Magnoli Proton Pack Build (including Hasbro Afterlife Wand mod)

[Indy_Magnoli]

As I mentioned in my introductory post, my very first prop replica was a proton pack! When I was a kid, I assembled a proton pack from a cardboard box, round cookie tin for a cyclotron and a karate belt for shoulder straps. The neutrino wand was a wooden dowel, foam and electrical tape for the grips and another cardboard box for the main unit. Although I’ve been making prop replicas ever since, I’ve never gotten around to making a proper proton pack… until now.

So far, I’ve got a good shell, ALICE frame, a resin booster and one Dale PH-25. I’ve got the Afterlife wand, which I might mod to a classic wand at some point. But… that’s all I’ve got so far.

I’ve also just picked up a bunch of Clippard pieces locally for cheap. They’re not the right models, but I’d rather have some real-world parts (and I love the challenge of doing everything on a budget or by trading with other fans) than resin castings. So, at the moment, I’ve got:

Two R-305 valves:

Three R-431 valves:

And one R-731:

If anyone would like to trade for some parts, or donate to the cause, drop me a line!

Once I get my shell, I’ll start posting some photos of the build.

Kind regards,

Indy

[ccv66]

P.m. sent. Always like to trade

[Indy_Magnoli]

A friend of mine sent me some parts from Canada back in November… and it JUST arrived! Talk about Covid delays!! So, here’s what I’ve got so far:

Not pictured here is my Afterlife Wand (which I’ll probably try and mod back to a standard wand) and the ALICE frame.

So, if you see something missing (there’s plenty!) and you’ve got a spare, drop me a line. This includes any sound and light kits you may have. I love horse trading, so shoot me a pm or e-mail so we can talk.

Once all my ducks are in a row, I’ll start assembling and post progress pics.

Thanks,

Indy

[Indy_Magnoli]

Well, I finally got around to fiberglassing my shell:

It’s actually the first time I’ve done fiberglassing, so happy enough with the results. It’s definitely a lot tougher than it was when I started.

My pack shell is missing some detail at the bottom, so I’ve cut some thin ply to spruce it up a bit:

I’ve masked the parts I want to keep with the original smooth finish, then sprayed several coats of hammered metal texture:

I’ve got the following pieces for the ion arm:

After a bit of paint and assembly… just need some tubes:

Drilled the cyclotron holes, added a crank knob, a few stickers as well as the extra blocks on the base:

I know it’ll never be in the realm of accuracy of many of your packs, but I’m having a great time putting this together… and what an upgrade from my cardboard box pack from when I was a kid!

[Fienen]

Looking great so far!

[KCGhostbuster]

Looking good so far, keep up the good work.

I have a few resin pieces left over from my old eBay store days. Shoot me a PM with what you need and I’ll see if I have anything I can send you (they may not be in great shape).

[Indy_Magnoli]

Thanks! Yesterday I painted up a white resin bellows:

Silver spray paint, graphite powder, rust-colored acrylics and added a metal washer and bolt on top to tie it all together.

[Fienen]

I’ll have some leftover lens material and pop tube length if you need, too.

[Fienen]

@Indy Magnoli

… added a metal washer and bolt on top to tie it all together.

Okay, this is super smart and I wish I would have thought of it well before now.

[jonogunn]

What did you use to make the weld lines?

[Indy_Magnoli]

The weld lines were in the casting already, though I’m probably going to add some to the base of my booster once I add it to the pack using epoxy putty.

I added some more to the base of my pack, using a couple of screws (and some hot glue) to mount the loom hose:

The bumper I got was a bit rough and too big for my pack, so I trimmed it, reshaped it a bit with some files, dremel and sandpaper… I had to putty the holes up (since they no longer matched up to my pack) and drill new ones:

After a repaint and adding a decal, I got to do a little test fit (so exciting!):

[Indy_Magnoli]

I’m waiting on a bunch of parts at the moment, so figured I’d finally add the padding to my harness. Got this old piece from a friend and cut into it:

Here it is taped onto my frame (sourced from a local army/navy supplier):

[Indy_Magnoli]

On to the clippard valve… So, I started with the incorrect R-431:

Unscrewing the top to remove the bulb thing was no problem:

For the top piece, I thought I could 3d print an accurate knob, but I like having metal pieces when possible, so first I thought to dig through my greeblie collection:

See that thing in the bottom center of the picture… once I popped the cylinder off the arm holding it, I found a brass piece inside:

These two piece sat perfectly on top of the Clippard lid and the proportions were close enough for me:

A nut, bolt and couple of washers put it all together easily:

Sure, there’s no knurling, but it looks the part and matches the original lid so nicely:

Once I get some cap screws I’ll add this to my pack!

[Indy_Magnoli]

Ok… couldn’t wait. I added the Clippard to my pack shell using the screws included:

Such an iconic part of the pack!

[cristovalc]

Looks good! I could watch people put their packs together for the first time all day. What second-hand joy!

[Indy_Magnoli]

Just got a package from a fellow fan with a couple of cleaned up pieces:

Those injector tubes are solid resin, so heavy! I decided to try and lighten them a bit:

The used Plastic Weld to sculpt the welds on the edges (and used a hole puncher to add some ridging):

I had some plastic weld left over, so added some to my booster tube:

Some black spray paint and a little silver Rub n’ Buff and they’re starting to look the part:

I added a couple of screws to the injector tubes so I could hot glue the loom tube to them. Here are the new pieces on the pack:

Thanks again to all those helping with this build!

[Mat]

At first I was like “I dunno about those flow control valves” then you posted the mods you did to them!

It’s looking awesome! Keep building!

[Mat]

There is an easier way to mount the tubing into the shell and injector tubes. Keep the tubing long and drill a hole the same diameter as the OD of the pneumatic tubing. Shove them into the drilled holes on the shell and injectors and voila!

[Indy_Magnoli]

Time for the motherboard: I was debating what to use for the material… I ruled out MDF early on as many said it was too heavy. I thought of using ACM (basically an aluminum/plastic ply) but discovered it wasn’t much lighter, nor much cheaper than aluminum itself… so I ended up just getting a piece of 3mm aluminum and tracing an outline of my pack:

I cut it out using a regular jigsaw and it came out pretty good (just needed a bit of cleanup with a file and some sandpaper):

Next was to cut some tubing (kindly provided by @Blaxmyth ) for the pack spacing:

Test mounting to my ALICE frame:

For the brackets, I found some L pieces I had laying around and JB Welded some nuts onto them (3 our of the 4 in the wrong place!):

I pop-riveted the brackets onto the motherboard (here you can see I moved the nuts to the lower holes):

Some spray paint…

The best part… the pack fits onto the brackets!!! So I put it all together and popped it on my back for the first time:

I was surprised how light it felt on my back and was giddy to have a proton pack on my back for the first time since I was a kid wearing my homemade cardboard box nuclear accelerator!

[Indy_Magnoli]

As I’m still waiting on a box of parts, I decided to make the mounting plate for my neutrino wand using scraps from the aluminum from my motherboard:

These are 3mm thick pieces, so I glued two together and clamped:

I then shaped the block with a hacksaw and belt sander:

I got another piece of scrap and cut it into a square for the backing piece:

Even though this piece is thicker than 3mm on the original, I left it as a single layer since it set my wand far enough from the body to do the job.

I drilled two holes and counter sunk them to fit the bolts I had. I also used a block of wood as extra backing since my fiberglassing is relatively thin:

Here’s what the mess looks like inside the back:

Drilled and countersunk the main plate:

Mounted to the pack:

Here it is with my Afterlife wand (which I’m planning on modding to the original version):

You can see I’ve also added the bumper as well as the ribbon cable.

I think this about all I can do until my package arrives…