Like many in this community, my fandom started in my childhood. My first proton packs were cardboard numbers, neither of them particularly accurate but fun to ■■■■■■■■ nonetheless, vague mishmashes of the movie and RGB packs complete with basic lights and an extending tip (via a bit of elastic tubing). Bustin’ ghosts in the neighborhood with my friends was the favorite afternoon passtime.
And then I grew up. Oh, the humanity. When I stumbled upon this site last year, it rekindled my love for the franchise. And I knew it was time to build another pack. Having never tackled a prop-building project this big since those days of running around in the jumpsuit my mom made, I decided to start small to see if my skills were up to the task. So I tackled the thrower first, since the materials were readily available locally. It has since sort of become my “tinker project” that I futz with in passing a few minutes here and there. The body is built out of .08" styrene sheet and 1.25" x .0625" plastic drainpipe, reinforced with 2-part putty.
Unfortunately up until now I’ve been bad about taking pictures, but here is how it stood a few weeks ago, after finishing the main body. I just had to dry fit the switches and lights – to see if they fit, of course, and not to play with it or anything. 
The red lens on top is a placeholder until I can either find an appropriate clear version or cast one up on my own.
And today I got a few parts in from MMM, so here is how it stands, with the gaps puttied, the edges sanded, the palm rest added, and the knobs test fit.
ToDo:
Finish front barrel assembly, patch, sand and fit grips
Build injection cylinder
In a couple of weeks I plan to order larger sheets of .125" styrene, and the full pack build will begin in earnest. Lights and sound will be provided by a custom Arduino setup which I’ve got roughly 75% complete. I am trying to build as much from scratch as possible, sans the detail bits.
Halloween ‘10 is the target. Here’s hopin’!
