So… word of warning… I have no idea what I’m doing as this is my first prop ever… I’m just kinda going through norm’s plans step by step and hoping for the best… I just laid the pieces together here to kinda get a feel of what it’ll look like.
The holes in the cyclotron seem a bit off to me. It doesn’t look as bad in the picture as it seems in person, but what do you guys think? Should I get another pan and try it again?
The cakepan looks fine to me.
What are you using for the bumper?
It looks good so far! 
I would also like to know what that is you used for the bumper…
Now do you want to know because it looks good or because it sucks? lol Its like a plastic base for a sliding door… I think. It’s a base for some sort of door. I bought a large piece of it from Home Depot for like 3 bucks. I used a flame to make the plastic soft and then bent it to the angles I needed (by the way, if you try this, don’t bend it with your bare hands… the plastic will warp and it’ll look like crap. Use a hard edge to bend it to the correct angle.)
And thanks for the compliments! I’m really trying to make this look great and it’s proving to be quite a task.
Just thought id put a note in here that your efforts so far are much much better than my first efforts..
What you will find your self doing is finishing it and then suddenly like a light bulb being switched on you will think of a better way to make or fabricate something that will look more true to the original.
The amount of satisfaction you will have when you stand back and look at the finished article is always in my case, immeasurable.
I have finished my mk2 pack with lights and I am currently onto my mk2 wand
take your time and make mistakes…
Im Lovin it…
Thanks for sharing the idea, I might have to use it on my proton pack
BTW- The pack is coming along great!
I think the idea of using a plastic sliding door base was mentioned in Norm’s plans (which I’m assuming is where SFamicom got the idea, since he’s been constructing the pack from his plans).
My first pack was made with electrical boxes, a tennis ball container, a round popcorn popper pan (for the cylotron) and anything else I found in the garage. I even found all the wires I needed lying on the ground at a construction site by my house. Back then, there was very little pack reference so I had to make a lot if it up. It was the most fun I ever had building something. I kept tinkering with that thing for 15 years until I built my second pack following Stefan’s plans.
Savor the moment boys!
Darrin
Yeah, I can’t take credit for the idea for the bumper, it was in Norm’s plans. It worked quite well!
:lol: Oh no, I want to know because it looks great. Good job!
If your holes are a bit off on your cakepan you can always cut them a little larger and then use the placement of the fender washers on top of the holes in the pan to correct where the spacing might be a little off.
So long as they aren’t really really off you should be able to easily account for any discrepancies.
Lookin good so far!
-TGM
That’s looking much better than my first pack. I was also using Norm’s plans, or at least I started that way, but then ran out of time and ended up just using whatever I could to finish it (my friends and I for some reason thought we could throw them together in 24 hours with absolutely no experience making props).
I’m actually inspired to go back and fix that pack up now that I’ve seen how yours is coming along. Anyway, it looks great, please keep posting pictures of your progress!
Oh okay, I just haven’t gotten that far in the plans yet :oops: . I’m still reinforcing the motherboard before starting to build the synchronous generator. 
So I’m starting to work on EDA/PPD assembly. I’ve cut out all the sides from wood and I’m gluing them together with wood glue. I figure after that I’ll sand it down and apply some bondo…
It just seems to me that the box isn’t going to be very sturdy and might collapse if someone looks at it the wrong way. Am I just worrying too much? How can I reinforce it?
You could glue some wooden blocks inside, against the corners. That’s what Norm’s plans suggest (I think it’s on an intro/overall tips page).
I was severly underestimating myself… the boxes have come out fine. They seem sturdy enough. Something I’ve been thinking about lately though is this: How do you go about mounting the pack to the ALICE frame? The plans show how to make the pack but nothing about mounting it… unless I’m just an idiot and somehow missed that.
Also… as far as lights for the cyclotron go, would it be difficult to have it so the on switch is on the gun? And how would I go about getting back into the cyclotron once it’s all together? (if I had a lighting problem of some sort) I’m sure someone has encountered this before…
well do u have your alice frame already…if not then there are 2 holes in it but u will have to drill 2 more then u bolt the frame to the mb…about the lights if u are making them yourself then i dont know what to tell ya…if u buy lights then that depends on who u buy from…thecyclotron uhh…u could cut a hole in the lower back of the mb for easier access…but other than that i wouldnt know what to tell ya…hope that helps some
When the time comes to mount the pack to the frame, make sure it’s at the right height! I mounted mine so that the top of the pack was even with the top of the frame and the pack was much too low. Check out some reference photos in the Proton Pack section to be sure, but I think the bottom of the cyclotron should be about even with the bottom of the frame.
No, actually the bottom of the cyclotron is lower in relation to the bottom of the frame by a bit.
Here’s Stefan’s pack overview to show what I mean:
Ok, another question. Since I’m making my pack out of plywood, I’m worried about it looking like wood. I want it to have a metallic look, so I’m planning on some weathering and whatnot. Right now what I’m concerned about is the woodgrain showing through the paint. I’ve been coating my boxes with a thin coat of bondo and sanding down… I can get it pretty smooth but there are still streaks in it due to my ineffectiveness with bondo… not very noticable but I don’t know how it will look when painted. Is this bondo coat a stupid idea? I just definitely dont want the wood showing.
