Hey, I posted in the intro. section about being a long time GB fan and how I was planning on making my own pack from scratch. Someone in there suggested I post some inprogress pics so here they are. It started life as a flat sheet of plexi-glass I had laying around. Most of the parts I have purchased so far, including 2 small sheets of MDF, have cost me around $30. I plan on going out today and getting the suit and alice pack for just around $80. I want this whole thing to be around $300 or so and look just as good as the screen used one so wish me luck and enjoy the pics. Alex.
You’re off to a great start man!! I kind of liked the translucent look of the gun, but after black coat it looks like the real deal! I can imagine how you felt when you got the black paint job on, I just put the first coat of black primer on our packs, and could not even begin to believe how good our packs look. I’ll be waiting for updates on your work.
Hey Alex, that thrower’s looking great but it looks like you sealed up the rear handle tube, are you not planning on attaching this to a pack with a hose?
also,
please make sure the suit you are getting is NOT made by Rothco.
The tag should tell you as well as the cheap yellow(not khaki) material they use to make the suit.
Thanks for the tip on the suit. I found one at an army surplus store so I think I’ll be in the clear.
I plan on putting a brass fitting on the rear of the handle and connecting a tube inside the black hose part for some extra rigidity and to keep it from pulling out. I was watching GB1 the other day and noticed Ray’s thrower tube was ziptied on when they were up on the roof. I don’t want mine to come out and look cheesy.
be careful alex, surplus stores often sell Rothco suits as a “budget” alternative to the real thing.
My suggestion is get a Tru-Spec from Galls.com (search item JS004) or search ebay using “flight suit tan” and you will see the search results bring up genuine nomex suits at very good prices
I’m home from the store. I got the Alice pack with straps and the flight suit for 90 bucks. It is the real deal fire resistant suit too. I’ll post a pic of it when I have another upgrade to show you guys.
Looks great so far. The thing I love about building these props is that you really learn a lot in the process. What works, what doesn’t, shortcuts, and skills with tools as well.
Looking good so far! May i make one small suggestion? Paint the inside of your gun too, the main body, through the vents on the top I can see wood texture, it kinda throws the illusion of it being metal
Those wooden grips make me jealous… LOL! I’ll be looking forward to see how this baby comes together man, I love it so far.
Also, in my opinion hitting local army surplus’ is absolutely the best way to go. I also paid about $90 for both my ALICE (HE searched and found me a set of straps without the quick-release on one side…) and suit (A size 50R). The owner knew all about Rothco’s and said he bought alot of his colored suits from them but that the suit I had was US issue. He also had a ton of used boots that I wouldn’t of had to break in but alas, I wear a 13… He was happy to help and I was contributing to a local business.
He even took my number down and said he’d give me a call if he got a line on some non-functioning goggles!
I just hit up one or two of my neighbors for some of their old boots they won’t need any more. My wife is Airforce and we live in base housing so I have an unfair advantage when it comes to boots.
I started on the boxes for the pack (hell if I know what to call them yet, I’m just going by the plans on this site) and it’s coming out very nice. This is my first experience with MDF and so far, I like it.
Thanks for all the kind words, it really helps when I am blowing out pounds of saw dust from my nose and wonder why I am doing this.
Heh, I DO know what you mean.. You really should try some breathing mask, as the dust is kind of harmful, not to mention annoying.. I have been building my gear for nearly three years now, and even though I do know WHY I want to do this, it really needs some reassuring at some point.. This place is just THE place to look for inspiration and advice.. Without it, I, or my friends would not have been able to even start on our packs..
I said on some other post, there is absolutely nothing that parallels looking at your completed pack and thinking “man, I built this…I…BUILT…THIS” I have my proton pack in my room and aside from it looking great and me being very very happy that i have it there, switching it on and seeing the lights cycle, i see it and think back on how i made it, what it looked like 2 month ago, how i built certain bits, cursed over making other bits but the overall sense is pride. Stick at it man, nothing like wearing your completed pack for the first time, drawing the thrower and switching it on. Pure bliss.
Quick question- what did you use to cap off your PVC pipe Clippard valve? I’ll be starting on my own pack/thrower soon and it looks like you’ve found a great approximation.
I little off topic but, I’ve been trying to get a set of the same corvette wheels and tires for my Cutlass. Too bad you’re not selling them, (and live near by)
