter.

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Last mock up before parts start to be attached. I made my own N-filter, resin ribbon cable clamp, resin crank knob, and EDA disks. The shock mount is one of the 3D printed shock knobs that AJ had available in the shop. The cyclotron rings are being cut out next. I am probably going to use1/8 inch MDF for those.

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I also have made resin SMC elbows, 5/32 Legris straights, and Clippard fittings pictured with the originals

The pink and green stuff are Bondo and Squadron green putty. They were used to cover the edges of the foam and fill in low spots.

Thanks for looking and comments are greatly appreciated.

Updates will be posted as I progress through the build

2

I purchased a resin HGA for this pack a while back but I decided to try my hand at scratch building one just for marshmallows and giggles. I am sorry that I did not take many photos of this build but I am making a second one for another pack that I am building simultaneously and I can take pictures of that one and post a little tutorial if anyone would like one, but for now here are some pictures of the HGA. The fittings are resin copies that I made a while back. I have not primed or painted it yet because I am still contemplating if I want to make the fake weld around the outer edge or not.

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3

After a bit more contemplation I decided to attempt a fake weld line around the outer edge of the HGA, I used my hot glue gun to make beads of glue around the outer edge and a fan to help cool down the glue after each bead so that the beads did not melt together into one solid bead of glue. After the glue cooled I shot the whole thing with primer. What do you guys think?

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4

Now, I have no clue what it´s like to attempt fake welds with a hot glue gun.

But those look a little bubbly, should be flatter imho. :slight_smile:

5

I do agree that it did get a bit bubbly in some areas. This being my first attempt at making any sort of fake welding I think it looks pretty good. However with some practice I am sure I can improve upon it.

6

Of course!

Not bad for a first try, not at all. :smiley:

7

I made some good progress this weekend on the build. I managed to get the shell and most parts primed and painted.

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8

Shell’s looking great!

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Are you gonna paint the ion cap?

10

Yes I will be painting the Ion Arm cap once I get the Ion Arm and booster tube securely bolted to the pack.

11

Awesome! Great job!

12

Thank you! This will be the second pack that I have scratch built and it is really turning out much better than I had hoped.

13

Looking very good so far man! Keep up the great work and hopefully you’ll find yourself building this one alittle smoother then the first one. The first pack is always the hardest in terms of “everything must be perfect!” haha Again congrads on a amazing build so far :slight_smile:

14

Nice job you did…err…doing… :slight_smile:

15

Thanks! This pack is going together much more smoothly than my first one. My first pack was constructed mainly of 3/4 plywood but each pack has presented me with new challenges and I have learned a lot from each build. This build has taught me how to work with bondo, fiberglass, and fiberglass resin. I even got over my fear of molding and made my own molds and made casts of my own parts. Sometimes you just have to take that leap or you will never learn anything new.

16

I got quite a bit of work done this past weekend on my pack. I finished attaching all parts, added decals that I bought from Demon Vice Commander, painted the mdf motherboard, mounted the shell to the motherboard, and mounted the pack frame to the motherboard. Finished weight on the pack is right at 10 pounds!

Here are the lower L brackets that I made from wood. They were epoxied in place then a bolt driven through for added support. The shell basically screws right onto the motherboard.

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Upper brackets were wooden blocks epoxied to the side of the shell.

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Here is the finished shell attached to the motherboard.

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LC-2 ALICE frame that I got from Ramcuda attached to the motherboard. The frame and motherboard are separated by 1/2 inch spacers. Still need a strap to hold the kidney pad in place. I have not been able to locate one. If anyone can help me there I would be very greatful.

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I still need to add lenses for the power cell and cyclotron and mount the light kit and this pack will be totally finished.

17

Excellent work! Definitely one of the finest foam-core builds I’ve ever seen.

:crunch:

18

Damn that’s nice work!

19

Will the gunmount be able to hold the weight of the gun? Usually when I hear people talk about foamcore builds, they suggest making the gunmount out of something more solid than foamcore (like wood blocks).

20

Thanks guys for the kind words!