Thanks to this forum and many YT vids. I pulled the trigger on the full size Spirit pack. As of now, it’s sitting in it’s box in my office. I did inspect for damage just to be sure. So far I’ve ordered several cosmetic upgrades from here in the shop as well as several parts from Etsy.
I have the ribbon cable, brass elbows, P clamp, crank knob, bumper, new hose, and 5 pin quick connect so far. Some parts are still in transit. I got lucky and ordered the cyclotron and bumper from Tacobelli last night! That’s gonna take about a month. I’m hoping to have the Alice frame and new motherboard ordered within the next week. I’ll have pic up very soon and I’ll post vids to the YT.
I got a couple of the SHFS packs to act as either filler for display or for fans to use in photo ops. I fabricated frames from PVC and ABS sheet (on hand supplies) so I could have the actual frames for the custom pack and slime blower builds that are for my personal use.
Oh nice! i saw some PVC build vids online and my try my hand at that as well, at some point. I got a bunch more stuff in and can’t wait to finally have some time off to start working on this thing. I got my new motherboard coming from Frankengeek and the cyclotron mod from Tacobelli on the way as well!
More bits and parts arrived! Getting ready to get this thing going. My new mobo from Frankengeek was delivered to day as well! I need to get it all organized and I’ll get pics up today!
Finally! Some Progress! I was able to get the Frankengeek motherboard and the Rothco ALICE frame done last night. I was going to to the add my Clippard mod from Chris Bosh Props, but I didn’t like how glossy my paint turned out. Anyway, some pics and link to the build!
I picked it up from Adam Savage when he weathered his hasbro pack and when speaking about miniatures and painting. A mix of matt and gloss and satin. Spotty, rough and uneven helps catch the light and draw your eyes.
Updates on the Spirit pack: All cosmetic stuff, hard to see the red circles. but basically added the new ladder frame, the fake Clippard valve, the outlet for the hose, real brass fittings, and the crank knob. That one took some legit cutting on the pack which made me a bit nervous. You can kind of see on the left side, where I test fit the ribbon cable. I still need to cut off the molded HGA and add the new one, cut off the cyclotron piece and, rewire something that I messed up.
GB2 ribbon cable and C clamp installed. I believe the ladder from is from Chris Bosh, I drilled a bigger hole for the M5 screw to fit. I also ended up fastening the vacuum hose piece. No matter what I did, the hose would eventually separate one side. Super glue, hot glue, even JB Plastic Weld would start lifting. I don’t think it looks bad though.
Now, onto more technical stuff. I got the GhostLab42 trigger box upgrade. Pulled the wand apart and got the power toggle switch installed. I used a 3 way switch, but as of yet, not smart enough to wire it so that down on the switch kills the power. I also am getting some helping hands from Home Depot this weekend as soldering that fine is a pain in the ass for a noob like me.
Not a lot of upgrades done, tons of stuff in and waiting to be installed, but I did get that bad boy in the mail today. Crappy pic, was excited and had to get back to work!
Full on cycltoron upgrage. I got the cycltron from Tacobelli’s Etsy shop. The bumper stock from A2threeD Etsy.
Taking the plunge and cutting into the cyclotron. Much more difficult that the HGA. Looking back, I wish I had a flush cut saw or a diamond cutter wheel for my rotary tool.
Once I fought my way around, I had a pretty gnarly lip to sand down and smooth. I suggest leaving just a bit around the top or bottom to help wit gasket alignment.
Once I was happy, I used JB Plastic Weld to mount the gasket in place. I’m getting better with this stuff and try to make it look like actual welds.
Installing the lenses that i got from here.
Test fitting.
And the final product!
The installation was no joke. It wasn’t crazy hard, but it was def not super easy either. Again I think having those tools would’ve helped a ton. Also, for the M3 screws to mount it to the shell, make sure you don’t use the capheads. I tried those and they were a HUGE pain. I switched out to some actual countersunk machine screws and they make a nice easy turn and tighten up well.
