Ok this is my first build. Strengthening was done first. I used some abs glue and cut out thin pieces of aluminum. Sanded the pack inside and out. Drilled my light holes. And I have a friend building my motherboard. One days worth of work so far. I aquired these lenses for a maglite as well.
lenses
shell sanding and drilling
patches
What did you use to drill out your light holes? I’m in the middle of a studio creations build as well.
1 1/4 inch hole saw worked perfect.
Keep us posted man.. more pics!!! 
sorry for the crappy pic. While at work I drilled 3/16 hole and used 3/16 aluminum pop rivets to secure them together. I am glad I added the aluminum for strength. I can see how the plastic could break with some stress. Although this is very strong and flexes without issues.
Anyone know of a kit I can purchase for the pack only parts? I have found separate pieces but I would like a kit for the n-filter etc. I have purchased the barb connectors, ribbon, ribbon clamps and various hoses. Thanks gbfans store. I will try and make what I can out of pvc.
decided the area around the cyclotron was too smooth looking. So I cut some rectangles out and used some abs glue to secure them. I did clean them up on the grinder for a cleaner shape. Not bad considering I used tin snips. Dremel makes a more precise cut but the heat from the friction melts the plastic sometimes. Plus I am doing this in front of the tv.
Putty will be added to correct a few things then primer and paint.
got a few more things accomplished.
alice pack sanded and painted
cyclotron lenses glued to reflector housings. Perfect size and fit. Got them from the dollar tree.
injectors, rpd, hga and n-filter started.
a little test fit here
and got my 2xl tall tru-spec suit in. Perfect fit. Although I did order the 2xl rothco. Just almost a perfect fit. Needed 2 more inches from the crouch to the neck and it would have fit great. I am 6"3’ 235 lbs. Little bit of a belly. Anyone interested in my rothco let me know.
What angle did you cut the booster tube at? I haven’t gotten that far yet (had to trim down my MOBO to fit the pack and it’s taken longer than expected)
Also, what did you use for your N Filter? I bought one from Eric Hunter, but it’s slightly too big for the notch out on the cyclotron.
seems like it was 40 degrees. Maybe 45. Since I am building to Stefan’s plans and this shell isn’t exact to his plans I kinda have to make some adjustments for a perfect fit. This is a 2 inch pvc pipe as well. Which I guess is ok bc I am not going to movie accuracy. Kinda using what I have lying around.
Yeah, I’m in the same boat. Not trying to be screen accurate, but still have a cool looking pack.
Thanks for the info!
Having built a couple of studio creations pack, one thing that really helps with rigidity is some type of expanding foam. After you’ve attached everything to the top half of the shell, fill it up with some foam (just be sure to not fill in where the powercell lights go and where the brackets from the mobo are). It def adds strength and makes the pack feel less flimsy, although your added aluminum strips might make this step unnecessary,
Lookin good so far!
I was still thinking of foam in a few spots. I did find one week spot in the plastic and it had cracked. Epoxy putty fixed it tho. Thanks. What kind of foam?? Just expanda foam or??
Man, I am an idiot. I got so excited after drilling out the holes in my cyclotron that I went ahead and put in my red lenses, completely forgetting that I still need to paint my shells. Ugh!
Gonna have to get creative with the blue 3m painters tape.
I almost did that too. Yeah I was going to say use the painters tape. I screwed my n-filter up with the vent holes. Oh well I have more pvc so I will try again. Reassembled the straps on the alice pack today. That was easy. Bought a block of balsa wood to make my ion arm and a few other parts today. Getting close to having the pack ready. Haven’t bought any of the wand parts yet. Thinking I might make it if a kit isn’t available. Don’t know yet.
Yeah, and a word to the wise, don’t use gorilla glue. It expands too much and is a major p.i.t.a. (pain in the…)
Hot glue will get the lenses in there nice and tight and can always be cut away if you’re an idiot like me and jumped forward a few steps before realizing that painting has to come first.
Oh well. I was planning on giving the lenses a nice sanding to make them more frosted so you wouldn’t be able to see the LED clusters.
K. Good idea on the lenses.
Yeah, just use a very fine grit sandpaper and it’ll look like they’re frosted or etched glass.
Truth be told, I once saw a pack that had lights inside the cyclotron that moved in a circle, they were pretty amazing, but I’ve lost the video that I saw them in and there wasn’t any information about it. I can say this much, it was freakin’ awesome.
Not to thread-jack, but here’s a picture of my Studio Creations build as of last night.
Again, not going for accuracy, just overall look.
This has been a total of about 7 hours work (give or take) and I still need to paint, wire up lights, attach to MOBO, etc.
not bad! looking good mate!
