Ares X Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 I just assembled my first pack and wanted some critique (good or bad. please be honest). The entire thing is made from either household type products or custom built. I did not use any vacformed parts made by someone else. The cystern is completely built from scratch I used parts of a whiffle ball bat, the usual Tupperware stackers, some drip tubing, part of a flashlight, part of a bowl and part of a half-yard beer glass. The radio is also my own creation. The pack is still not finished. It needs straps. I'm hoping to add electronics and it needs more weathering/dirt. Oh and the electrical tape. When I started this I decided to build one for a buddy at the same time. It's just slightly behind this one. I still have to finish adding the five raised strips on the main blue box. I'm hoping to have both finished very soon. Please give me your comments on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD-1536 Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 That's a really nice scratch-home build. Great use of materials! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD-443 Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Good job! Scratch built is not easy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD7664 Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Great pack! What did you use for the 2 main boxes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ares X Posted August 6, 2008 Author Share Posted August 6, 2008 Great pack! What did you use for the 2 main boxes? The Walmart litter boxes. They're a little deeper than I prefer, but I wasn't finding anything better. The seed trays in my area were so flimsy that there was no way anything could be attached to them. The litter boxes have a rasied edge all the way around the outside of the bottom of the tray and then a big "X" going right through the center of the bottom of the tray. I dremmeled it off, sanded it, patched it, then sanded it some more and then added the raised areas made out of MDF. You can see the raised edge I'm referring to here. I didn't bother to remove it from the backside of the boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD7664 Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Thanks for the info! I'll be following this thread closely because that's what I'm going to use for my pack. What did you use for the upper right box and the upper left dingymabob? Looks like an air filter of some sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ares X Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 Thanks for the info! I'll be following this thread closely because that's what I'm going to use for my pack. What did you use for the upper right box and the upper left dingymabob? Looks like an air filter of some sort. THe upper right box is a Tupperware Stow-N-Go as was used in the movie and the filter can be seen in this link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakengine Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 Coolness. This is one of the better scratch-built packs I've seen. Obviously a labor of love! Great work! A couple of little things: - The "white dial" pack didn't have an antenna on it's bee stinger but if you'd like to add an antenna it would look better if it were thicker. -Ever consider drilling out the "speaker" holes on the radio? -Dessert cups might look better on this pack than your bowls. Even tho the dessert cups are a little undersized they have the requisite flare at the ends. Kudos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burt Landcaster Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 One of the best i have seen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ares X Posted August 11, 2008 Author Share Posted August 11, 2008 Coolness. This is one of the better scratch-built packs I've seen. Obviously a labor of love! Great work! A couple of little things: - The "white dial" pack didn't have an antenna on it's bee stinger but if you'd like to add an antenna it would look better if it were thicker. -Ever consider drilling out the "speaker" holes on the radio? -Dessert cups might look better on this pack than your bowls. Even tho the dessert cups are a little undersized they have the requisite flare at the ends. Kudos! I've thought about making the stinger thicker. I definitely want it, even though it may not make it 100% movie accurate. I just like the stinger part. I actually plan to drill out holes on the speaker. Just haven't gotten to that point yet. I'm not big on the desert cups. I feel the size really makes it look odd. More so than the bowls I used. I may replace them at some point, but for not I'm fine with them. Thanks for the comments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ares X Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 Freakengine- Both of these troopers have the white dial and a stinger. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean by the white dial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakengine Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 The dials on the radio boxes in that picture don't have the white sections painted on. There is one pack that many of us commonly refer to as "The White Dial Pack". It has white pie wedges painted onto the dial and it has the bee stinger but no antenna on the bottom. It's not a big deal. There was a tremendous variety of packs built and it appears that several of them were being constantly rebuilt as well. I just made my pack to look like the white dial pack so I was always looking for reference materials on that one. Here are a couple of pics from the MEPD gallery: http://mepd.net/photo_gallery/Photo_Albums...ck_Packs.html#8 Three of these are the white dial pack. The lower left pic is of a different one. In the lower right pic you can clearly see there's no antenna. Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ares X Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 Oh! Now I see what you're talking about. I thought you were referring to the Tupperware lid (radar dish) being white since I've seen some white and some left in the natural color. I just decided to do the white dial on the radio because it seems really boring without it. You seriously have to wonder who was in charge of quality control during the filming of ANH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK7036 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 The best I've seen! How long did it take? Mine took on and off almost a year to complete. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ground_Trooper Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 The best I've seen! How long did it take? Mine took on and off almost a year to complete. Thanks for sharing! I am not sure when he exactly started but he has been working on it on & off since the beginning or middle of May 2008. I am sure that Ares can give you a more firm time table. Why do I know...cause I am the lucky friend he is doing the other pack for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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