Currently working on two proton packs made out of composite materials. I am currently using Stefan Otto’s plans and converting the decimal point measurements into US standard for instrument cutting. Some of those measurements are no more than 1/32" to 1/64" so I’m not going to sweat if I am off by half of a 1/16"
The most difficult part I had to face with when making the motherboard was the measurement for the 22 sided polygon that makes up for the bottom part of the motherboard. On the plans it says its a 16 degree angle, yet if you do the math, a 22 sided shape with equal sides comes to a total of 16.363636… So I made a decision to go with the plans on the normal 16 degrees and made a slight alteration by a 1/16" to keep the value of the overall shape for the base of the Spacer and Cyclotron.
Below is the completion of the motherboards already cut up.
I will update on further pictures when progress has been made over the following weeks.
Got done with the first step for the cosmetic plating today. Will be heading to the hardware store to get a hold of some 1" Birch Plywood and some 1 1/2" PVC Pipe to create the Filter tubes. I failed to mention the wood I chose for the motherboard was a piece of 1/4" Maple Hardwood. I chose a very hard panel of wood so It can be thin and very sturdy at the same time. It doesn’t bend or bool.
I came up with a good plan to make this pack pretty durable without ruining the architecture of the composite layers of wood. Imagine the proton pack as a giant cake. The base is the foundation and all the boxes and shaped to create the sell are the layers that will be stacked on top of each other. each layer will be glues and held together with dowels around the borders of the shape. This method will make the overall pack more sturdy and when hollowed, very light. Every shape is screwed into place on the motherboard with either machine bolts with a nut glued or fitted inside, or with wood screws. another option is to use toggle bolts with fender washers. Either way I want to hold it together with something that I can take apart if I need to replace a part inside of the pack. Permanent shapes will be glued on and screwed into place with #8-10 Flat Head Wood Screws.
Completed the spacers for the pack. Need to go back on the cosmetic plating and make some corrections.The spacers are so far the hardest to create out of plywood.
this is similar so far to one of my absolutely favorite builds that even after so long i go back and give it a read just for fun:
his was the first time i saw a pack made in layers and it completely made sense. if you get stuck any where im sure you may find something in there useful
you have some good space for your spacer, are you going to mount it all straight to the mother board or are you going to mount all the individual parts together, and mount THEM to a mobo? the reason why i ask that, is that may lend you for some extra cavities for housing electronics and you may run into some issues when you are trying to wire up your blue power cell lights. i dont recall if mr.spider did that with his build, but either way it looks like you know where you’re headed and already have something worked out!
also, the “smaller” tubes on the pack, the best place to get them isnt in the pvc section at home depot, but the plumbing dept where they keep the sink drain pipes (you can even get some metal ones!), the 2" cant really be subbed for anything different than a 2" pvc pipe, BUT if you go to lowes they have like an “extender” in the electrical department that i used on my nfilter and it’s measurements match up relatively close (i saw that in a thread around here but i just cant remember where it was)!
anyway, good luck! i’ll be watching this because i LOVE scratch builds like this!
I read the schematics on otto’s plans and the vent tubes are apx. 1-3/8" dia. which is the same OD (outer diameter) of a 1" ID (inner diameter) Schedule 40 PVC Pipe. what I plan to do is fit a 1" wooden dowel inside and glue it tight, then screw the dowel in place where the cosmetic plating will be made.
Update on the dreaded spacers. Been busy with college work so production was at a halt on February. I am now picking this up this month. went with the idea from the forums. Adding Bondo, sanding it, adding bondo more, then sanding it again untill it becomes clean. I don’t have fancy power tools or belt sanders. I cut the pieces with an old electrical Jig-saw and sand it down with a basic palm sander and sanding block.
I’m going to attempt to build in this style as well. I’m not good AT ALL. So I hope to pick up some good ideas and tips from you. Please let me be your padawan!!! Also good luck! It looks great so far!
man I can’t even get past the motherboard, that’s how talentless I am, how did you get yours to look so good? Did you just sketch the measurement out then cut? haha I feel so stupid after attempting it and looking at yours
in total the spacer is roughly in the ballpark of 3 inches in thickness. Unless I can measure the actual proton packs used in the movies themselves I’m going by Stefan Otto’s blueprints, which are super imposed images imported through Auto CAD and calculated by a computer. technically they are the most accurate blueprints up to date if you wish to get the full measurements I used for the spacer. Keep in mind I’m using plywood so I’m off my micrometers since I’m converting most of my measurements in US standard with a tolerance of 1/16 of an inch.
I have been hiatus due to the fact it’s my senior year in college. I am still working on the packs and will post updates as soon as I have time off my senior thesis projects.
