Buliding your first proton pack? LEARN FROM MY FAIL.

[EJLambert]

Hey, we all have had some failures in our past. I think it would be interesting to hear from you regarding some early issues you have had with this prop building hobby and shed some light and inspiration for those of us newer to the hobby.

First off, let me get this out of the way; I AM IN NO WAY A SEASONED PROP BUILDER. Infact, I am what could be called Mechanically Challenged. But, I’ve been at this for three years and had learned some very hard lessons.

Here is Pack #1.

Nothing too wrong with that, right? Heh.

Lessons Learned:

**1. Never NEVER use hot glue. Ever. ** For some of you this is a no-brainer. For me, in 2009 this was my first jump into DIY. And I thought hot glue was an awesome form of adhesive. The reality is this: Hot glue gets soft and expands when in warm climates, then hardens in cold air. What that can spell out is parts falling off. Unless you go to a party that has a glue gun nearby, you are screwed. And so was I. This peice of garbage fell apart the next day.

2. Looking to cut holes? Do not use boring drill bits! Yeah, They are for wood. Lesson learned and 2$ down the drain.

3. I should’ve watched Zombieland before my friends party. Not really a helpful hint, but I was contstantly irritated being told “Now you find out who you’re gonna call.”

AAAAAAAAAAaaaaannnnd here’s MK 2 AKA: Lumpy.

I’m not terribly happy with the way this one turned out. I wanted to make a budget Wii in-game pack for a couple of reasons. The first being that I wanted to get an idea on the dimesnions of the pack. Second, the Wii GB game isn’t popular and if it turned out to be ■■■■ I could at least claim that I didn’t break the bank making it.

On to the lessons.

4. Plan ahead further. I started drawing this out January of 2010 but didn’t get any items to make it until August. I could’ve just went out to Home Depot once a month with 20$ in hand to spend on items, but I didn’t. In the end, it ended up much more of a custom build than I had wanted.

5. Give yourself plenty of time. Another fall back of not getting items as soon as I could was not building as soon as I could. This pack got the name of Lumpy due to my being rushed to finish this (on Halloween no less) and my sanding down the plaster on the foam on my pack was less than good.

6. Dont take the advice of just one person. They might be horribly, horribly wrong! Or just be uninformed. Case in point: At the Army Surplus store, I bought an ALICE frame and straps that did not fit together. (Longer story than I’d care to go into.) When I brought it back, they looked at me like I was from Mars and told me I was mistaken and I got the correct straps.

And last, but not least is MK 3 or SHEMP.

It’s a bit rough, and not finished but it works for me.

What I learned from this.

7. Take it easy, don’t get obsessed. For 5 months, all I could talk about was this pack. Let it go, read a book, watch the news take a walk. In a social situation, it is ok to talk about the pack but it isn’t ok to make it ALL you talk about.

8. When you are overwhelmed, walk away. This is a hobby, and not a full time job for me. I lost a lot of sleep for this being a hobby. This can also help if you hit a wall and get too frustrated to deal with building.

9. Find a nice open space to work No need to elaborate here. You are using glue, bondo and all kinds of horrible things. Unless you want to die, work in open spaces.

10. Do not compromise! DO NOT! If you run out of time and money to get your pack done by the time you want to, let it go. It’s better for you to take more time and have it the way you want to rather than short-change yourself.

[ProtonCharger]

you’re robbing us of more lumpy.

[janderson0719]

Some people aren’t cut out for something’s unfortunately.

It’s not just skills, but character plays into how a product will come out.

My pack build is my first one, and probably last. Building a pack is too time consuming; I know if I did another one it would be quicker, but still…

I will say this- Attention to EVERY detail is EVERYTHING.

Plus, RESEARCH. RESEARCH. RESEARCH.

[goldenhawk]

If you want, wait until Halloween Season 2012. You can sell Packs 1 and 2 for some cash. Someone will buy it.

[EJLambert]

@goldenhawk

If you want, wait until Halloween Season 2012. You can sell Packs 1 and 2 for some cash. Someone will buy it.

Oh some one may already have them. They scavenge landfills, right?

A few other thoughts, and then maybe I’ll let this thread be buried.

- Measure twice, cut once. And measure once more after cutting. These are horribly detailed things to build from scratch (that would be #3) Just to be sure all the peices fit.

- If you don’t know how to do it ASK FOR HELP! Both me and my idiotic ego decided to dive headfirst into making the lights myself without help. I should’ve at least asked before jumping in.

@ProtonCharger

you’re robbing us of more lumpy.

You’re kidding, right?

[Lewis_Tully]

Don’t rely upon hot glue to hold any pieces on, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it has no place in prop building. I personally us it to secure the bolts and screws on the back of my shell to make sure they don’t wiggle loose. Hot glue is good bc it is still able to be removed without much trouble, but it holds it when it needs to be held. It should go without saying that you should never leave a fiberglass shell in your hot car no matter what. Bad things will happen, hot glue, or not.

[ProtonCharger]

@thabooglio

@ProtonCharger

you’re robbing us of more lumpy.

You’re kidding, right?

no. i really want to see more pics. are they on your facebook?

[Lewis_Tully]

I do have to agree. Lumpy doesn’t look that bad to me at all…

[Mr_D]

@Lewis Tully

It should go without saying that you should never leave a fiberglass shell in your hot car no matter what. Bad things will happen, hot glue, or not.

Sorry, but can you please explain. I have never dealt with fiberglass, but I know that a lot of people use it for speaker boxes that are in hot trunks. So what are the bad things you speak of?

[jackdoud]

@Mr. D.

Sorry, but can you please explain. I have never dealt with fiberglass, but I know that a lot of people use it for speaker boxes that are in hot trunks. So what are the bad things you speak of?

Polyester resin used with fiberglass is hardened using an exothermic reaction, it gives off heat. Adding heat back into cured resin will make the reaction want to reverse. That’s not to say that heating fiberglass will result in a puddle of goo (the heat required to do that would mean you’d wind up with toxic smoke and a pile of ash first) but it can soften the cured fiberglass and cause warpage if the heat is excessive enough. I’ve used a heatgun to partially reform a warped fiberglass shell. Even with a high-temperature paint stripper the actual amount of bending acheivable isn’t much. Leaving a packshell in a car trunk on a hot day in Nevada probably won’t destroy the shell totally but it may develop some issues.

There’s a lot of variables to the whole thing, amount of heat, duration, type of fiberglass, thoroughness of mixing, thickness of the material, etc. A professional part designed for automotive use and made in a specialty shop is unlikely to have issues. A hobbyist product made primarily for form over function in a garage can’t be expected to hold to the same standards. In general it’s better safe then sorry.

[Mr_D]

@jackdoud

@Mr. D.

Sorry, but can you please explain. I have never dealt with fiberglass, but I know that a lot of people use it for speaker boxes that are in hot trunks. So what are the bad things you speak of?

Polyester resin used with fiberglass is hardened using an exothermic reaction, it gives off heat. Adding heat back into cured resin will make the reaction want to reverse. That’s not to say that heating fiberglass will result in a puddle of goo (the heat required to do that would mean you’d wind up with toxic smoke and a pile of ash first) but it can soften the cured fiberglass and cause warpage if the heat is excessive enough. I’ve used a heatgun to partially reform a warped fiberglass shell. Even with a high-temperature paint stripper the actual amount of bending acheivable isn’t much. Leaving a packshell in a car trunk on a hot day in Nevada probably won’t destroy the shell totally but it may develop some issues.

There’s a lot of variables to the whole thing, amount of heat, duration, type of fiberglass, thoroughness of mixing, thickness of the material, etc. A professional part designed for automotive use and made in a specialty shop is unlikely to have issues. A hobbyist product made primarily for form over function in a garage can’t be expected to hold to the same standards. In general it’s better safe then sorry.

Ah I see. So if one were to get a professional, say someone that builds those speaker boxes, to build his pack, it has a better chance of withstanding the heat? (again depending on the type of fiberglass used ect)?

[jackdoud]

@Mr. D.

Ah I see. So if one were to get a professional, say someone that builds those speaker boxes, to build his pack, it has a better chance of withstanding the heat? (again depending on the type of fiberglass used ect)?

Theoretically, but in actuality it probably wouldn’t be much better than what the producers that sell here do anyway unless you wanted to spend a bunch of money on special materials. Really you should be more worried about plastic tubing, resincast parts (different from fiberglass resin) and ribbon cables melting than the packshell itself.

[EJLambert]

no. i really want to see more pics. are they on your facebook?

This is the only existing one that I have. I may try to badger my friends for a few. Or cook up plans for lumpy 2.0. But this time, no electric boxes.

Hot glue can work if you only use it to hold peices on your prop in place while the proper (read: stronger) glue dries.

[Mr_D]

@jackdoud

@Mr. D.

Ah I see. So if one were to get a professional, say someone that builds those speaker boxes, to build his pack, it has a better chance of withstanding the heat? (again depending on the type of fiberglass used ect)?

Theoretically, but in actuality it probably wouldn’t be much better than what the producers that sell here do anyway unless you wanted to spend a bunch of money on special materials. Really you should be more worried about plastic tubing, resincast parts (different from fiberglass resin) and ribbon cables melting than the packshell itself.

OK, Thanks.

[Harry_Carpenter]

@jackdoud

@Mr. D.

Sorry, but can you please explain. I have never dealt with fiberglass, but I know that a lot of people use it for speaker boxes that are in hot trunks. So what are the bad things you speak of?

Polyester resin used with fiberglass is hardened using an exothermic reaction, it gives off heat. Adding heat back into cured resin will make the reaction want to reverse. That’s not to say that heating fiberglass will result in a puddle of goo (the heat required to do that would mean you’d wind up with toxic smoke and a pile of ash first) but it can soften the cured fiberglass and cause warpage if the heat is excessive enough. I’ve used a heatgun to partially reform a warped fiberglass shell. Even with a high-temperature paint stripper the actual amount of bending acheivable isn’t much. Leaving a packshell in a car trunk on a hot day in Nevada probably won’t destroy the shell totally but it may develop some issues.

There’s a lot of variables to the whole thing, amount of heat, duration, type of fiberglass, thoroughness of mixing, thickness of the material, etc. A professional part designed for automotive use and made in a specialty shop is unlikely to have issues. A hobbyist product made primarily for form over function in a garage can’t be expected to hold to the same standards. In general it’s better safe then sorry.

That is totally true. I live in West Texas…in the hot hot sand…it’s about 108 degrees right now…I’m sure it’s hotter in my car right now. It gets so hot, I can’t build the gun in my garage anymore, because it effects it. Even the paint doesn’t dry properly, or stay on…because these things are designed to work in certain temperatures. I wouldn’t chance it.

[cowbybill]

@Lewis Tully

Don’t rely upon hot glue to hold any pieces on, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it has no place in prop building. I personally us it to secure the bolts and screws on the back of my shell to make sure they don’t wiggle loose. Hot glue is good bc it is still able to be removed without much trouble, but it holds it when it needs to be held. It should go without saying that you should never leave a fiberglass shell in your hot car no matter what. Bad things will happen, hot glue, or not.

Hot Glue makes great Cobwebs on set pieces, haunted houses, etc.. but on a pack I agree I wouldn’t use it.

[SnidderEcto1]

First time. Pack builder here…

used hot glue on just to hold my hoses on.. is that bad? I mean it looks good and sturdy. I tugged on them after they dried and didn’t seem like they were going anywhere..

sent from my PKE meter

[c05ta]

@SnidderEcto1

First time. Pack builder here…

used hot glue on just to hold my hoses on.. is that bad? I mean it looks good and sturdy. I tugged on them after they dried and didn’t seem like they were going anywhere..

sent from my PKE meter

Don’t tug your hoses too much or you’ll go blind.

But seriously, using hot glue is not all bad, I have a little on mine, but its only on small light weight things like the hoses, and cyclotron lenses. Just don’t use it to hold your ion arm on, and you’ll be fine.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Ghostbusters Fans on Android

[SnidderEcto1]

Ok well i screwed and epoxied everything else lol

sent from my PKE meter

[DarkSpectre]

I’ve used hot glue for years with minimal problems. Granted my pack is scratch built using mdf and hot glue does well with wood. But even then. The only times I’ve had to reglue anything is on my buddies Studio creations shell. But that also stems from the fact that he has to keep it in the basement which is not environmentally sound. Also my thrower is made from foamboard and joined with hot glue and I’ve had no problems with it and it’s 4 years old.