This weekend I had some free time for the first time in weeks…with crazy work schedule and dyeing flight suits…all my projects came to an abrupt halt…until now.
I am waiting on Crix to ship a pack light kit for my pack build, so I figured now would be a good time to kick my ecto goggle build off.
Some folks may remember that a couple of months ago I lucked up and came across a set of accurate goggle frames that were fully intact and compared to some of the other frames ive seen go here…rather cheap…
Behold!
These were originally made by Litton…the frames themselves were black when I got them, the battery compartment cover was different from the films and it was missing the side knobs. thankfully gbfans plays home to some of the most talented builders around and after a PM or 2 to MMM and Nick a tron I got a set of goggle plates, lenses, battery cover and side knobs shipped to me…
The frames themselves still had some of the internal electrical components inside so I had to strip them out…
After a little sanding to smooth out some rough edges and whatnot…I was able to lay down a coat of primer on the main components of the goggles
General cleanup has been cake…the frames had some etching on one side that smoothed easily, the lens openings on the plates from MMM were a little small to accommodate the Nick-a-tron lenses so some dremel work with a grinding wheel and maybe 15 minutes had them fitting nicely. the lenses themselves had a couple of spots that needed to be smoothed but nothing very time consuming…Its been an easy run so far with these…
The frames have a knob to turn the night vision on off and switch to infrared…I am curious as to whether this can be reused to control some lighting for the goggles… nothing crazy…maybe a pair of green LEDs. I know absolutely nothing of the original tech…if anyone knows for certain whether this can be done, do post something. I think it would be a cool repurpose for the switch and knob. More to follow as things progress =)
I did a lot of research on this. since I work in milspec electronics, I made a call to greyhill, the original mfg of the switch to see if I could get a datasheet on it, and found its a custom ordered part, so no datasheet since its an obsolete, and technically itar part. so I found the old tech manual, which is unclassified just fyi, and pulled this off the pdf:
if I remember right I did 3 leds wired through the switch to a AA box, I think the switch terminals were 2 and 8, and its the pull pole so I don’t accidentally turn them on
That’s about as thorough as one can be. Thanks for the diagram but I admit my ignorance as to what the pretty lines all mean. I am going to have to study on that for a bit… In the end the goal is just to have the existing switch control on and off for a pair of green LEDs. I am planning on installing some frosted acrylics in the nick a tron lenses and positioning the LEDs so that when turned on they give off a nice diffuse green glow… That’s the plan anyway…
I found an OD Green paint that was perfect and I highly recommend it to anyone going for a GB1 styled Ecto goggle build. Testor’s Modelmaster 3oz Spray Olive Drab. Model paint is typically a bit more expensive but for ease of use and quality of color it is worth it.
I painted the frames and plates Olive Drab and my lenses got a coat of metallic nickel and satin black. the frames coated well and dried evenly but the lenses would not take paint well at all…Plus after primer and 2 coats they were now a little large for the holes in the plates so when I installed them its scraped the black off. here is where I am so far though…
The thumbscrews were an idea taken out of Mr. Stay Puft’s goggle build…aluminum threaded sleeves with 6-32 set screws. The lenses were drilled and tapped before painting. You can see the paint scraps at the base of the lenses and where the nickel paint just would not bond to the resin part on the left. I’m not sure what the problem here is…the parts were thoroughly washed with soap and water when I got them so I wouldn’t think its residual mold release screwing it up…but who knows. I have opted to keep on putting it together and to touch up the paint with a brush later on. The base scrapes actually don’t look too bad in terms of weathering though…what do you guys think?
