Proton Pack 2.0 is in the Mail!

It has finally happened.  I finished. And to say I'm proud of this one is an understatement. It came out WAY beyond my expectations. It's much cleaner and more detailed than my original. After all, the original was for my own enjoyment and this one was for a friend. Gotta make it look good, no?  The correct ribbon cable for starters makes this stand out from mine. A better stand. Updated electrics.  It's just over all superior.  My first go, the switch isn't an on off switch. You have to hold it down in order for the pack to light up. This one is a true on off, SO much better.  So without any more rambling, here is what you're all looking for. The pictures!

To start. The stand. Mine was a quickly cobbled together stand made of wood and shot with some grey paint. This one is of plastic, much sturdier and black. (By request of the owner, but a smart choice)

Packs side by side! I love mine, don't get me wrong, but the one on the right is a beauty!
I tried to emulate the packs of GB1 so you can see right away that the wand is afixed a little differently. In the first movie they were on a more severe angle. In GBII the angle was increased to make grabbing them easier.

A nice side view with the "yellow lights" on the side of the powercell from Ray's pack. A lot of people thought these were actual lights, but it's just the casing being too thin and the light bleeding through.

Close up of some of the warning labels and aging of the cyclotron. 

And here is what you've all been waiting for. It's a live! Lit and glorious and pretty bright. Those lights'll hurt your eyes if you look directly into them. (taken with flash)

Without the fill flash there are so many more details picked up in this picture. I like to think that I succeeded in getting the aged/worn look of the pack correct.

Just another angle with the gun off to the side.

A few people have asked me for size comparison. So here it is next to my much smudged S3. Saying 1:7 scale doesn't really mean much until you see it next to something.

Lastly, a shot of the gun. 

And there you are folks! Finished. And as we speak it's flying (driving) down the road to it's new owner who I KNOW will give it a very good home.

Updates on Proton Pack 2.0

It's been a few weeks since I've posted any updates on my second proton pack. I've been slowly toiling away. In my defense though it's been so insanely hot here that the paint hasn't been drying right. I've have to go back several times and re-sand and re-prime many of the main pieces in order to get rid of the dimpling from the humidity. That'll teach me to paint in a heatwave.

So aside from the cyclotron being covered with copious amounts of paint and primer, it's coming along really well. Slow, but well.  My first time around I worked on the body and then the gun separately. This time I'm trying to build them at the time time to decrease build time, decrease the amount of paint and primer I go through, and to keep the paint looking more uniform. Although it's a flat black, so really there isn't much you can do to make it look THAT different.  Still.  Both sections are coming along.

The following pics are of the past few weeks' worth of work. Still a work in progress and still some much needed sanding has to happen in some places. But Enjoy!

Pretty much right where I left off, here is the gun mount box with it's first coat of filler. It helps strengthen the wood and makes it easier to smooth and detail.  (however it does gum up the sandpaper a bit) 

Crank Case also with thicker primer.

The packs use 2 Clippard resistors. I have to admit I like making these. Something about the small size and detail that can be added.  Granted, they're a pain in the ass because they're so small. but they come out looking great.  One is on the body of the pack and the other it attached to the gun.

Like I said. I like these. Which is why I'm taking too many pictures of them.

The gun body!

This strip becomes the panels that borders the cyclotron as seen a few pics below.

 I like to test fit pieces together often. Usually everytime a new pieces comes closer to being done. It's important to me to make sure that measurements are still correct and lines still line up. After primer and paint pieces increase in size slightly. So I'm always checking to makes sure everything still fits.  (Plus I get a kick out of seeing it come together)

The paint! I'm going with a flat satin which I'll scuff up with 1000-2000 grit paper in order to dull out any shine. Even though it's a matte color it still gets a bit shiny.  As you can see from the 

Here we have a "before and after" with paint.  

I'd say things are slowly coming together. Next will be to start putting in the electric components. I need to obviously cut holes for the four red lights and to make the bumper. Which was a huge pain, to be honest. I'm taking my time with it this time around. I have to find a better way to create a piece like that.   

Here you can see the crank case, almost finished with crank knob and decal. Just resting in place. And the power cell and injectors off to the side. I'm in the process of hollowing out the power cell for the blue LED.

Closer view of the crank case! And the light playing tricks on the paint.

And this is where we are now. I suspect that the next week or two things will start to really fall together as the majority of the housings and major components are done (or close to being done) and it will just be a matter of fine tuning certain things.  I'm going to spend time tonight working on the gun since it's almost ready for lights as well.  

It's coming along, I say!