Last year my brother came to me with a dilemma. He was unfortunate enough to have purchased a shell from Video Bob several years ago and from the moment it arrived he was unhappy with not only the quality of the casting, but also with the distortion found all throughout the shell. The biggest issue was the cyclotron. It sloped toward the center of the shell as if it was crushed down into the shell prior to molding giving it a near irreparable taper. The gear box was also a problem as it sloped toward the power cell. His question was what it would take to salvage it and make it a presentable shell. Weighing the issues, I determined it would be easier to just start over. Included in the box that his shell came in was a document claiming it was a descendant of a shell used at a Universal Studios show. With how incredibly poor the shell was, we doubted the validity of his claim.
After obtaining many high resolution photos from a member of this forum and using the photos in the reference section on this site, we compared the Video Bob shell to shells at the Sony Studios lobby and at several Planet Hollywood locations. We concluded that the upper half of the shell was indeed a copy of an original albeit a highly degraded copy. The bottom section of the shell was perplexing as it contained features (read errors) that aren’t found on the original shells. The S shaped valley between the synchronous generator and PPD was very narrow. Our beam line and filler tube mock ups would not fit properly, there simply wasn’t enough space. The Clippard valve mounting base was out of round and the small ring at its base was off center and tapered. Lastly the cyclotron rings were quite out of round and the holes drilled in them were not centered and not all the same diameter.
As we confirmed that the upper half was at least marginally accurate, I took measurements to consider as possible reference then set the shell aside and began work on an original shell.
When seeing the pack prop in the film, an immediate idea was formed as to how that object would look if it were a real, operable device. The photo reference material reveals what I believe to be errors in construction of the original master. For example, the fins on the boxes are placed at non-equidistant intervals appearing to have been eyeballed as to their spacing. We decided our effort at making a shell would present it with these issues resolved resulting in a shell as one would imagine it to appear if it were a factory manufactured piece for a real life Proton Pack. I took the job of research and fabrication while my brother made all molds of the masters I created.
What follows are images chronicling the construction process.
I started at the top of the shell first and created each box individually before attaching them together and blending the seams. The PVC tube is the exact O.D. and I.D. of the respective part on the gear box found on the VB shell. That is the extent of the VB shell influence on this shell.
This shows the taper of the gear box.
The power cell with an early concept of the opening for the blue plastic lens.
The S shaped valley.
The inside of the Synchronous Generator. The arm has a curve that we thought was correct at this stage, but is corrected later to be flat.
Another view of the incorrect curve.
The Synchronous Generator with the corrected arm.
The Cyclotron I turned on my wood lathe.
The Cyclotron again, I made a metal template that was used to evenly spread Bondo around the MDF core to get the correct curvature and a square side and also to create a step that mates with the ring that mates with the Synchronous Generator.
The Cyclotron on the Synchronous Generator, again prior to correcting the curvature in the arm.
All pieces in place prior to being glued together.
My brother. Visible is an aluminum mock up of the N filter.
Cyclotron with the beginnings of the Cyclotron Rings.
Marking the Cyclotron for Cyclotron Ring placement.
I made the Cyclotron Rings in such a way that when the cast is pulled from the mold, there is only a thin amount of material to remove from the inside of the shell, resulting a controlled and proper thickness of shell material where the lens mounts. More on this later…
The Cyclotron drilled to receive the Rings.
The N Filter in place for reference, but it was not part of the mold. It was molded separately.
Checking the fit of various components also all made my me. I will cover those later in the post.
Next…the mold…
