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First post on the MEPD, so hoping the pics and all work well. Beginning an overall build of the alley takeoff private carring the MG-15. First on the workbench is the backpack itself. Going for a screen accurate pack #4 build. Have been collecting parts and I'm hoping to have time to build out in the coming weeks. I'm starting with build out of an accurate frame. From the research, it looks like the most likley candidate for an accurate shape on the "lower U" is from the older Karrimor backpack frames. I've managed to acquire one of those and I'm now looking to modify it to fit the needed shape. Here's the full backpack I picked up: ...and with the pack itself removed, we get the frame: ...which has the following ID tag on the top horizontal bar... Obvious mods to this frame are removing the horizontal bars and repositioning/replacing with the necessary structural bars to hold the two seed trays. Looking over some reference images (some borrowed, some captured from my BluRays), it looks like the pack frame in the movies resembles the Kerrimor frame at the bottom, but the top portion seems way more rounded than the actual frame itself. For instance, look at the top of the frame in the following images... ..and again in this reference, which I know is not the alley takeoff but seems to be the same pack with a bit more wear and tear on it (at some point, we should try and piece together EXACTLY what order all these scenes were filmed in and try to produce a time-series view of the packs...but I bet someone on the MEPD has already beat me to it!)...check out the top left corner of the pack. You can clearly see what looks like a rounded frame and not a vertical bar capped off with a horizontal bar bolted to it. So, this leads to my first question that I'm looking for your opinion on. I'm thinking about removing the top horizontal bar from my Kerrimor pack and then using a tubing bender to bend the two side veritcal bars toward each other. Will create some nice rounded corners. I can then cut out the overlap on the tubing and insert an interior piece to help hold them together structurally. If it's still not tight, I'll have it hit a bit with the TIG welder. So, should I start bending on my Karrimor frame or just leave it straight? I'm not looking for easy, I'm looking for most accurate. Let me know your thoughts and I will get to bending this weekend.