Starter tips for 1st ever pack?

Equipment Proton Packs
1

Im fairly new to building this kind of stuff and have no experince or know how what so ever. from what ive researched it looks like you can buy a shell and after making a mother board you just build off of that.

Does anyone have any good advice or starter locations/guides as to how I should even begin to start this? I’m not going to lie, this is intimdating to me and I feel like I have no idea where to even begin. Can anyone recommend any kits or places to buy from? Im not looking for something thats going to be 100% top of the line but id like it to be decent with at least lights and possibly sound. Again. I would need something that an infant chimp could build.

Any help is appreciated. and please be kind and patient. I know im a rookie. So far everyone has being extremely nice and helpful

2

Run for your life.

The best guide is to read about the experiences of others then kind of wing it. There are so many parts from so many sellers, so many techniques and styles that there aren’t many concrete step-by-step guides that I’ve ever seen.

Start with a shell. Buy one here, or if you HAVE to buy from ebay, buy from sellers you recognize as members here.

If you don’t want to do a lot of work or aren’t confident with your skills, go with a nice fiberglass shell. Maybe try to find one with as many parts attached (n-filter, ion arm, etc), holes drilled (cyclotron and power cell), and guide marks as possible. Guide marks are little dents or other marks that show you where to drill, cut or attach other parts so you don’t have to measure or worry.

These aren’t cheap.

You can trace the outline of the shell onto a wood board or sheet metal or something then cut it out. Or you can buy one pre-made and hope it’s compatible with your shell.

Honestly… I’ve typed out a few tips and techniques but I keep erasing it and re-writing it. The best advice I can give is:

Man up and do as much of it yourself as you can. The only thing that’s intimidating is the price. Even scratchbuilds and junk packs aren’t cheap.

I suggest you wait and get all of your parts and tools before you start building.

Drill your holes first. This goes with the thrower and the pack.

Do test fittings. Make sure everything fits and works together. My n-filter, HGA and PPD didn’t fit and I had to cut and rebuild a large portion of my pack to get them to work.

Secure everything as best you can. If you think you can just superglue this little piece here or wedge in this piece there and hope it’ll stay in place - it won’t.

Read and study as much about other builds as you can.

3

Hmmm… Well I read some of that list … I now plan to win the lottery then buy an awesome pack as I don’t think I could make one! And sadly can’t afford one… Someone was selling paper/cardboard ones on eBay recently which were decent for the price.

I’m also craving a pink Hello Kitty pack!

Sent from my HTC Vision using Ghostbusters Fans on Android

4

The only advise I will give you is to take your time. You can do this as fast as you want, but taking your time will let you find good parts and read through all the good build here and those builds will give you ideas.

5

Cool thanks guys, I think i will try to get a fiberglass shell. I dont want to use ebay at all if possible. Yeah Im in no rush, mainly due to time and money . It does seem over whelming but if i just read and take it one piece at a time then i think i can do it. Im going to try to get an alice frame next week and then look for a shell I guess

6

Take your time, and if it helps… pick a section to start working with. In working up to the Proton Pack, I started on some of the small props: The Ecto Goggles, the Belt Gizmo.

Another good tip is give yourself a to-do list, and detail all the parts you need so you can tick them off, and keep track of what’s missing. :slight_smile:

Aside from that, patience and not rushing… there isn’t a contest to get it finished. :slight_smile:

7

Yeah, I’m def not in a rush. I decided today that Ill buy an alice frame 1st, then look into a fiberglass shell and once I have a shell, then a motherboard will be easy to make. Is fiberglass the recommended shell?? What would be something easy to work with yet still look and feel good? Any recommendations as to where to find a good shell or perhaps a kit?

8

ps I saw that Multimedia Mayhem has a proton gun kit that ill probably invest in. Alot of people seem to recommend them, just unsure where to get a proper shell

9

Get a shell off one of the buyers on here and avoid ebay as much as possible.

10

Cool, I’m getting together with my friend who knows how to build and such to get a general plan together. I would like to go fiberglass but i dont know how easy that is to work with. Its probably going to be a couple weeks before I actually get started pack wise but I’d like to get as much knnowledge before then. Im kind of just rounding out my suit til then. Im so psyched. To quote Flounder from Animal House..“This is going to be GREAT!”

11

Fiberglass is really easy to work with. It’s sturdy but not hard to drill through. A standard drill or dremel would be able to cut through it easily. You can’t go wrong with a fiberglass shell.

12

Would a styrene motherboard work for a vacuform/resin pack? Metal ones just seem so expensive for a first/ scratch build.

13

I would recommend 1/8" hardboard or 1/4" MDF for a styrene shell, there’s not much weight there so strength is not so much of an issue, you can still mount it the same as an aluminum board.

14

I would recommend against a styrene mobo. I tried that myself and it bent way too easily, it was 5mm thick but just didn’t have the integrity to hold up to carrying a pack. Aluminium if u can afford it or wood as irri suggested.

15

Cool, glad to hear fiberglass is easy to work on then, I’m going to sit down with my buddy tomorrow and talk with him about building so I should be able to start looking for parts soon then

16

Ill give you a heads up as a new builder myself.

I built my first pack last year with almost no tools, no experience, my living room to work in, and 3 weeks to do it in. It wasnt anything like the kind of amazing some of these guys make. But a lot of these guys have made these packs over many years, past prop building experience and buddys with the right tools/experience.

I heard a guy say once. When it comes to building something like this “you either have a lot of money or a lot of time” and that really is the way you decide how your prop is gonna be built. I will say though that my build last year really taught me a lot about these and I couldnt be making the progress I am on this years pack without that experience.

SO find a medium to work with, stick with it and dont underestimate how long any of this stuff takes haha. I spent 4 hours one day just cutting out the frame to go over my power cell window on my styrene thrower build. it all adds up. And I cant stress enough to just spend a lot of time on here looking at different posts. There is literally not much of anything you will run across building a pack that someone else hasnt already asked about.

17

When I did our pack builds, I literally started about the same time as you, before Halloween.

Obtaining a shell for halloween at this late date is going to be hard, because its the busy season. Some shell providers have lists that can take months to fill, and shipping from overseas can take a lot longer then you’d think.

There are many ways to build packs, and there are both accurate and inaccurate methods.

The more accurate you want, the more time and money its going to cost you. And many people start with inaccurate packs, first, ad build better packs after they’ve teethed themselves on the first build.

Jack Doud has complied a list of build threads for proton packs and sticked it near the top of the forum.

Looks over the different build threads, and pick one you want to emulate.

We spent no more than $350 on two uniforms, packs, and guns 3 years ago, and though inaccurate have won many cash prizes, and gotten tons of compliments on our gear from people seeing us in gear. (Keep in mind most people have no idea what a proton pack even looks like, other than a ■■■■■■■■■ electric box with some lights and a gun attached.)

Set yourself a budget, pick a build method and go at it! And if your first pack isn’t the best, you can always replace it with better down the road.

While the goal is enjoyable, try to enjoy the journey as well. I had a blast building our gear, and look foreward to building better ones one of these days.

18

I have to agre with gare about that. Last year when i wore my monstrositiy i made out in public people reacted like it was te most amazing thing they had ever seen. And this year with my new and MUCH MUCH NICER and way more accurate build people ask me if its the same one i had last year.

So although you know the difference, trust me it will sadden you when you drop 800.00 and your friends and colleagues just say, yeah its cool but i dont know what its supposed to look like. Haha

19

Good advice guys. It def makes me more calm about it. I ended up not meeting withmy friend yet. I’m in no rush so ill just go nice and easy. I’m going to search around the threads with him. I guess you are right. The common man wont pick up on details so ill just create a good starter pack and use this as my training wheels. Thanks again

20

I’m thinking the bumper will be the priciest part, and 9 out of 10 people probably wouldn’t even notice if it wasn’t there. I might forego it til after Halloween.