User avatar
By bigi71
#346712
wm6929 wrote:What else have you scratch built?
Did you ever post your Falcon build, in this detail, somewhere else?
Not much really, ive made a few models and some other small things but not really any ambitious projects like this one. Also this little Falcon was just sort of a test project to see what i could make of an old mpc kit, i dont even own it anymore ^.^
IPv6Freely wrote:Hey, what do you use to sand your styrene to round corners etc? Just a dremel, or what?
I used a sanding block with some sandpaper and also some files, it was explained in more detail on page 7 of this thread.
wm6929 wrote:A year ago, today, Bigi71 started this epic thread.
haha...yeah, i cant believe its been going for so long. I already started the pack more than a year ago :-o
User avatar
By IPv6Freely
#346741
bigi71 wrote:
IPv6Freely wrote:Hey, what do you use to sand your styrene to round corners etc? Just a dremel, or what?
I used a sanding block with some sandpaper and also some files, it was explained in more detail on page 7 of this thread.
Wow, thanks! That must have been some major elbow grease! I've just started working with styrene and having a difficult time getting it shaped the way I want. Edges always come out jagged. Maybe need coarser sandpaper...
User avatar
By IPv6Freely
#351623
kind2311 wrote:bump.

this needs to remain on the first page as it is absolutely the best proton pack ever replicated. period.
I was just thinking yesterday that this should be stickied.
User avatar
By bigi71
#352541
kind2311 wrote:bump.

this needs to remain on the first page as it is absolutely the best proton pack ever replicated. period.
Thanks man, that means a lot coming from you :D

Im still continuing to improve this pack wherever i can so this weekend i modified a very nice real bellows i got from a fellow member here :)
This is pretty much what i started with, next to my machined jpa35 replica bellows:
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Before i took the first pic i had the bottom part already sawed off and next i sawed the top part off and soldered some small copper plates to the inside of it so it cant be compressed anymore:
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For the bottom i soldered a plate to it too using a small gas torch:
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As you can see in the photos its copper instead of brass so i actually went for the look of the bellows on the murray pack since that way i could get away without painting it much. Sure i had to change its color though, which was done chemically with a potassium sulfate solution:
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Now i had to think about how to do the top part....well...i already had one but it had to be removed from something else ^.^
Maybe some people will hate me for doing this but it worked very well:
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:)

After that i just added a little bit of paint to it and scewed it to my pack:
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Not too shabby i think :)

Another thing i did was making a more accurate new socket for my flashbulb, new ones on the left, old one on the right:
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One of the two new ones will hopefully arrive at its new owner soon ;)

It looks like this when installed:
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Just for fun i also messed a bit more with the paint on my alice frame:
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Now it looks even more used without having too much bare metal exposed.

Next update should be up soon, although its probably going to be one of the last ones.
By xtrmn8r17
#352924
OMG! WowZers! This, this...this is amazing! Its gonna be sad to see the updates finally coming to an end, but im sure we ALL enjoyed this ride with you. Thanks so much for sharing this amazing pack with the community.
User avatar
By IPv6Freely
#352976
Filandrius wrote:This thread should not only be stickied, it should be made mandatory reading for every newbie. This is how a pack is made.
I agree. Even if you're using a shell and not scratch building, the photos in this thread alone are a HUGELY useful reference for how things should be done.
User avatar
By FeinDTacticS
#354368
So much love went into this pack... it is truly incredible
By Sturdag Lagernathy
#354375
Amazing build, sir! You most definately are a legend! I don't think you answered this before, but how many board feet of styrene went into the pack alone?
User avatar
By bigi71
#354467
Thanks for the kind words guys ! :D
Vincenzo330 wrote:That's a mighty fine bellows, I knew you'd figure out what to do with it, I just had no idea it'd be so quickly :)
I just...umm....well....i looked at it and it told me i had to do it that day ;)
Sturdag Lagernathy wrote:I don't think you answered this before, but how many board feet of styrene went into the pack alone?
When i started i ordered a 500x1000mm sheet of 2mm thick and the same amount of 3mm thick styrene, but i had plenty left.
User avatar
By pchrisbosh1
#354776
Your nuts Bjorn, seriously nuts, but in a good way :-). Everything really looks great, must have not been easy for you to hack off that shockmount cap it hurts me just looking at it.
User avatar
By bigi71
#355709
Thanks Chris :)
It wasnt that hard to decide to mutilate my machined shockmount for the sake of having a real one on my pack ;)

But yeah, i think you must be right when you say im nuts...i got very inspired and motivated by your texturing tutorial and after some not so great results of playing with texturing spray i had the silly idea of doing this whole thing with my demel, haha >.<
The spray i had was pretty easy to scrape off with a fingernail when it was fully dry and i thought it would be cool to have this surface detail on the shell itself. No danger of scraping anything off then and it would also allow me to still have the "repaired" spot on the lower left of my cyclotron without exposing a spray texture coat.

So i got started after experimenting a bit:
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Needless to say this took a lot of time (in fact two whole days) and i wouldnt recommend it to anyone who wants to stay sane ;)

At least i was able to save the paintjob on my N-filter, the cosmetic plates on the spacer, the injectors, the EDA discs and the cyclotron rings. I needed to see some results while working on it so here we have the upper part of the gearbox in primer:
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And now the whole shell:
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So then i painted it again, weathered it and finally i was able to put it all back together:
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Having all the parts ready made it a lot of fun to assemble :)

Fortunately i was also able to save the fake weld around the booster tube, it stayed on the EDA box in one piece:
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Aaaaand now:
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Before painting it i also added some surface texture by smearing superglue onto the shell:
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Also found a little airbubble there when i sanded the shell but i just left it, it adds some character ;):lol:
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The clippard hex fittings got an update too, now they are more beveled:
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So this is where im at right now:
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Sure it was a lot of work to do all this but i think it was worth it and im happy with the result :)

The gearbox label is just temporarily slapped on and its missing some other lables at the moment, im gonna wait for the new ones Funk made and put these on my pack. And of course i also have to wait for the pack to get dusty again, it looks better that way ;)
By ecto
#355917
I can't believe you textured the whole shell by hand, that's insane and in only 2 days. You got skills my friend your on a whole other level. Your pack is just simple amazing!
By Stroudy
#356218
This.....this....this just gets better. Seriously stop now before we all hate you so much we won't post anymore :D

Lol, You are simply the best and ballsiest person on here.
User avatar
By mburkit
#356225
IPv6Freely wrote:Hmm, I didn't notice there were TWO screws here...
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Almost all the hero packs from the first film had 2 holes on atleast the top 2 mounting points of the shell. This isn't the first fan replica to have those.

The only hero pack that didn't have those is the one he' replicating which brings me to the next picture. . .
IPv6Freely wrote: Whats this hole for? (also what are those rivets doing?)
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The pack Bjorn is trying to replicate moved the top mounting point that's usually under the ion arm on the hero packs to this spot on the powercell, for some reason. That explains that hole.

As for the pop rivets, they hold the powercell electronics to the motherboard. Look at the reference photos of any of the hero packs from GB1 or GB2 and you will see those 3 pop rivets there.
User avatar
By IPv6Freely
#356268
mburkit wrote: The pack Bjorn is trying to replicate moved the top mounting point that's usually under the ion arm on the hero packs to this spot on the powercell, for some reason. That explains that hole.

As for the pop rivets, they hold the powercell electronics to the motherboard. Look at the reference photos of any of the hero packs from GB1 or GB2 and you will see those 3 pop rivets there.
Crazy...
Okay thanks!
User avatar
By bigi71
#356316
Thanks for the kind words guys :)
Im gonna take more pics when i have the new labels and some other thing im waiting for.
madmantrez wrote:What Dremel accessory did you use?
I used a small round one like this:
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mburkit wrote: Almost all the hero packs from the first film had 2 holes on atleast the top 2 mounting points of the shell. This isn't the first fan replica to have those.

The only hero pack that didn't have those is the one he' replicating which brings me to the next picture. . .
Sounds like youre saying the sony lobby hero pack doesnt have two holes in the gun mont box, hehe :P;)
Just for clarification i gotta say i has two as well, but theyre closer to the v-hook than they are on my pack. I didnt go all anal about all these since from the beginning i decided im not gonna replicate the weird hole placements on the bottom of the spacer and the top left. So the hole in the side of my powercell could be seen more as a homage to the sony pack since the actual L-bracket on my mobo is where it is on the other packs too. Maybe ill change that some day and drill another hole into my powercell, but not yet. Right now im happy with this kind of compromise :)

Ok....well...i have one picture today, i tried the vinegar electrolysis Chris described in his thread and got my XLR connector to look old:
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Also took it one step further and sanded the whatever plating off the pins so the brass which was underneath can be seen. The pins were then oxidized too and no sanding marks are visible on them now:)
By madmantrez
#356463
When you were texturizing your shell, how did you approach it? Did you have a certain pattern or depth in mind?

What are the dimensions you used to replicate the xlr/input/toggle plate?

Thanks.
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