Powercell Window Dimensions

[cole-funstuff]

Sorry if this is a repeated topic but I was not able to find a similar thread that addressed what I need it to.

I’m working to make sure the powercell window on my pack is large enough and I’ve run into a bit of a slump. I’ve seen Stefan’s plans where it calls for the window to be 4" x 0.438":

I’ve also seen the pictures of the circuit board from Ken’s pack which show the 15 bulbs and how they’re spaced:

As I’m going to be making my own lights for my pack, I figured I would try to replicate the spacing of the bulbs correctly. This is where I get lost.

I looked up the size of a T-1 3/4 bulb (shown on the Ken pack circuit) and pumped the numbers into CAD. I then spaced them 0.3" from each other as the typical hole spacing on perfboards is 0.1". After doing both of these things, I added the circuit board picture to make sure everything lined up:

You can now see that my window dimension shows up to be 4.5" tall (0.5" more than called out on the plans. Just to be sure the lights fit in that window, I checked to make sure the original board’s lights were all visible through the window:

(No lights are being covered up by the shell)

Looking at reference photos, I see that the window extends from the top of the bottom rib to the bottom of the top rib of the powercell (which is consistent with Stefan’s plans):


…AND that the powercell dimensions taken from the pack match what Stefan’s plans call out for:

So, my question to you all is:

What is the correct powercell window height?

I know I’ll feel stupid once someone answers but I just can’t wrap my head around it.

Thank you to anyone who is able to help me out!

[jackdoud]

3 7/8" x 7/16"

The powercell lights don’t actually fit entirely in the window. You can see the top one above the top of the window in the pictures of Volguus’s pack you posted. The reason you can see all of them in the movie is because when the guys are moving around the angles change and the top or bottom light disappears.

[cole-funstuff]

@jackdoud

The powercell lights don’t actually fit entirely in the window. You can see the top one above the top of the window in the pictures of Volguus’s pack you posted.

I had to check and see if I could find some more reference to verify this. I found a shot from GB2 that matched what you’re saying with only 13 bulbs showing from the Statue of Liberty scene:

But when I checked the reference section again, I found another picture which showed something different:

Here I can count all 15 bulbs and none of them look to be covered by the shell.

Is the 3-7/8" x 7/16" measurement pulled directly off of a pack or was it scaled from other images? I either want to base my powercell bulbs off of the window measurement or base the window off of the bulbs.

Thanks for your help!

[jackdoud]

The 7/16" is taken from direct measurements from the spengler pack.

The 3 7/8" measurement was settled upon by myself, mburkit and ChapterMaster Tu’Shan after scaling a bunch of photos of the “super” hero pack with known dimensions as well as creating a 3D model with an industrial cad program to play with the dimensions as well as cutting our windows to these dimensions and comparing it to the photos. We believe it to be fairly accurate.

The GB1 hero packs were cut relatively similarly so we feel that any of the heros could be used for scaling with accurate results for the rest. The GB2 packs and all the stunts were much more loosely cut and vary wildly in width and height. Given that the powercell face is around 5" tall and there’s at least .5" of space above and below the window (scaled from both the 7/16" window width and the .5" wide ribs) it can’t be more than 4" high and all scaling calculations we’ve made show it to be well under.

I count 14 lights in that picture. Just to through another wrench in I belive that’s the hero pack in the sony lobby and that pack is the only one to have 16 lights on its powercell though only 15 are ever seen lit.

ChapterMaster Tu’Shan’s recreated the GB2 stunt analog incandecent lights: Incandescent Powercell Lights from GB2 Semi-Hero - Proton Packs - GBFans.com. mburkit is going to install them in his hero pack (just waiting for some other parts) but has already installed an LED version in his semihero:


It’s all really wierd to wrap your head around but it does end up working out.

[cole-funstuff]

Thanks for the clarifications sir!

I guess I’ll just keep the bulbs at the 0.3" spacing and live with the fact that two of the will typically be covered up.

[cole-funstuff]

Not sure if anyone cares but I wanted to model the dimensions jackdoud gave to see how the lights worked out:

It seems 13 lights fit perfectly in the window as shown in the GB2 screenshot. I’m still a little sad that two of the lights can’t be seen but that’s the way it was I guess.

Thanks again for your help!

[Vincenzo330]

Bear in mind that each window was hand cut and there are several different screen used packs. There is no one “correct” set of dimensions for the powercell window.

[cole-funstuff]

@Vincenzo330

Bear in mind that each window was hand cut and there are several different screen used packs. There is no one “correct” set of dimensions for the powercell window.

Agreed. This was primarily to understand how far each of the bulbs should be spaced which lead to the dimensions confusion/question.

The only thing that truly differs from Stefan’s plans after this is the offset of the window from the sides of the powercell, but most people are already aware of that.

[kevinj319]

I think jackdoud hit it on the head when he said it depends on the angle. The lights are set back and not pressed right up to the hole. Depending on perspective, you may see 15 lights at certain times.