GB1 and GB2 Proton Pack differences?

[80sguy]

What exactly is the difference between the GB1 and 2 packs? I know they’re built pretty much the same, but I heard there were color scheme changes. Can anyone help me out here?

[Zack]

here are some things I can immediately think of.

*different ribbon cables

*more angled gun mount for the gun

*gray crank knob for GB1, black for GB2

*ion arm?

those are some of the ones that come to mind first, someone who knows a lot will come along and add some more! I can’t remember if the HGAs are slightly angled or not. Or I forget, they were built a lot lighter for the second movie? Someone help! I think some of the GB2 packs had thicker alice frame straps?

[keoni]

zack, you got most of it.

i think the only thing zack missed is the two different ion knobs. also, but im not sure if this counts or not, the rechargeable battery pack on the pack in gb2

[Hasford1978]

I thought for years the packs were identical in both movies, it wasnt until i joined these forums that i found they were ever so slighty different (all adds to the interest factor though)

I think the only difference i could tell was the angle of the gun but apart from that, nothing else

[RoboProp]

Volguus actually owned a GB2 pack at one point and he posted some observances about it over on Proptopia. Here’s an excerpt from one of his posts regarding the shell construction…

@Volguus

Just a trivia FYI, the GB2 fiberglass packs were not only a single mold which included the booster, it also included the booster FRAME. I kid you not.

The poor pack used as the molding master was puttied to within an inch of its life to mitigate undercuts, the obvious directive being speed and efficiency of one casting rather than disassembly and multiple neat molds. The booster frame is the most obvious example of this on the pack, and the trigger box is the biggest victim on the gun. The space between the trigger box and the gun body, home to the green tip-activator switch on the hero pack, is totally gone on the stunt packs, where the trigger box and gun body are one solid angular piece. Also, except for the large “stream length” knob on the top of the wand, all the other knurled-metal type knobs (and the heatsink) were molded right along with the body as one casting.

“But how did they squeeze the fiberglass mat into all those nooks and crannies?” I hear you query. The answer is simple - they didn’t. From our analysis, plain fiberglass resin was poured into the mold to fill up the details, so parts like the booster frame, PPD cylinder, much of the HGA, N-Filter and Ion Arm are solid, unreinforced blocks of brittle resin. After the interior of the mold was filled in this manner to remove the major corners and details, the shell was fiberglassed. The N-Filter and Ion Arm were injected with expanding rigid foam in an attempt at reinforcement.

Ultimately the ONLY pieces not already part of the pack shell were the two tubes descending from the Power Cell, the Clippard, crank knob, the metal block and rod from the Ion Arm, and all the pneumatic fittings. The Wand had a separate real Clippard, Stream Knob (mentioned above), and all the switches and light caps and pneumatic fittings.

• K -

From what I’ve read (and please, correct me if I’m wrong) is that there were 2 types of packs used in GB2 - converted GB1 packs and new packs built by ILM.

Check out AJ’s Planet Hollywood pictures in the Reference section. The Minnesota pack is of a converted GB1 (with original GB1 metal gun) and the Washington pack is the newer fiberglass version (with newer fiberglass gun). The latter is what Volguus owned.

[aj-quick]

Wow.

Thanks for the info. I had no idea the booster AND ladder were part of the mold. That almost seems impossible.

[keoni]

looks like i did learn something today after all. man, i dont recall ever reading that in ken’s thread.