Finally, after nearly a year and a half of research and five months of buying parts, I have begun my proton pack build. I can’t tell you how excited I was to start. Every time I read someone else’s build thread, I always got antsy with anticipation.
I should state that I’m not building a specific movie or scene replica, rather what I consider an “ideal” pack design. That means I’ll be combining my favorite aspects of both the GB1 and GB2 packs. For instance, I’m using a GB2 ribbon cable (the GB1 version looks clunky to me), but mostly GB1 hardware (it’s far less junky looking). I’ll be using real or aluminum parts wherever possible, purchased mainly from GBfans, Anchon (pack parts), Vincenzo (thrower), and FreekyGeeky (misc).
Well, let’s dive in, shall we?
The obligatory pack shell/ Instagram shot. It’s the GBfans/ Bigi shell. At this stage, I had drilled a number of mounting holes, as well as the N-filter holes. One thing I can say from this experience is that fiberglass is real messy. I’m glad I have a good respirator mask and goggles. I can not stress the importance of good safety equipment when working on a project like this.
The power cell had a few gouges on it from whoever cut it out before shipping. This unfortunately seems to be a common problem on GBfans shells from what I’ve seen.
One of the first things I did was cut a hole for Wiz’s hose clamp, mostly because I was terrified of cutting a big hole in my pack and I just wanted to get it over with.
Motherboard and LC-2 Alice frame. The motherboard is a composite plastic sandwiched between thin aluminum sheets. It’s nearly as strong as full aluminum, but weighs a bit less. The Alice frame and straps are from a local army surplus store. Judging by the name tag, I’m at least the third owner of the frame.
Next came mounting the motherboard to the pack, and the pack to the board. I was pretty nervous about attaching the brackets, worried that I might screw up. But I took my time, measured everything, made sure they were secured well, and it all turned out fine.
I skipped pictures on the next few steps as I got more involved in the process. A couple hours later, and I had this: a wearable proton pack!
A great shot showing off Wiz’s beautiful Legris straight resin replicas. They’re cast with brass powder, and look just like the real thing.
I drilled holes through them to make them hollow, then fed the red tubing through to make the connection more secure. I saw this on another build recently and thought it was brilliant.
Well, that’s all for now. I should have more tomorrow. Enjoy!
