User avatar
By l3w1sb159
#4942736
Hi guys, and yes I know before you say, it is blasphemous to want to do this to a pack. But I'm planning on building "My pack", taking various ideas and designs from various packs that I like and putting them all together.

One of which involves recreating a more "on purpose" version of the stantz pack powercell lights leaking out of the thin areas of the shell, which I believe the TVG pack included too.

My question is - what would be the best method to cut out the small slits I have marked out on the shell cleanly? (About 8mm×2mm)

I was thinking of a dremel but I'm not sure if there is a bit that would be able to do what I need it to in such a small precise area?
Last edited by l3w1sb159 on January 7th, 2021, 4:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
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User avatar
By EnderWeggen
#4942751
Why Cut it out at all? If you have a fiberglass shell you should be able to sand the jell coat down to the resin and your done, doing It would even be screen accurate for rays pack.

In GB2 Rays Pack in The Court Room Still has the two spots on the powercell lights Image
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User avatar
By Lowberg
#4942785
Best bet would be those small thin carbon Dremel wheels. Or if you want something with more control / safer you could always drill very small holes on the line of the slits you want to create like ". . . ." then use a very small needle file to connect the dots into a line "___" File method would probably take a lot more elbow grease but would also work.
#4943145
Hey guys

So since I've been making some progress with my pack I though I would turn this thread into a build thread (2 birds 1 stone)

So to update I managed to somewhat successfully (the second time anyway) drill and file the slits into the powercell ribs, ready for small frosted perspex windows to be inserted after painting.

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Last edited by Kingpin on December 9th, 2020, 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.Reason: Added images to post
#4943183
Another quick update...

So to try and recreate the "filled aluminium tube" look on the resin PPD I used a scribing compass to trace the line of the outer tube ( with some difficulty) and then free hand the rest to make the engraving deeper.

How it should look....
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And what I ended up with...
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I also did the same to the bottom and plan to drill all the way through for the spengler pack look.
- On that subject as I dont have access to a pillar drill does anyone have any advice on how to drill the centre hole through the PPD without one?
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#4943184
I also took inspiration ( I.E. stole) bishopdonmiguel's idea of half popping 2 rivets on the EDA discs to give it more depth ...
bishopdonmiguel wrote: June 22nd, 2014, 8:27 pm I think this is called the Attenuator. The plain discs seem a bit blah to me. I recall a build with rivets on these and I feel they provide some visual flair, although I realize this isn't screen accurate. I don't know who to credit but thank you. I didn't "pull" the rivets due to the thickness of the shell; they would have damaged it. Instead, I drilled a hole then flatted the area around it with a Dremel equal to the circumference of the rivet. After removing the rivet's stem, I epoxied in place. I will fill the holes a bit before painting.
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Here is my result
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#4943325
I posted another thread as my alice frame was a bit bjorked...
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Luckily with some help and good old fashioned elbow grease, We managed to straighten out the bend and mount it to the motherboard with some sturdy m8 coach bolts.
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And what else was there to do but mount the shell and give that sucker a test fitting!
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I'm not sure what to correct length is for the alice frame spacers, but comparing against reference pics it looks like the gap is a tad too big between the frame and the pa k?

The feeling when putting a pack on for the first time...
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#4943449
Hey guys,

I need some advice...

The 1"hole cutter I have is too big to fit in between the crank generator and gun box straight to cut the hole for the vacuum hose...

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Any advice on the best way around this problem as I've seen how easy it can be to screw up cutting this hole on a resin shell
#4943452
Depending on the material thickness, I’d consider using your dremel to rough cut the hole, approx 1.5mm undersized, then use the barrel sander tip to open the hole out to the required size or trim line.

Good work scribing the cut-out on the PPD by the way, that’s tricky using a regular compass from the centre! See if you can find some odd-leg callipers for any other jobs like that, they measure from the outer edge rather than the centre and are much easier to use on non-level surfaces.
EnderWeggen liked this
#4943493
Nighty80 wrote: December 18th, 2020, 4:45 am Depending on the material thickness, I’d consider using your dremel to rough cut the hole, approx 1.5mm undersized, then use the barrel sander tip to open the hole out to the required size or trim line.

Good work scribing the cut-out on the PPD by the way, that’s tricky using a regular compass from the centre! See if you can find some odd-leg callipers for any other jobs like that, they measure from the outer edge rather than the centre and are much easier to use on non-level surfaces.
Thanks, I'll use a 22mm cutter and as soon as I can borrow a dremel I'll be on that :)

In the meantime I stripped a volume pot out of one of my old guitars for the crank knob that I've ordered from the shop, and mounted it ready. I did the same as I've seen others do and take the little plastic stop off the bottom so it can rotate freely.

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#4943669
Hey guys, I hope you all had a good christmas,

Hadn't had much time to work on the pack in the run up to christmas, but now that mad rush is over I've had time to do a bit more...

Just to show things that might have been seen in previous pics, I drilled the 3/4" hole for the ribbon cable hole
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Plus shallow drilled the dimples on the cyclotron rings using a 2.5mm bit
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I finally worked up the courage to tackle the hole in the crank generator for the vacuum hose, and it went pretty well, using a 7/8" (22mm) to cut a smaller hole in case of a flub-up and then filing the rest to the diameter of the hose.
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Snug.
Nighty80 liked this
#4943671
I also filed down the vacuum tube to fit into the shell and roughly chopped the split loom for a rough fit, I'll still need to get a dowel for the crank side of the tube.
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Then I moved onto the bumper, I had already located the centre of the cyclotron and drilled that clearance hole for the bolt and marked out and drilled the holes on the centre and sides of the bumper ( which i forgot to take any pics of)
Then came the joy of going back and forth between making sure the bumper was level on every axis as well as lining the holes up between the side plates. Eventually I got there and drilled the holes I marked first with a pilot hole as I learned that lesson the hard way on a previous drill attempt, then with a 6.5mm bit for the m6 bolts...
And Voila.
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I also chopped the spacers provided with BenofKents kit down to 3/4" as there was a bit too much of a gap for me between the frame and the pack.
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#4943672
Now for a noob question...

- Can the self drilling roofing screws for the beam line, filler plug and injectors be dry fitted then removed and reinstalled after painting and still have a sturdy thread or is it best to only do it the once after painting?
#4943694
l3w1sb159 wrote: December 27th, 2020, 1:44 pm Now for a noob question...

- Can the self drilling roofing screws for the beam line, filler plug and injectors be dry fitted then removed and reinstalled after painting and still have a sturdy thread or is it best to only do it the once after painting?
Depending on material thickness (thicker = better) you should get away with it, so long as you make sure you screw back into the existing thread and don't cut another one, which would loose strength. If you're able to start the screw with your fingers you should be able to feel when it's 'right' before tightening properly with a screwdriver.

Good work by the way, it's looking great!
#4943699
Yeah that's tricky - sorry, didn't realise it was into resin, had alu box section in my head for no good reason lol
So long as you're ultra careful to start the screw in the thread properly, I think you should still be able to get away with it. Or make life easier and simply try cutting the tips off the screws... Might even come off with a big pair of side cutters.
If you never (and I mean, NEVER), intend to take them back out again, you could pop a small amount of epoxy on the screw before putting it back in. That way if it does cut a new thread it should hopefully backfill the old one and put some strength back into the area. However I'd say this is generally a bad idea and/or last resort, as you'd likely destroy things if you ever wanted to remove them.
#4943762
I'm thinking I'll leave it until all the parts are painted to attach them, to make sure they have a solid threading.

In the meantime I've marked and drilled the holes for mounting the booster tube to the shell on both and also tapped the tube side holes with a m5x0.8 tap, to make it easier when it comes to putting the epoxy putty weld around the base of the tube.
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I used some spare m5 30mm cap head bolts to mount it
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Then I sorted out fitting the PPD, I had already drilled 3mm holes on the shell and used those to mark and drill the holes on the PPD (I also forgot to take pictures of drilling the centre hole without a pillar drill, but our hands were full as I got my girlfriend to hold the PPD upside down and used a drill guide on the flat underside to drill in perpendicular which worked pretty well)
I used 2 m4 19mm button head screws to attach it
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And while I was there I cut the blue 1/4" tube and split loom boot to size
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Next I cut the hole under the N filter. I found the centre of the N filter using a template 70mm in diameter with a box flush on the outside to find the centre lines. As I'm planning on using (depending on what the size of the vent led is on the Gbfans light kit) the same reflector cups I will be using for the cyclotron lights, I cut a 45mm diameter hole to accommodate the 40mm wide cup.
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And that's as much as I can do for now until I get my orders with the rest of the parts I have left to fit...
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User avatar
By l3w1sb159
#4944085
Let the dremeling commence!

I managed to borrow a dremel off a friend so I could sort out the inside of the crank generator hole and attempt to make a little recessed hole for clearance of the self drilling roofing screw on the underside of the filler tube as the shell sits flush with the motherboard there. Let me know if there is anything I should keep in mind for stuff like this as I just eyeballed it. I also made a little recession where I'll be attaching the injector L bracket; I'm thinking rivets through from the back of the shell like the screen used packs and then bolts into the injectors.

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I also widened the "Aykroyd powercell" light slits, (trying to just use a needle file before killed my hands)

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By l3w1sb159
#4944086
Time for another round of Noob questions -

- Are the powercell LEDs on the gbfans kit blue or white? As I'm going for the Stantz powercell look I would need them to be white to look right.
- Thinking ahead to painting, I'm planning on using the Protex spray for the cyclotron texture and various other parts, as well as a metallic silver undercoat to give a more realistic look when I weather the pack.....
So what would be the best plan of attack? I'm not sure if the texture should go on first but it might get lost under all the coats on top? And would the metallic undercoat need a clear coat before the satin black top coat?
By Darth_Egon
#4944122
The gbfans pack light kit for the power cell are white led’s. The lens is what makes them look blue so it will work with what your doing! I actually thought about sanding those two parts to replicate what we saw on Ray’s pack! Outstanding work!!!
User avatar
By l3w1sb159
#4944165
Awesome thanks!
I wasnt sure as I saw something somewhere that said they were blue LEDS
Thanks for clearing that up, that will make life a lot easier using the plug and play GBfans kits
User avatar
By l3w1sb159
#4944314
Some more dremel action...

I (very) carefully dremeled out the rest of the crank generator hole so the loom and dowel could sit more flush the the shell WITHOUT accidentally dremeling a hole through the shell. I'm quite proud of myself for that!

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I also sorted out securing the dowel into the loom with liberal application of super glue and some 1mm copper wire wrapped tight as I've seen the screen used packs have some wire twist tightened around either end for I assume the same purpose. I know copper might not be the right wire but I'll be weathering it to a darker tarnished colour so it wont stand out so much.

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By l3w1sb159
#4944316
My order from GBfans finally made it's way across the pond HUZZAH!
Just the few genuine parts I couldn't source in the uk, a clippard r331, GBfans reproduction crank knob which is the next best thing apart from finding a genuine Raytheon, and a dalohm rh25 resistor.

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So first off I fit the crank knob to the 1/4" pot I installed in the shell and it works perfect, just enough clearance from the shell to move freely.

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Then I fit the rh25 to my WIP ion arm. I had already fit the rh50 which a got from Jupiter electronics along with the clippard hex elbows, top notch stuff.

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I decided to clip off the top contact on the rh25. Also as the tube was super loose over the contacts on the resistor I solved that problem but wrapping masking tape around the contacts until the tube fit over snug.

Then it was time to dry fit the clippard, I had already marked the loactions for the screw holes by using the resin version I got with Ben's kit. I marked the halfway point but as I didnt have a 10mm drill bit for the centre I drilled it with the biggest bit I had and dremeled out the rest as well as the little notch.

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And Voila.

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And just like that, I'm back to waiting for parts to arrive til I can do anymore... :sigh:
Nighty80, tobycj, RedSpecial liked this
By tobycj
#4944337
Bit late now, but you can get clippard valves from Radwell.co.uk! They have a few bits of the pack hardware like the clippard valves, clippard elbows & hose barbs and Dale PH25 resistors

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