User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4920346
I know, I know.
Another GB hero pack build but It's been almost a decade since I put together my current pack so I thought it was time for an upgrade.

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There's not likely to be anything here that hasn't been seen a hundred times or more but thanks for taking the time to have a look anyway :)

I haven't exactly been all that active in the community over that time, regrettably but real life has a tendency of getting in the way of these things.
This place seems much more quiet than it used to be, sadly.
Most likely due in part to facebooks current grip.
Although its still the amazing resource that its always been.

I've really enjoyed reading over all my old favourite threads and finding some new favourites over the last couple of months or so while i slowly started to gather parts and give myself a refresher course on all the discoveries that have been made about the packs, so I cant wait to jump in and get started on a hero pack of my own.

I'll be canibalising my current pack for all of the vintage fittings and a few replica bits that I can salvage.
I've done a little special effects work over the last eight years or so and picked up a couple of things, so i plan to make most of the aluminium parts myself, other than those that I would need a milling machine to make.

I've made a start on the thrower so far but ive still got a long way to go with it.

( the frosted tube and trigger tip are from my current pack)
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I decided to go with the GBfans shell for this build.
One of the selling points for me was that it seemed to come with the Homax style texture already present on the shell, going from the build threads that i could find.

For whatever reason my shell didn't really have this other than in a few small areas.

Instead there are patches of really rough, almost sand paper feeling texture dotted about the place and the odd smooth spot.
Kind of difficult to pick up on camera.
That's no big deal though, just a couple of extra steps before painting :)

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The shell itself is a work of art, I'm loving all the details that have been painstakingly added to it.
Its a great, uniform thickness and sits really nice and level right out of the box.

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I was a bit worried that it might have got manhandled and chipped on the way to Scotland but it's in perfect shape.

I've ordered the texture, which is going to take the best part of a month to get to me but thankfully I've got plenty to do in the meantime :P
Hopefully I'll have something to show soon!
jedipoodoo, VINMAN, Peet liked this
By Prologic9
#4920380
I was a bit disappointed with the shell texture myself. Looking at older build threads it appeared to have a nice orange-peel effect, but all the ones from the last couple of years have that deep grittiness.
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User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4920384
Thats good to know that my shell wasnt an isolated case then.
A real shame too, the orange peel texture looked beautiful on those builds.

I can't complain though, its a great shell and I guess adding the texture myself will just be part of the fun of trying to get closer to the original packs.
If it turns out to be half as nice as yours, I'll be very happy.
User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4920487
I had some time to start on this today.

I'm not replicating any specific hero pack, instead I'm going to take the details that i like from each to make a kind of mash up or generic hero pack.

I'm mostly using the Sony lobby Super Hero reference and the Murray pack reference since they have the clearest detail with the Ramis pack reference for certain details.

I began by smoothing out all of the rough spots, although I didn't smooth them out completely.
I'm going for a warts and all look with this so i wanted to leave some imperfections on the surface instead of having it all glass smooth.

After I had taken care of the rough spots i smoothed out the crank gen, then added some wood grain and imperfections to the ribs using small files and a scalpel.

( sorry about the crappy pics, i only had my phone on me today)
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The wood grain on the Gunmount seems to be more pronounced than elsewhere so i went heavier in that area.

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Then onto the top of the pack, above the crank gen.

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Some relatively subtle woodgrain on the side of the powercell,added some marks and the seam towards the front of the powercell where the wooden strips separate at the corners.

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Added striations at the mounting point above the powercell

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And some surface marks to the front of the powercell

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I also grabbed some tube stock and aluminium plate today, so next up I'll be drilling some holes, adding a few more marks here and there, including nail heads and making a start on all of the aluminium components.

So pretty much just continuing to obsess over obscure details :P
Christof liked this
#4920508
To add some additional authenticity to some of the nail holes, you can cut the heads of a few wire nails leaving just a small section of the shaft. Drill and embed these in the holes just below the surface then roughly fill with epoxy putty to mimic wood filler. It’s subtle but a nice detail if you’re going for that.

You might also consider embedding and roughly filling rivet heads in the EDA Discs.

There are some pics in my build thread if you want to see these effects.
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User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4920612
I found a little time to work on this over the last day or so.

Starting with the PPD.
I'd prefer not to rely on threaded aluminium to hold the parts so I'll be bolting them to the inside of the shell as much as possible.
I know the parts were all held in place by rivets on the hero packs, but I want to be able to easily remove things incase they need to be repaired or replaced.

The aluminium tube was cut slightly oversized, then drilled through for the bolts.

I fed the bolts through from the inside, clayed off the bolt holes and around the base, then filled the tube with white smoothcast 327.
It's not as brittle as other resins can be so it'll take some punishment without cracking.

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That way i can weather it back to show the resin underneath like the one on the Murray pack or Super hero pack.

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I left the resin to cure overnight, then cut it to size on the Mitre saw and left it rough sawn like the originals.
Then chucked it up on the mini lathe to drill a hole in the center.
I went all the way through as seen on the ramis pack.

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I also cut most of the other parts, except for the filler tube and Nfilter.
I managed to royally screw up the cuts on those so I'll need to remake them.

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Now i just have to find the time to fabricate all of the end caps, plates and the other bits that are made from sheet stock and I can start to weld it all together.
I still have some detail work to do on the shell too, not much mind you.
A little sanding and adding the various nail heads on different areas.

NotSabbat, alphabeta001 liked this
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By RedSpecial
#4920710
I decided to tear down my old pack today.
This is pretty much everything that's been salvaged for the new pack.
(I forgot to include the bellows and alice frame in this pic)

I won't be keeping the smc elbows as I'll be making my own replicas of the original legris at some point or the ribbon cable which is an old prototype with really thick coverings that split all over the place when it was twisted.
I'll probably keep a hold of it and repurpose it for something though.

Some of this stuff will also be modified to make it more accurate before it goes onto the new pack.

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And this is what's left on the old pack.
Poor thing :whatever:
This will most likely be passed on to a new owner at some point.

I'm waiting on some supplies to make a Motherboard right now so I'll most likely just be drilling out the various holes on the shell and adding some of the details that I've yet to add over the next couple of days until I have some free time to make the mobo and weld the various aluminium parts.

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By RedSpecial
#4920894
I was a wee bit more productive today.

I managed to churn out a hand cut motherboard.
It took most of the day but it was definitely worth the time and effort.

Started off with a sheet of 3mm aluminium.

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Traced around the shell

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Cleaned the lines up a little bit

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Added a 1/8th inch border

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Rough cut with a jigsaw

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Then after a ton of hand file work, this is how it turned out.
It needs some tweaks here and there but I'm too knackered to do any more today.

I still have to mark it out to drill holes for various things so I've left the plastic backing on for now.
Once I manage to grab some large rivets, I'll get the brackets on there and I'll be able to try it on for the first time :)

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twmedford23 liked this
#4920909
RedSpecial wrote:Thanks, man :)

I can't lie, cutting it was completely knackering.
It's no wonder these are usually water jet cut these days [emoji23]
Haha you're welcome dude.

Great achievement matey, well worth the effort
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By RedSpecial
#4920912
Thanks twmedford23!

I already have a buyer for the old shell and other bits.
If it doesn't go ahead for whatever reason, I'll look into getting a supporting membership and list it in the for sale section.

Although it would probably cost quite a bit in shipping and import from the UK.
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User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4921016
Another small update today, adding some more obscure details.

Threaded holes in the cyclotron rings.
I've always wondered what they planned to mount with these.
Guess we'll probably never know.

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I hate tapping fiberglass, It always gives me the fear :lol:

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Various nail heads blended in a bit, using black miliput.
They stick out like a sore thumb right now but they'll all be much more subtle after I hit them with primer and paint.

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I'm still waiting on some rivets in order to get the mobo finished, hopefully that'll be tomorrows job.
Christof liked this
User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4921211
I got a hold of some bits I've been waiting on, so I was able to add L brackets to the motherboard and mount it all on the alice frame for the first time.

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The bumper I was going to use turned out not to be suitable for this shell so I'll need to grab a new one from the store when I can.

Next up will be making all of the base plates and end caps for various bits, then welding it all together.
As well as making brackets for the electronics and a charging plate, new replica elbows, suspension work and shocks, brakes, brake pads, lining, steering box, transmission, rear end... maybe new rings, also mufflers, a little wiring...
User avatar
By Brads_gimmick
#4921221
Really enjoying reading all your updates mate.
I have to say it's awesome seeing how you've tapped the holes in the Cyclotron Rings and the details of the Nails it's bloody tremendous seeing that level of detail
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User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4921222
Thanks, man :)

Those tapped holes on the cyclotron were nerve wracking to do but thankfully I managed not to break the tap or the rings in the process.
I've been wanting to put a pack together with all those little details for years.

There's still a good few to add as I go through the rest of the build mind you.

I've just read your latest post over on your build thread, that's going to be some build, judging by your parts list.
Brads_gimmick liked this
By Prologic9
#4921227
Really nice work here. I wish I could do my own aluminum fabs.

I'm curious about your bumper issues? I honestly think the bumper is an ass that causes problems everywhere it goes.
User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4921229
Thanks.

I'm lucky enough to have just enough equipment to be able to make the aluminium parts.
Other than a couple of them anyway.

Even still a lot of it is really time consuming hand work as I don't have access to a water jet cutter or a milling machine.



It was made to fit my previous my previous pack.
It's fits the old pack perfectly but when I tried it on the hero shell it was about a quarter of an inch off center.
so most of the surface area of the cyclotron rings on the left were covered by the middle of the bumper and the ones on the right were completely unobscured.

Thats what I get for being cheap.

I could have modded it to fit but I'll just pass it on with the old stuff.
The one in the store is a lot more accurate anyway.

User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4921326
It turns out that Homax wall texture is prohibited here so that's out the window.

I'm not sure I like the thought of using a truck bed liner, stone effect or hammered spray so it looks like I'll be experimenting with some hand texturing techniques until I find something that I'm happy with.

Possibly stippling thinned bondo or something similar.
The silver lining is it'll give me more control over the application.
User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4922767
The Gbfans bumper has finally arrived after a mix up by Royal Mail.

It's well worth the wait though.
Very accurate and fits the Hero shell like a glove.
It's a really nice casting, needs very little cleanup other than a minimal mould line and sanding down slightly at the points where it'd been poured.

Other than drilling mounting holes, I'll be adding a couple of details to this as usual before I'm happy to call it ready to be painted.Image


User avatar
By RedSpecial
#4923670
I was able to get back into this for a bit today for the first time in ages.
I Tweaked a few things here and there, removed the mould line on the bumper and attached it to the shell.

I still have some details to add to the bumper at some point when I have the time.

Next up will most likely be some more of the welded aluminium parts. Image
Christof liked this
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