Undrtkrbob's 2k11 Pack Build

[Undrtkrbob]

Ok, so I did a little more work on the guns. I was wanting to start sanding the shell but I’ll save that for when I have a full day to work on it.

I took yet another page from Libtechinit’s book and wanted to save space in the gun. I dremeled out a space around the nuts and screws that hold the vhook on.


And yeah I pretty much massacred the inside of the bottom plate trying to get everything to line up right. Which after going over everything again, was pretty much unnecessary. After the space was dremeled I cut and drilled a small metal plate to go in the space I made. Then filled it in with magic sculpt around the nuts and the plate.



We got pretty much everything else on the gun except for the other switches. I am very pleased with how they came out, especially after I had to redo just about everything a few times lol. We definitely did not need nearly as much magic sculpt as we used in the corners. Live and learn. We decided not to go with the fake weld on the rear handle. We like the smooth look better. I have the parts for the front assembly but Momeraths24 is making the front assembly he offers for these kits. I’m going to go ahead and have the TC assembly ready though as a back up.





Also went ahead and painted the top of the ion arms. Definitely looks better. Probably going to just let everything weather naturally. Especially the aluminum parts. I’ll hopefully be able to dress up the elbows this weekend also.


[Phish4dinner]

Beautiful!!!

[Undrtkrbob]

Ok, just a tiny update. Been real busy lately and haven’t been able to put in as much work as I would have liked to lately. I got the first shell prepped and ready to go. I’m just waiting on my aluminum parts so I can attach those and do all my drilling before painting.

So after lightly sanding the shell inside and out, we noticed we were a little too rough in come areas. Tiny pin holes showed up in the curves of the shell, mostly around the cyclotron. I decided to lay some fiberglass over these areas on the underside of the shell. I don’t know if this is recommended or even necessary, but it made me feel better. lol

This is the cyclotron after laying the fiberglass around the inside. I goofed in the bottom right because I accidentally put too much resin down.


I also hit the rest of the shell, mostly to be safe and because I’m paranoid about something going wrong with the shells.


The next day I decided to mount the bumper after giving the resin ample time to dry. I’ve never been so nervous about drilling into something in my life. Mounting the shell on the mobo is going to wreck my nerves I’m sure.


I put a spacer between the shell and the bumper for the threaded rod to run through. Then I put a nut and washer on the inside of the shell. The bumper is on there nice and tight.



The goal for this weekend is to prep the second shell and get the bumper mounted. Hopefully we’ll also be able to get them both mounted to the mobos. Then I’ll try and tackle evening up the lense holes in the cyclotron. So far I’m well pleased and can’t wait to wear these things.


[u_alkaline_]

Looking great so far! Instead of using fiberglass next time try using bondo for pin holes or even plumbers putty. Its easier and cleaner to work with than fiberglass/ resin and can be just as effective. Sometimes laying new fiberglass over cured resin does not adhere correctly. You shouldn’t have any issues though from the pictures it looked like everything turned out just fine.

[Undrtkrbob]

Yeah everything dried fine. I was more worried I sanded too much in the surrounding areas and thinned the walls around the pin holes. After the resin cured I went over it with a thin layer of magic sculpt just to be sure. I’m about to start on the second one and I’ll use your tips on that one. Thanks for the advice and the great work on the shells.

[parksdesign]

what size spacer did you use between the bumper and cyclotron?

[janderson0719]

@parksdesign

what size spacer did you use between the bumper and cyclotron?

Looks like a 1/4" spacer. That’s what I used.

[Undrtkrbob]

@janderson0719

@parksdesign

what size spacer did you use between the bumper and cyclotron?

Looks like a 1/4" spacer. That’s what I used.

Yeah, its a 1/4’’ shaft collar.

[Undrtkrbob]

Finally some more progress. ( I know the updates don’t matter much with all the builds going on lately…but it makes me feel better :-P)


Finally got around to mounting the bumper on the second pack and at least getting one of them mounted to the mobo and alice frame. I goofed slightly on my measurements of the L brackets on the top of the mobo. The dry fit went on fine, but when I did the finally mount they ended up being a bit close to the shell somehow. It works fine though, just a little snug.

The only thing left to do on the guns is to finish the barrel adapter that holds the acrylic tube in place at the end of the front grip. All in all I’m extremely pleased with how they have come out so far. I’ll hopefully start painting sometime this week.


Just as several people have mentioned in other threads, this is where I really got excited that I had a proton pack. The first dawning of the pack…



More to come this week…hopefully.

[parksdesign]

looks great. heavier than you thought, I bet.

[Undrtkrbob]

Back for another small update. Been busier and busier at work so I haven’t been able to put the full effort into the pack that I wanted. I will, however, been finishing it up in time for Dragoncon. After Dcon I’ll come back and redo a few things so they’re the way I want them. But for now here is how everything is shaping up.

I got my aluminum parts in a couple of weeks ago from Momerath24. He does great work. He stays busy but delivers a great product if you’re patient. Got everything installed on both shells. Had a delay with the booster tube but Franchesky is fixing it and sending those back.


I started painting last week. I used Filandrius’ method on my pack. I started with a base coat of Krylon Fusion Nickle Shimmer. I let it sit for a week to make sure it cured properly. I left some imperfections on the pack. I wanted give the packs the feel that they are imperfect and were indeed made in some guys garage. So there are spots on the shell, guns, and bumpers that I purposefully didn’t feel in or repair.


This past weekend I started applying the Krylon BBQ Black to the guns and bumpers. I really like this paint. It looks good, goes on well and dries quickly and as soon as it does it is very durable. I was able to handle the gun and start installing the lights with a couple of hours without worry. For now I am using the Jupiter Electronic kits. Later on I will switch to aluminum gun bodies with R2Devo’s light kits.


I’m going to repaint the track tonight. I didn’t realize I picked up a random can of rustoleum BBQ instead of the Krylon so it ended up with a flat finish.

Here is a shot of the lights being test fit.


I will hopefully have both packs done in the next couple of weeks. We have been doing a lot of work on the light and sound kits. We’re not exactly electronic masters but we have been successful in the getting the lights and sound wired together and should have everything going soon.

Last thing for now. New ink. On my right arm using the patch I ordered from GBFans as the stencil.


[jros3484]

omg thats awesome…

[Undrtkrbob]

And now the first major snag. I started painting the shell this week. I did as several guides and posts on here suggested to make everything come out the way its supposed to. After I applied the primer I applied the silver in short small coats. After it dried I had a ton of little cracks. The paint wasn’t splitting itself but there were a bunch of fault lines through the shell. Going to be sanding tonight and repriming/sanding and leave out the silver. I’ll post pics later today hopefully.

[nick-a-tron]

I really wish people would stop spraying their packs silver. Hope you get it sorted

[Undrtkrbob]

I played with it on other things I had lying around and I liked the result. It worked great on the guns but not so much on the shell. But yeah I’m done with it. Just going with the primer/hammered/primer/satin paint scheme like I should have done to begin with.

[KagaSakai]

@nick-a-tron

I really wish people would stop spraying their packs silver. Hope you get it sorted

Everyone seems to follow Mike’s paint job, but we can’t really blame him as he didn’t know any better back then.

[Undrtkrbob]

Can’t blame people for using it as an example either. His build came out really well. lol

I got it all straightened out and am very pleased with the results. I sanded down the pack and reprimed it, sanded, primed and sanded. I tapped up the pack and applied the hammered finish to the cyclotron. Once that dried, I took some very fine sand paper to it the next day and reprimed. Then finally applied the satin black after the final coat of primer had been sanded. I was going to use the hammered finish on the whole pack but decided to go a different route. Instead of using the hammered finish on everything, what I did was I left several rough or uneven spots when I was sanding. I want to give the packs the look of being rough around the edges. Again, I think of these as being built in a crazy scientist’s garage. Also, these things go through hell in the movies. I like to think that they get repainted or touched up every now and then. So in a few areas the primer wasn’t sanded down completely smooth. Once I added the satin black, I think the results were pretty good. Once my camera charges up I’ll post some good pics instead of what I took with my phone.

Again, sorry for the crappy phone pics for now. You can see what I was talking about with the rough areas on the bottom ring below the cyclotron. I know it makes it look like I did a crappy paint job, but once it starts to weather I think it’ll give a cool effect.


I love how the guns turned out. Hopefully they will be done this evening when I get off work. Wiring and all.


I know there are some things that I can change but I’m working towards finishing everything for Dragoncon. After Dcon I’ll go back and fix some things such as the clippard screws on the gun and the legris straights…which I lost

[dhammans]

I like the tattoo. I think that’s the first time in my life I’ve actually seriously considered getting one.

[Canthor]

Good looking build gun turned out really well.

[Undrtkrbob]

Quick update. My pack is finished (for now) and the second is almost complete.

I’m happy with how it all turned out. After Dragoncon I’ll make a few changes here and there just to clean up the build a little bit and add a few finer details that I’m not too worried about right now. I went ahead and used the spectra cable for now. With pchrisbosh1 getting the GB1 cables manufactured, I thought I would wait and see how that came out. I keep saying it but I’ll definitely have some better pics this evening.