Hi everyone, new to the community and planning on building a proton pack for a few cons in the area, as well as Halloween. My major question goes like this: I’m planning on building this thing from scratch, and while money isn’t really an issue, I have limitations on the materials that I can use. Right now, the tentative plan is to build the motherboard and a lot of the pieces that will have lights and electronics running through them out of wood, and some of the cosmetic parts out of foam to offset the weight of the wood, even though MDB is on the lightweight side.. I’m primarily going to be following a combination of Norm’s and Stefan’s plans.
Given that MPB wood is going to be my primary resource, what width should I build the motherboard out of? I was thinking 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch for the motherboard, and then build things like the power cell out of 1/4 inch, using wood blocks cut from either a 1x1 or a 2x2 piece of wood. Would this work? Suggestions?
If you’re building the mobo out of wood I would suggest 1/4" MDF or hardboard or even 3/8" depending on the weight of the rest of your pack. Screen accurate boards are aluminum 1/8’.
Yeah my mobo is hardboard and with everything else added it does weigh some but I’m with sure the alice frame taking most of the weight it won’t be all that noticeable
You’d be surprised after 3 or 4 hours of wearing your pack how much you’ll notice weight.
Our packs and guns weigh less then 12 pounds, but after a few hours of wear, you can feel even that. Course the attention and excitement is probably also a factor.
1/4’’ MDF seems kind of flimsy to me. I’d have to take a ride back over to home depot and take another look, though, maybe I was looking at the wrong thing. Does styrene usually hold up pretty well? That’s the stuff they make those metal FOR SALE signs out of, right?
It’s all starting to come together in my head, and most of these parts seem relatively easy once you get how you’re going to build it into your head.
What about the bumper? What do you figure one of the easier ways to make that would be?
I’m also seriously considering that built-in computer option for lights and sounds, but because I’m not planning on using a cast shell, I won’t have the space between the MB and the pack that he has to mount it. I’m likely going to have to hollow out the foam spacer to make room to mount the electronics, but if everything goes well, it’d be looking pretty impressive.
Go to a place like home Depot and find some Duratex Tempered hardboard.
Its the only dark brown sheet you’ll find there. Its about 1/8" thick and its what I used for my pack.
Now if you still don’t think its strong enough, cut two mirrored motherboards. It has a smooth and a rough side.
When you have your sections cut, you will glue them together (rough sides facing each other) with wood glue (yellow elmer’s, not too much or the two sections will slide)
Set something heavy on top and let it dry overnight.
I ended up getting a piece of the 1/4’‘’ MDB, and cut it into the shape of the MB yesterday. It’s not perfect, but it’s really close, and I think once the pieces start going onto it it won’t matter very much.
The MB doesn’t press against your back at all, if you have the spacers in there. I think I put between 1/2" and 1" spacers when attaching the MB to the alice frame, and it’s perfect.
I DO however recommend completely painting the mb to seal it, especially after seeing how badly that bass board warped on me.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’m on making the spacer at the moment, and about to go and pick up the foam, probably the 1 inch insulation stuff, since neither Lowes or Home Depot sell anything aside from 1/2 inch, 1 inch, or 2 inch sheets. Also picked up some gorilla glue, wood glue, and wood filler.
The only thing I’m worried about at the moment is how I’m going to shape the foam so that I get the little “squares” along the bottom curve of the spacer. Would it be better to just make it round, and then attach wooden squares later?
on my last pack i used 1/2" plywood for my motherboard but took a 1/2" off all the measurements to even it out. after i finished it, i realised it would have looked neater if i rounded the edges of it.
