Reboot Pack parts identification

Equipment Proton Packs
1

So a lot of people are understandably upset with the entire reboot. I myself see this new movie as a disaster waiting to happen, but (and I’ll probably get some hate for this) I really want this movie to be good. Paul Feig has turned out a lot of ■■■■ (in my opinion) in his short career thus far, so hes due for a wild success. That being said the new pack has started to grow on me and the idea of building one of these hulking masses of twisted steel and tackle box/colander amalgamated messes has me excited if for no other reason than to get my wife to suit up at cons with me.

What I (we?) know after staring at this thing for hours are the following.

The covering (Faraday Cage) is evidently a mesh colander that has been stripped to just the brim.

The door on the bottom of the pack is from a tackle box that has been riveted in what looks to a 1/2 inch by 1/2 grid.

There are at least 2-3 wrapping of copper tube around the inside of the cage.

There are two sata connectors under the cage, next to a screw bank. One orange cable on the right socket connector, no other cable on the left. This same bank has a single copper stand-off screw at the very end.

Some sort of Flashlight lens (looks military issue?) seems to serve as the N-Fitter (or equivilant)

All the wiring looks to be about 22-26 AWG (probably to keep costs down).

The Top Counter box is a Radioshack 3x2x1 project box with an additional ramp bound to it (epoxy?) with its round edges sanded flat.

The green handle on the wand side of the pack is an NSF-61-G Ball valve that has definitely seen heavy use.

Tubing leading into the wand from the pack looks the be standard braided plumbing cable or brake line (probably putting to use stuff that fell off of that Buick, am i right?)

Screw count is as follows as far as I could see, and all seem to be in the #1 or #0 size range

hex bolt screws - 26

flat head screws - 1

philli[ps screws 10

The framing (bumpers?) are all custom and welded to what looks to be a 2/16th machined steel plate motherboard.

Thats all I got so far… So, what do you say we start to brush off the hate bunnies and wait for the movie to come out before we loose our heads even more. Remember that not all reboots are created equally.

Remember the Fly and the Fly II (originally staring Vincent Price in the 50s and its squeal The Son of the Fly), The Blob, The Thing (not talking about the “prequel” in 2010 but the movie from 1982 which was a remake of the 1951 The Thing form another world, originally a novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. “Who Goes there”) and a whole host of other American classics that shared similar success as reboots/remakes.

2

2/16 is 1/8. Sorry, just a pedantic issue of mine. Blame all of my teachers who forced reduction of fractions on me.

Unless that braided steel line is from a semi truck, it’s not a SS braided brake line. More than likely it’s a custom length SS line that can be bought at a variety of stores. Your local Lowes or Depot won’t have it as they come in only precut lengths and most are usually around 1/2 in diameter. This looks closer to 3/4.. Maybe one of the guys that have hands on with it at SDCC 15 can comment on the diameter of the line.

The box lid cover has been very elusive to me. I’ve spent a few hours trying different search terms, and I have come up with nothing that matches the profile and dimensions. We know it’s a 12" wide lid from Feig’s tweeted dimension picture, but I haven’t found anything in that category that matches the shard angle of the edges, while maintaining a flatter hinged edge. Best guess is that the lid was sourced from something and then modified to have the steeper front and side edges as well as having the rivets added.

3

Actually, there’s no guarantee at the moment that the Faraday Cage is a colander, nor that the lid on the bottom actually a Tackle Box. The former could just be mesh that’s been worked into a dome, and the latter could actually be a costume fabrication with a sourced handle.

There also appear to be two separate fittings on the “box lid”, some are hex screws, some look like similar fittings at first glance, but might be closer to pop rivets… or rubber grommets.

4

You have a point. But at least we’re starting a dialog :slight_smile:

5

There was one of the production packs on display at SDCC. The propmaster told one of our group members that 28 packs were made for the film. Also that 95% of the pieces on the packs were completely 3D printed. After seeing it in person, I agree with that. It looked very much like a prop and not an actual piece of equipment. The cyclotron part under the faraday cage also lights up.

6

If thats the case this thing im guessing is mainly plastic. Were they able to point out any pre-fabricated parts they bolted to this thing?

7

I don’t know about the pack being heavily 3D Printed. The wand probably was, but the pack looks like a lot of parts welded together. (Hey maybe they are just really good at making plastic look like welded metal!).

I just sourced out the green handled ball valve. I’m fairly certain I got the right one, but I’m waiting to receive it to post my results.

The disappointing thing is that green handled ball valve costs $30+.

8

Based on the dimensions provided by Paul Feig on Twitter, here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

-1/2’’ Copper Pipe x 6ft

-3/4’’ Copper Pipe ** x 4’'**

-1/4’’ Copper Pipe x 2’'

-1/2’’ 45° Copper Elbow x 6

-1/2’’ 90° Copper Elbow x 3

-1/2’’ Copper Coupler x 4

-3/4’’ 90° Copper Elbow x 2

-1/4’’ 90° Copper Elbow ** x 4**

-1/2’’ RUB Brass Ball Valve, P.N. T242D00 x 1

-Hammond Aluminum Project Enclosure, 2.3x2.17x1.02, P.N. 1550Q ** x 1**

-Hammond Aluminum Project Enclosure, 4.4x2.3x1.6, P.N. 1590BS ** x 1**

-Hammond Aluminum Project Enclosure, 3.5x1.38x1.02, P.N. 1550A ** x 1**

-*Hammond Aluminum Project Enclosure, 4.77x2.6x1.39, P.N. 1590N1 x 1(I’m still not 100% sure about this one)

-Rubber Boot for 2.5’’ Ashcroft DG25 Gauge, P.N. 471B190-01 x 1

-TE Connectivity Round Connector Cable Clamp, P.N. 206966-7 ** x 2**

-TE Connectivity Round Connector Housing, P.N. 796094-2 x 2

All of the copper should be able to be gotten at any hardware store, Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc., the project boxes and connectors are available on Allied Electronics, the RUB Ball valve you can order through Fastenal, and the gauge boot is from Davis Instruments or Cole Parmer.

I’ve ordered everything and will confirm it’s accuracy once it all arrives.

I’ll also photoshop a diagram showing where each piece is located on the pack.

9

Quick n’ dirty, but hopefully it gets the point across:

10

Awesome Austin.

I was looking more closely at the photos that the Socal Busters took and was wondering if the tubing on the main pack really is copper plumbing. At first it is what I assumed as well, but upon closer inspection it looks like it could be something different… and doesn’t appear to be soldered like the rest of the exposed copper is.

11

The copper fittings I’ve looked at match the design of the ones on the pack and there’s a few areas where it looks like copper is showing through(especially on the upper part of the pack). Honestly, I think they just painted it.

But never say never! I’ll dig around and see if I can find anything else that matches.

12

Am I crazy?

13

Actually no. I think that’s copper. Those are really good pictures of it.

The tubing at the bottom though is a little different. You can see maybe some copper on top, and then welded pipe being secured into the copper with a screw. (Lower portion of this photo).

There is also those brackets welded on to the copper. While possible, it just seems weird if it were all copper.

14

Great job, folks! The wife and I want to put a couple together and we would never know where to start. We’ll be watching these threads with great interest.

15

It does seem odd, especially for a big budget production, to use one type of metal but paint it to look like another. But stranger things, I suppose.

It all looks soldered to me and I’m personally leaning towards it all being all copper, just painted.

16

^At least weathered. Of course, if they used a torch or a welder, the oxidation could be different depending on method.

17

In regards to the Hammond 1590N1box, I THINK it’s used for these two:

and

Both boxes have obviously been cut down. I did some rough measurements and I think cutting up the 1590N1 box into two pieces will give you those two parts.

Also, here’s a better look at the 1550A box tucked behind the piece of bent aluminum:

The top of it has been cut off as well. And looks like a section of the lid has been cut out to accommodate the piece of black material that’s visible.

18

The two parts that are driving me nuts are the motherboard and the setup under the cage, not to mention what I can only guess is a heatsink in the center of the cage…

19

Also, the more I look at it, the more the cage looks like chicken wire, maybe a medium gauge?

What ever it is, its clearly doubled - there’s an edge under the outter most part.

20

I would almost guarantee they’re made for production. One thing I do know is that it’s not actually copper tubing on the inside of the cage but rather larger copper wire wrapped coils.

Definitely not chicken wire. It’s a woven mesh.