So this is the latest progress on my pack. All the components are built, and I just finished sanding them down. A little more sanding will need to be done when I mount the tube and the angled resin piece, and I may fill a few spaces around the top of the ribs that didn’t get filed completely, but it’s just about ready for the automobile filler primer…
(Right click → View image for high res)
Yes, I know, I put the ion arm on backwards. I didn’t have my reference pics with me. 
was just going to mention the ion arm but i see you spotted it too very clean and accurate so far. gunna be a shame to paint over that nice finish. be sure to keep us updated as this looks like its gunna be a great build.
Looks great! I can’t wait to see it black. What did you use to make it?
nice scratch build. Keep us updated with pics. Looks Great!
Very nice start sir.
I cannot wait to see it finished.
It’s 1/8" thick bass wood. You can find it in any craft store with the balsa wood. It’s sturdier and less splintery than balsa.
Well it looks great! I used balsa wood for small portions of my pack, then got really upset when I found basswood. I wish I would have made my whole pack out of it!
If I make another pack though I think I am going to use all styrene and basswood. Please, keep showing us pictures! What are you making your cyclo out of?
Actually, I already made the cyclo:
(These images can also be right clicked for larger size.)
I made the spacer/synchronous generator out of five layers of 1/2" and 3/4" MDF, and the cyclotron is a Walmart aluminum cake pan which had vertical sides and the right 1/2" bevel around the edge. It was also 3" tall, which allowed me to recess it inside the spacer to hide the lip. The new lip I made by cutting a ring out of some more 1/2" MDF and sanding it down to the outline I drew with a compass.
Here it is on my temporary pack:
I was in a rush, so I didn’t have time to keep filling and priming it to make it perfectly smooth. I’ll go back over it once I have everything for the final pack, and sand it down and spray it with the filler primer I’ve since bought which should fill in the remaining wood grain/cracks, and then sand it down again if it needs it anywhere.
Then I’ll paint it with the flat black “professional” Rustoleum I bought. Here it was painted with semi-gloss, then hit with a layer of fuller’s earth dust, but it’s still too glossy compared to the movie packs.
any updates?? this thing is amazing looking thus far!!
Keep it up
Griff
Thanks!
No updates yet, but I’m putting together the heatsink for my gun tonight. That’ll be made out of basswood too. I’ll post pic of that when it’s done.
And speaking of basswood, I’ll be returning about 30 pieces of basswood I didn’t end up needing tonight as well.
Update!
I feel bad for making the new girl at Ac Moore take the return of all that basswood. It took about ten minutes to process $40 worth of returns because unlike Best Buy, they can’t just scan all the receipts and then each item and have the computer print a new receipt, they have to cross everything off manually and price override everyhting due to stuff being on sale.
Also, here’s some pics of the finished heat sink:
(right click view image for high res)
The heat sink is accurate in its measurements and was constructed by making a square base 1/16" thick, and then on top of that, I placed 1/2" ribs, with 3/16" square pieces between. I did it this way because it’s much stronger than simply gluing ribs onto a 1/4" base, and it didn’t require much more work. Just gluing ribs on without any side reinforcement was just asking to have them snap off the moment someone brushed up against the thrower.
The only detail I didn’t add was the ribbing on the sides of the ribs. I’m not sure I like that look, and I didn’t even notice that fine detail until a few days ago. If I change my mind later then I’d probably add that detail by cutting up some business cards and building the ribs out that way because those details are like less than 1/32" and they don’t make wood that thin. I considered doing it by filling the gaps with Zar wood filler and then making a special “trowel” with ribs on it to remove everyhting but the side details I wanted, but that method would be really messy, and hard to get right. Thin cardboard is definitely the way to go.
Oh and I will be rounding off the corners on the ribs.
wat width of wood did u use for the ribs??
Griff
You mean the heat sink ribs? Those are 1/16" thick. I used that because the real ribs taper from 1/8" at the bottom to 1/16" at the top.
If you plan to make one of these yourself, be prepared to make a mess. Gluing it together was a pain in the ass! I’d compact it in one direction, and the spacers would lift up from the base and have to be pushed down again which would misalign the ribs, which would need to be pushed back into place again, which would dislodge the spacers. Luckilly the glue only took a few minutes to dry so gradually I was able to tame it.
haha thanks for the heads up! yeah i really like that method u used for the heat sink. for the fins i think im actually going to use metal strips…so when i weather it i get metal to come through rather then primer or wood
Griff