Today's hard work.

Ok, today I did some work on my own pack, as well as to the other packs. I recently had a vague feeling, that a regular can of peas could work as a strurdy N-Filter. Therefore, I went and bought one, and when measured, the can is 4mm wider than the N-Filter on Stephan's plans. So sue me, I thought, it is close enough. I have been trying to locate proper size tube (no, pringles tube is not on my list) with no avail.. The can is 120mm tall though, so I need to sink it in the Syncronous Generator. So, I cut a hole in it. I also widened the hole on the center, so I have more opening, when putting in the lighting on the Cyclotron.

Test fitting the can on place, it fits snugly, so it will be durable. Well, I hope so..

And here it is with the Cyclotron.

The whole pack. It needs some cleaning, and another coat of gray, then I will be hitting it with black undercoats with steel wool sanding in the between. After that, weathering and dull coat, and voila!

I did some work for the boyz too, I cut openings on their components, so we can put the electronics inside. The boyz will have to dig out some urethane, which we used to fill their parts. Mine is urethane free..

Here are the packs, Though on closer inspection, each pack has some differences, on the whole, they look good if you don't mind me bragging. On my pack, I'll need to eat the peas, smoothen the can and then attach it to the Syncronous Generator and Cyclotron. Then a happy gray and of to work on another point..

In my rush to get the noisy work done as fast as possible, I did make a boo-boo on Veka's pack. I cut the opening for the electronics on the wrong side of the Gearbox, even after I marked every piece!! Darn, always check twice, and cut once...

As you can see, the hole is quite visible Under the HGA.

Even when the HGA is in place, it shows through.. I cannot leave this behind, as this was my mistake, not Veka's. If this was on my own pack I would be tempted to put a fluoroscent green mouse with glowing red eyes in there, and leave the hole in place. Is someone were to notice it, I'd push a button and light the mouse, giving the guy a fright of his life.. Still, as this is not mine, no can do...

That being said, I rummaged through my bits box, and found a proper sized bit of MDF.


And the put some PVA glue on it, and glued it in place. This repair work does not weaken the Gearbox, as it is in the middle of other parts. I just feel that this needs to be done... Few hours, and I will go and put filler in there, and tomorrow give it a light sanding. I was lucky to make this mistake on the easiest surface to repair on this part...

Yup, Again..

Here is today's work. I sanded these, but the filler in the gaps were still not fully dry, and it will need another coat of filler, and sanding. Still, this does not prevent us from assembling these, and painting them later on..

This is Nixu's pack, Veka's is in the same state. I am quite fond of this photo. I like it.

I pulled the plaster bandage mold from the Cyclotron. It pulled of really easy, I guess that was because the pan I used on my Cyclotron was a teflon coated cooking pan...

After I ripped the foil maskin away from the plaster, I was greeted with this sight. About the sight I expected. This needs filler, and sanding, before the fiberglass is put on. And after wards, the fiberglass pullings will need the same...

Still, that is the work for someone else than me... I just make the mold for my friends, here is the mold drying after the paste. I have to sand it thoroughly though, before they can use it.

I added the little slanted box on the lower left on the Syncronous Generator. Veka had done the other box on the bottom way before..

Nixu, on the other hand, was on the other side of the problem, he had neither. So, ergo, here they are...

After very little work today, the boy'z packs are steadily progressing and looking good...

Yup, still workin on these..

Yup, I'm really keen on getting this project flying. At this speed, we have possibilities on making this project done by the time the GB video game is released. Still, I have my doubts..

Damn, foiled again... I foiled the cyclotron on my part, to prepare it for a plaster coat, which will be used to make this part from fiberglass.

And here is the cake, just waiting for the icing on the top..

Also, I cut small triangles that were absent when the guys drew their parts from mine. We resolved to make these at a later time, and it is now.. These still require some smoothing, but that is for tomorrow.

I also glued and pastered these to Nixu's and Veka's packs, and then sanded them a little. The gaps were so large, that a lot of filler was needed, and it will require more time to dry. Well, more work tomorrow..

I also filled the gaps on these little parts that are needed on the lower parts of the pack. Tomorrow they will be smoothed and glued on place.

I also glued and smoothed these on, I know that there are weld lines on the Ion arm, but that will be taken care with epoxy putty later on.

Still working..

Still working on Veka's and Nixu's packs.. There was a time that I ended up doing all the work on my gaming group, including arranging the time, inviting people to come, place, work on the games, and the cleaning up afterwards, and as one can guess, I got fed up with it. I pledged not to do all the work by myself alone from then on, and not surprisingly, no games have been played after that..

Still, if I do not help in any way, this project will not go anywhere. And with the looming possibility of me losing the sole use of a common room in my apartment, this really needs to be done with.. Thus, today I cut these parts from 8mm MDF, glued them together making a 24mm thick part for the packs. If I recall, the original measurement is 25mm, but no one is going to notice the difference here. The parts are glued together, and the parts showing are pasted with filler. Tomorrow I'll sand them..

As you can see, the individual packs are a bit different. I measured this part from my pack, and it does not fit flush on the other packs. Still, this can be corrected with some sawing and filler. So not to worry, these will do just fine..


I also cut the block still needed n Nixu's pack, pasted it and glued it on.. It still needs filler, sanding and paint before completion.. Still, Nixu's pack is coming together nicely..

Veka's And Nixu's packs

Ok, Updating again.. We've been building GB gear for two years now, and are getting nearly nowhere due the thing called 'real life'. I have suffered from burnout, near nervous breakdown and depression, while Nixu has had a bit happier life. He got married, bought a house with his lovely wife, Satu, and recently had a beautiful baby girl. So, needles to say, the progress has been a tad slow on these. My pack is a bit further than these, but these are coming along nicely..

Veka has been working on his pack couple of times in the recent months, and the progress shows..

His parts, which looked a bit crude when he cut them, are showing huge improvement after a gallon of filler and paint. Note that Veka has had very limited, if none at all, experience on the tools that are needed to make a protonpack, and Stephan's plans were difficult for us all..

All in all, Veka will get very pretty pack, and I do not need to lie... See for your self. I did help him a bit, with filler, paint and some sanding, but the majority of the work on this, is his...


Nixu, on the otherhand, being an engineer (let's not hold that against him), had a bit better knowledge on the plans and tools. Still, as his preoccupation with family matters has prevented him to work on his pack, I decided to step in and help. These pictures are new to Nixu, and that was the main reason of posting them on here. Some filler needs to be smoothed, (work for tomorrow) and then painted.

I have sanded the pack, painted it and it too, is lookin good.

Some parts need some sanding, and there are some parts that are absent all together. Still, this is a good view on how the pack looks now..

Overall, Nixu's pack is progressing along just fine. Still more work to do, but this really shows some improvement.. Hope Nixu is happy for my help...

My Holochess table 2

Ok, I got impatient. I have a date with a girl tomorrow, and cannot make any progress on this tomorrow. And as the paint needs to cure at least a week before use, I went and took a risk on this table. The silver is not fully cured, so it might peel off as I pull the masking tape off..

Still, I taped the mask on the table, using scotch tape.


And then carefully, very carefully cut out the middle ring squares. Note that I cut out the areas that are going to remain silver, and at this stage, left the black ones on. For reasons that follow..


Then, using the cut outs, I covered the silver areas, put more tape on, and hoped...

After that, I took a sharp knife, and cut out the black squares, leaving the tape, and the papers to cover the silver areas. At this point I was a bit relieved, as the first pulls from the silver did not peel off, even when I pulled the tape from it. This seemed hopeful..

So I progressed to paint the board black. I tried not to paint the edges, as I want them to remain silver/gray. It seemed that I succeeded... After spraying the board black, I immediately proceeded to remove any and all tapes, ant masking papers from the board, as risque it might be..

And the result was better than I anticipated. The paint did not peel, and on some locations, it stuck with the paper mask. There are some tape marks on the silver, as well a little botchup on one black square. Still, it was good. Some rub and buff with 0000 grade steel wool after this has been fully cured, and it might look ok. And after a hell of laquer on top of this to prevent wear and tear, I feel that this will look good in the end. Still, if time allows, I will not try this again, I got lucky on this one... DO LET the paint dry before you try this...

My Holochess table

Ok, Updates as I get something done.. This is a standard serving table with turntable on the bottom, available from Ikea. I'll use this in my bodycast, to serve as a base with a turntable, and as a holochess table (the reverse side). At this moment I have no intention to make the Dejaric holochess creatures, but will use this table with Star Wars Bobblehead figures. I guess that makes this the Star Wars HoloBobbleHead Tic Tac Toe, of sorts..


The tray is base coated in gray on both sides, and then the edges are traced on a piece of paper.

To form a circle, around which I drew a square. As those adept with geometrics can tell, the square helps to determine the center of the circle.

And from the established center point, I traced the inner and outer rims

I used the same center point to divide the circle into the ceckered pattern, and cut the circle out.

Then I started to trace the 'squares' and cut them out. Well, most of them. The rest are cut after the mask is taped on the tray.


The tray itself is sprayed with several coats of silver paint, I still do not know if there is enough to provide metallistic finish, but the black squares will provide a nice contrast. At this point, Unfortunately I need to give the silver paint time to dry and cure sufficiently to accept masking tape. More updates as I get something done..