User avatar
By KoCo
#4860881
Hey, second page! Alright!

I've been very busy with work, though I did manage to make a small amount of progress in both rebuilding the cage frame and putting the mesh onto the cage.

My last cage was way too small. This one is still perhaps undersized, though it's the closest I'll get without rethinking how to mount the boxes on the left. As it stands, the rings on the cage are 6.5", 9.5", and 11" respectively.

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Azgbfan, Kingpin, Lewis Tully and 1 others liked this
User avatar
By Azgbfan
#4860899
Sorry, I meant to ask what the gauge of wire you used for the cage. I bought the same mesh the Doug suggested, I just was curious on the wire you used. Eitherway it looks great.
User avatar
By KoCo
#4860903
Azgbfan wrote:Sorry, I meant to ask what the gauge of wire you used for the cage. I bought the same mesh the Doug suggested, I just was curious on the wire you used. Eitherway it looks great.
Oh, gottcha. It's 11 gauge galvanized steel. It's what those tomato cages are made from that you can find at home and garden stores.
User avatar
By KoCo
#4861412
Time for a big 'ol update.

This week marked the end of tax season, so we can finally continue on with this build!

I decided to set out to make the frame for the cryo tank enclosure, so I made up some blueprints, bought some lumber and aluminum, and set off!

Here is a mock-up of the blueprints I made. I hope they help people!

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As you can see below, I made some hand-drawn blueprints so I could lay everything out and figure out the appropriate angles for the wood to be cut at. Then I said "screw it" and just sanded the wood to approximately the right angle.

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(I know, it's not pretty. Just wait for it...)
The next day after the wood glue had dried, I got out the aluminum L-bar I had purchased (4 ft, if anyone is curious), and began cutting it into sections, then trimming one side to match the appropriate angles.

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Now I'll admit, I don't know how to weld. It's a terrible handicap to have in this hobby, but thanks to all sorts of adhesives, it hasn't set me back much.
I secured the aluminum to the wood frame with some E-6000. It seems to be pretty stable.

After that, I decided to cut the front L-bar and drill holes into it to replicate what can be seen in the reference photos.

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After a lot of deliberation, I decided the best way to create the "ears" that stick off the front of the box was to cut them out with long tabs on the backs that I could insert into the box and glue onto the existing frame. I didn't take pictures of this process save for a picture of the square hole I made in the l-bar for the tab to be inserted through.

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With the ears on I decided I hated the wood texture, and would never be able to make that wood look like aluminum, so I covered the entire top surface with thin sheet aluminum left over from the :love: box build. I attached the front bar on top of that as well.

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Then it was just a matter of attaching the side mesh, creating fake welds, and plasti-dipping the other exposed wood parts to protect it from the elements. (all that black will be hidden later)

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And here it sits now, waiting for its lid:

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I'll be tackling that lid next. It may be done in the next week.
User avatar
By Kingpin
#4861413
Lots and lots of notes for me to remember for my build.

Although I've had one idea for making the side panels without worrying about welding: cut a single piece shaped like the side panel, and then attach/glue separate segments cut to fit to create an aluminium "veneer" on top of it, so that it then looks like it's made from separate welded parts, but has the strength of a single solid piece. The downside is it might be a bit thicker, but will have added strength to it.
#4861418
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Absolutlely Brilliant Work so far, and it'll help me with my next step since I just finished this Image

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also a little tidbit that may come in handy for ya http://www.ebay.com/itm/172176043463
it's not exact but should make a close enough cradle
Kingpin liked this
User avatar
By Azgbfan
#4861756
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Well, I think I know the one major difference between Joe's and Sponge's Mobos, the size of the "L" plate. I had some styrene so, I thought I slap together the "toolbox" part of the pack using mostly the same measurements of what KoCo used and if you look at my photo, ignore the lid, the box frame comes right up to the end of the "L", while KoCo's has loads of room to grow.

I could be wrong. The measurement I get when I place my ruler on the counter and measure the edge of the "L" plate, I get 4.75". Curious, what do you get KoCo?

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User avatar
By KoCo
#4861761
It's true, there's a difference there.

Mine is Joe's prototype board, so the measurements are off from the final ones.
I believe mine sits at 5.5". I'm not sure what Joe's actual production boards are. I know he shortened the design a bit after the prototype was made.

I can say I've held my board up to a production-made motherboard and mine was longer than it in that area.
User avatar
By KoCo
#4863861
Time for an update.

First of all, have this! I posted it in the 'Reboot Pack Part Identification' thread, but might as well post it here too, since that thread won't always be active:

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Here is the download link for the full version: http://i.imgur.com/GK4C2Y7.png


Now then, it's been kind of a busy week. Doug released his STL files for his build, and Tommyb345 was kind enough to take on a commission to print a couple for me. There's not a lot to talk about as far as the build process goes.

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This upper display required little cleanup. Just a bit of sanding and it was ready to be painted.

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The heat sync required a lot of careful sanding. In the end, I couldn't get it to look both clean and metallic...

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So I dirtied it up a bit! It looks a little more subtle in person, and I believe it will tie in well once the rest of the pack is weathered.

Here is the paint I used for the heat sync. It looks good, though it might be a little too yellow.

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Thank you to both Doug and Thomas for creating and printing these files respectively.
tommyb345, Lewis Tully liked this
User avatar
By KoCo
#4865238
I guess it's time for an update! I'm hoping to have this pack (without electronics) in about seven short weeks, just before the film is released.

This past week, I focused on the inside of the synchrotron.

I've seen a couple of production-made packs, and inside of one of them, I was able to just make out a shape similar to this coupling:

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I'm not saying that is what it actually looks like inside the cage, that's just what I remember seeing the vague shape of. I could be totally wrong.
Either way, that looks pretty boring, so why don't we pick up a heat sync from eBay and spruce it up?

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That's better.

After the central tower was done, I decided to focus on the main structure of the synchrotron, something a friend and I call "the cereal bowl" for lack of a better term.

I started by cutting a massive sheet of quarter-inch styrene into a 6.5" diameter circle with five legs evenly spaced.

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I then heated and bent that into shape with a simple lighter. Pretty easy stuff.

Thinking ahead, I drilled four sets of two holes on each leg just large enough to thread some wire through.
That wire will be used to hold the copper coil on the inside of the cage later.

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I then painted up some miscellaneous ribbon cable to somewhat match what we see on screen: an 8 cable ribbon with half of it being colored, half being white.

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Once those were dry, I wire wrapped them to the cereal bowl. I wish I would have test fitted them first, as my copper wraps are admittedly perhaps a little low.
I also made a nice rope out of some wires and glued it on the inside of the cereal bowl. I tried to follow the colors from the SDCC pack.

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After that, it was on to the plate that sits under the cereal bowl. Once again, I took some mental notes while seeing a production pack in person. To me, it looks like acrylic painted from the underside.
I used clear styrene.

It was all fairly simple. I cut the styrene into shape, marked off the iris-like design in the center, etched that in with a Dremmel, then painted black over it, sanded the black down, leaving it in the etched area, added a gasket, some steel spacers, etc, and painted the underside white!

I didn't take many pictures during all this, unfortunately.

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After that, it was a simple matter of tying the copper coil inside with the wires I inserted earlier.

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Here's how it all looks together:

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I'm not sure what sort of weathering I want to do on the inside. I think that should all look fairly sterile and scientific.

I'm very excited to share the next update with you all. It's going to be awesome, thanks to another member here.
User avatar
By KoCo
#4866473
It's been a while. I suppose it's time for an update.

First of all, I really can't thank "Ryan The Ghostbuster" enough. He built a steel lid for my cryo-tank box, and even did it to my exact specifications. It turned out beautifully to boot.

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And here is a copy of my rough blueprints I made for him. These will work with the blueprints I posted previously for the sides of the cryo-box.

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Here it is all finished up. I hated the idea of painting it all black and not being able to show off that it's steel, so I used the mustard method of weathering and hit it with some steel wool to try to blend the weathering out a bit.

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Once that was attached, I decided it was time to sort out the gauge I had before proceeding. The one I formerly had was 2.5", which by my calculations is .5" too large. Joe Luna and Parflagush (I don't remember which of the two) found a source for a fairly accurate 2" gauge, so we all got to work modifying the boot we had all purchased to fit the new gauge.

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It's not perfect, but it'll work until we can find a good source for the 2" boots.

Here's how it all looks right now. I'm currently working on the V-hook mount as well as reworking the faraday cage to an accurate 12" diameter.

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That's about it as of now. Lots more progress will be made soon though. Stay tuned!
#4866584
KoCo wrote:Once that was attached, I decided it was time to sort out the gauge I had before proceeding. The one I formerly had was 2.5", which by my calculations is .5" too large. Joe Luna and Parflagush (I don't remember which of the two) found a source for a fairly accurate 2" gauge, so we all got to work modifying the boot we had all purchased to fit the new gauge.

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I am glad to read that some one else had the same issue with the strongly recommended 2.5 gauge, I tracked down a 2 inch gauge for mine that looks right on the face but lacks the label on the back, any chance yours has this? it's not something they really think to display on ebay so it has been a challenge to source.

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User avatar
By KoCo
#4866678
Ryan The Ghostbuster wrote: I am glad to read that some one else had the same issue with the strongly recommended 2.5 gauge, I tracked down a 2 inch gauge for mine that looks right on the face but lacks the label on the back, any chance yours has this? it's not something they really think to display on ebay so it has been a challenge to source.
PM'd. ;)
#4869840
Alright, so I, like many of you, was invited with my franchise to attend the L.A. premier of the new film.

So I guess that means I have no time to get this pack at least wearable!

Thanks to Tommyb345 for the 3D prints, partially based on Spongeface's lower display design.

I decided I'd better work on fleshing out the rest of the big pieces missing. I started with Tommy's prints of the lower display and RF circuit. Both were pretty straight forward. I did end up beefing up the cylindrical portion of the circuit, but other than that, it was just a matter of doing some finishing work.

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After that, it was on to the bumpers! These things are slightly tricky, but the geometry makes it really fun to build!

To make the mounting brackets for the heat sync, I bent the edges to conform to the 1/2" pipe and riveted them together.

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After that, it was time to paint! I did a few washes with gunmatal gray, black, and just a small amount of a more aluminum looking paint. I think it looks similar enough to the SDCC pack, though I may revisit it at some point in the future.

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Next up, I needed to make the facades for the inside of the cryo-box. I cut and bent styrene to the correct shape, then glued some 3/4" acrylic hemispheres to them. I made a template so they would be exact in their alignment.

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A simple flat black paint job with some "metallic" highlights brought us to this:

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Finally, I got some more mesh in to rebuild the lower half of the faraday cage for the upteenth time. This time it should be exact.

For the metal band along the edge of the faraday cage, I decided I didn't want just a flat band going around the outside. I wanted something with a gradual angle to it, as the screen used packs have.

I was fortunate enough to have a tape measure with me at Walmart, and found this bucket. Measuring it out, it had the exact slope I needed.

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I cut the band out, painted it a gold color with a fair amount of the bare metal showing through, and it looks pretty close to the real one to me!

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Now most everything is ready to mount now minus the electronics and gun.

Oh, I guess there are the straps, too...

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By the way, check out this new backpack I bought off eBay! Details to follow. ;)

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Kingpin liked this
#4870024
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Hello all,

Work continues this week. I hope to have the pack wearable in the next few days, as I would like to bring it to the premier with me.

The next big obstacle after making all the larger items was the straps.

I got lucky and after many hours of searching, found a great backpack to use as a base:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BACKSPACER-Scho ... SwHjNV74FE

In case the moderators redact that link, it's on eBay as "BACKSPACER School Backpack 15" Work Laptop BAG Padded(NEW)Orange+Black FreeSHIP!"

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Now, I did end up heavily modifying it. It probably would have been just as easy to make completely custom ones. I figure this will end up being a decent base for those not wanting to deal with that hassle.

For me, I repositioned the shoulder straps, added extra padding to them and the back pad, replaced the nylon straps, made a custom kidney pad and side pads.

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Here is a detail shot of some of the weathering:

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And here's me wearing the rig:

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Hope this helps everyone! On the next update, the pack will be strapped to my back!
User avatar
By KoCo
#4874199
More updates!

So I was able to get the pack mounted and wearable by July 7th as I was hoping.

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Here's a nice shot of the back pad all mounted up:

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Because I pushed really hard on that final week, I was able to get it done and wear it in L.A. to the world premiere. That was pretty awesome.

I was able to get Kate McKinnon's and Kristen Wiig's signatures with the worst Sharpie in the world:

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Then I was fortunate enough to handle a screen used suit. I didn't have a measuring tape, so I improvised with a piece of paper with a couple marks on it for scale.

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Thanks for looking! Updates on the gun are quickly coming, then it's just a matter of installing electronics, and we're done!

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:love:
By PeterV3329
#4875808
KoCo wrote:It's been a while. I suppose it's time for an update.

First of all, I really can't thank "Ryan The Ghostbuster" enough. He built a steel lid for my cryo-tank box, and even did it to my exact specifications. It turned out beautifully to boot.

Image

And here is a copy of my rough blueprints I made for him. These will work with the blueprints I posted previously for the sides of the cryo-box.

Image

Here it is all finished up. I hated the idea of painting it all black and not being able to show off that it's steel, so I used the mustard method of weathering and hit it with some steel wool to try to blend the weathering out a bit.

Image

Once that was attached, I decided it was time to sort out the gauge I had before proceeding. The one I formerly had was 2.5", which by my calculations is .5" too large. Joe Luna and Parflagush (I don't remember which of the two) found a source for a fairly accurate 2" gauge, so we all got to work modifying the boot we had all purchased to fit the new gauge.

Image

It's not perfect, but it'll work until we can find a good source for the 2" boots.

Here's how it all looks right now. I'm currently working on the V-hook mount as well as reworking the faraday cage to an accurate 12" diameter.

Image

That's about it as of now. Lots more progress will be made soon though. Stay tuned!
Where did you get the rivets for the cryo box?
By PeterV3329
#4876094
KoCo wrote:ACE Hardware! I believe those are aluminum rivets with a 5/16" head. Any hardware store should carry them.
Thanks! What was the thickness of the aluminium sheet that was used to make the nuclear love box?
User avatar
By MightyAni
#4876518
That is a beautiful pack.

I really, truly appreciate all of the photos, as I plan to use them as a reference for my Reboot Pack build that I would like to have completed by Halloween. <3

I will absolutely try to take photos and notes of my build, and to help as many others as I can, as well. Thanks again!

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