# Converting SMC elbow to Legris Gen 1 for cheap **URL:** \ **Category:** Proton Packs\ **Created:** [December 12, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282 "2010-12-12T07:39:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spengler28](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/spengler28/32/5922_2.png) [@Spengler28](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Spengler28)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/1 "2010-12-12T07:39:50Z")
Im building a Gb1 style pack and want to built it the more accurate possible (but not too much) 😛 Such as elbows [legris](https://www.gbfans.com/wiki/equipment/proton-pack/legris) generation 1 are impossible to find and SMC elbows are visually very similar. I decided to modify them to be near identical to the real Legris. First I removed all the plastic fitting. I cut small pieces in other fitting that I had in my possession. ![image]([http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek\_2007/Proton](http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek_2007/Proton) Pack\_Legris1.jpg) After just mask the metals parts and paint with Krylon gray primer (which is exactly the right color, thank Filandrius for the info). Then some clear to a good shinny finish. ![image]([http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek\_2007/Proton](http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek_2007/Proton) Pack\_Legris2.jpg) Voila, we have some maybe 90% accurate GB1 Elbows! ![image]([http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek\_2007/Proton](http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek_2007/Proton) Pack\_Legris3.jpg) I also made a small change to the straight fitting. I removed the plastic parts and inserted the same fitting. I filled the edge with mighty putty, I sanded the whole. ![image]([http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek\_2007/Proton](http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek_2007/Proton) Pack\_Legris4.jpg) Voilat! is not perfect but it is visually more interesting than with the plastic tip ![image]([http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek\_2007/Proton](http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/Manzarek_2007/Proton) Pack\_Legris5.jpg) it cost only the primer and clear but i will reuse it for painting everything else. The fitting i used i cant tell where they sell them, i got them already froma long time but if i find them here in Canada anyone could find em 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Phish4dinner](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@Phish4dinner](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Phish4dinner)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 8:04am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/2 "2010-12-12T08:04:17Z")
Good work bro.. I’m definately doing that with my elbows now. Thanks for the tip!! ---
**Author:** ![Phish4dinner](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@Phish4dinner](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Phish4dinner)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 8:27am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/3 "2010-12-12T08:27:27Z")
Now that i think about it, you could probably keep the plastic fitting on the elbows and just sand off the rim so looks the same. Just paint it up gold. ---
**Author:** ![Filandrius](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/839c29/32.png) [@Filandrius](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Filandrius)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/4 "2010-12-12T14:22:10Z")
This should go in the tutorial section! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spengler28](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/spengler28/32/5922_2.png) [@Spengler28](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Spengler28)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/5 "2010-12-12T16:33:53Z")
> [@Phish4dinner](#): > > Now that i think about it, you could probably keep the plastic fitting on the elbows and just sand off the rim so looks the same. Just paint it up gold. Indeed you could just remove the bigger part of the plastic tip and painted it gold, the result will be near the same ---
**Author:** ![RedSpecial](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/redspecial/32/3978_2.png) [@RedSpecial](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/RedSpecial)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/6 "2010-12-12T17:04:19Z")
> [@Spengler28](#): > > > [@Phish4dinner](#): > > > > Now that i think about it, you could probably keep the plastic fitting on the elbows and just sand off the rim so looks the same. Just paint it up gold. > > Indeed you could just remove the bigger part of the plastic tip and painted it gold, the result will be near the same Yup thats exactly what I did 🙂 It doesnt look quite as good as Spengler28’s mod but it does the trick . ---
**Author:** ![gEkX](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/gekx/32/6229_2.png) [@gEkX](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/gEkX)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/7 "2012-01-26T06:09:30Z")
Here is what I did: ![image](https://discdn.gbfans.com/original/3X/d/c/dc75867d582f7dde5e6ae006d01cedd7d7ff526a.jpeg) Orange tips removed and replaced with: **K&S Engineering Stock# 1147 Round Brass Tube 3/16" OD** & **K&S Engineering Stock# 130 Round Brass Tube 7/32" OD** I used a tool like this to cut the pipe [Amazon.com : Mini Tubing Cutter](http://www.amazon.com/s?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=Mini+Tubing+Cutter&x=0&y=0&tag=gbfans-discourse-20) You can find that at Home depot or any hardware store. I then used a dremel to deburr / bore out the pipes a little after I cut them so the would slide into each other nicely. ![image](https://discdn.gbfans.com/original/3X/3/9/393e33b9db42402582e964ec50f2b1e8c0358bd1.jpeg) Taped off and ready for paint. ![image](https://discdn.gbfans.com/original/3X/6/2/62b464994ac541f8407c0adfd375cb4bfe7a5228.jpeg) Painted with final clear coat freshly applied ![image](https://discdn.gbfans.com/original/3X/1/3/13c70f79d643399fee3f679fb90c37c6183f5f95.jpeg) Testing golds.. ![image](https://discdn.gbfans.com/original/3X/d/c/dc0f1218618d54ca83ca84f17ccf150e24f0799c.jpeg) and the one I already had looked best. Folk Art 660 Metallic Pure Gold at Walmart. Now I will be buying the elbows from Vinny when they are available but Is pretty easy to “convert” some SMCs to a decent alternative if your on a budget. Links in this post may be affiliate links. Purchases made through them help support this site at no additional cost to you. ---
**Author:** ![Spengler28](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/spengler28/32/5922_2.png) [@Spengler28](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Spengler28)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/8 "2012-01-26T19:51:16Z")
Perfect! ---
**Author:** ![gEkX](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/gekx/32/6229_2.png) [@gEkX](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/gEkX)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/9 "2012-01-26T22:08:17Z")
Thanks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wallabe](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Wallabe](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Wallabe)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/10 "2012-01-26T22:40:20Z")
Mr.Blahface and I both did conversions for these fittings on our packs as well. I like that we’re all sharing our methods here so people can see a variety of ways to do this. Thanks for getting this started First, we epoxied pen tubes to the ends to keep them from spinning. We also used the tubes to pull out the orange tubing as far as we could without it coming out. Next we sawed the big orange disks off and sanded the edges. After that, we handed painted them with Testor’s paint, gray and brass colors. We did something about different to make the straights. We cut off the ends of clippard hex fittings and filled the holes with bondo. After sanding, we covered the bondo in brass paint. We then drilled holes in the top and fitted and accurate diameter piece of bress tubing (shown next to a real straight fitting) ---
**Author:** ![Spengler28](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/spengler28/32/5922_2.png) [@Spengler28](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Spengler28)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/11 "2012-01-27T12:41:04Z")
those custom straight fitting are pretty well made, bravo!!! ---
**Author:** ![yeahbuddy88](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/3be4f8/32.png) [@yeahbuddy88](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/yeahbuddy88)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/converting-smc-elbow-to-legris-gen-1-for-cheap/25282/12 "2012-01-29T23:13:22Z")
wow those looks great. Thank you for showing this.