Bustin' makes me feel good
The last two weeks, I've had the Ghostbusters bug in me and have been working steadily on the new proton pack. At the current rate of progress, I believe I will be able to start a totally new item (PKE or ghost trap) by the end of July. Here's my current status:
I finally put some holes in the rear console block for the gun:
The hole straight into the pink part is for wires that would hit a red light sitting in the hole above it. The hole with threads visible in it is for a pneumatic fitting.
I finished inserting the threaded inserts in the gun body. Lots of epoxy used there:
I can't wait to try to get the tube that forms the gun barrel past those suckers. I imagine I'll have to carve a hole in that tube so the inserts and such stick into that hole. Not nice, but what can you do?
In the realm of the cyclotron, I sanded down the Bondo I had used to fill the one depression:
Of course, I found some other gouges that needed to be smooth. That explains the other dark spots there. There is a layer of some kind of plaster on top of the actual fiberglass, which is a dark yellowish color. In order to make things smooth locally, I had to sand into the fiberglass in some parts. I'm sure if you looked, the surface would be a little like gently rolling hills. But there are no distinct dings and such that would be very obvious when painted. The small holes ringing the central holes are for the adhesive to lock into when I put the new washers back on. Speaking of:
Each "washer" covering the red lenses is actually about as thick as two layers of plastic from that "for sale" sign. So I needed to cut out eight circles. To make them the same size, I put them on a quarter inch screw and inserted that into my drill and spun them against sand paper. In the second picture, if you look carefully, you can see the uneven edges of a second disc extending beyond #1, which has black edges from tracing others. I'll also make a guide for the center hole using the same method. The screw will ensure that the guide is perfectly centered when I trace the outline. Then I'll carefully carve out the hole.
Now we talk about the booster. I prepared a place for the booster to reside:
The holes are, again, for the adhesive (epoxy) to flow into, really locking the parts together. The larger hole is where the tube that forms the booster is cut at a slant and is supposed to evenly "blend" into the slanted piece on the shell. I wanted to be able to get glue in there from the back, if needed.
The booster, itself, also has holes all along the surface that would be bonded so the dry epoxy would not only make the parts stick together, but would also be encasing everything. Near the slanty part, I added a peg to be encased in epoxy. There is a notch in the hole in the shell that was meant for the peg, but the bigger hole was a little too large and/or far forward so the notch wasn't actually needed.
The markings are for the booster frame that will sit on top of the booster. I wanted to know where I could drill holes that would be hidden. I was going to use screws to hold the booster in place, as well as epoxy. But after the epoxy dried, the strength is amazing. I can lift the whole thing by the booster and swing the damn thing around. And it all lined up really well:
Nice, right?
And I started redoing the opening for the power cell lights. The same problem I have with the cyclotron lights is my problem here. There should be only a very small indentation before you reach the colored plastic. I can't even grind the fiberglass or have enough material to be structurally sound at the thickness required. Instead, I carved a much bigger hole than needed. I used a grinding wheel to indent the outside the right thickness, then cut a piece of the "for sale" sign plastic about the size size. Bam! Epoxy that SOB on there and then I can cut out a hole for the lens later:
I'll have to use some Bondo around the edges of the inset plastic to fill the gaps, then level it. It should look very seamless when complete, and give me a strong, thin, and even surface to mount the blue lens behind.
I finally put some holes in the rear console block for the gun:
The hole straight into the pink part is for wires that would hit a red light sitting in the hole above it. The hole with threads visible in it is for a pneumatic fitting.
I finished inserting the threaded inserts in the gun body. Lots of epoxy used there:
I can't wait to try to get the tube that forms the gun barrel past those suckers. I imagine I'll have to carve a hole in that tube so the inserts and such stick into that hole. Not nice, but what can you do?
In the realm of the cyclotron, I sanded down the Bondo I had used to fill the one depression:
Of course, I found some other gouges that needed to be smooth. That explains the other dark spots there. There is a layer of some kind of plaster on top of the actual fiberglass, which is a dark yellowish color. In order to make things smooth locally, I had to sand into the fiberglass in some parts. I'm sure if you looked, the surface would be a little like gently rolling hills. But there are no distinct dings and such that would be very obvious when painted. The small holes ringing the central holes are for the adhesive to lock into when I put the new washers back on. Speaking of:
Each "washer" covering the red lenses is actually about as thick as two layers of plastic from that "for sale" sign. So I needed to cut out eight circles. To make them the same size, I put them on a quarter inch screw and inserted that into my drill and spun them against sand paper. In the second picture, if you look carefully, you can see the uneven edges of a second disc extending beyond #1, which has black edges from tracing others. I'll also make a guide for the center hole using the same method. The screw will ensure that the guide is perfectly centered when I trace the outline. Then I'll carefully carve out the hole.
Now we talk about the booster. I prepared a place for the booster to reside:
The holes are, again, for the adhesive (epoxy) to flow into, really locking the parts together. The larger hole is where the tube that forms the booster is cut at a slant and is supposed to evenly "blend" into the slanted piece on the shell. I wanted to be able to get glue in there from the back, if needed.
The booster, itself, also has holes all along the surface that would be bonded so the dry epoxy would not only make the parts stick together, but would also be encasing everything. Near the slanty part, I added a peg to be encased in epoxy. There is a notch in the hole in the shell that was meant for the peg, but the bigger hole was a little too large and/or far forward so the notch wasn't actually needed.
The markings are for the booster frame that will sit on top of the booster. I wanted to know where I could drill holes that would be hidden. I was going to use screws to hold the booster in place, as well as epoxy. But after the epoxy dried, the strength is amazing. I can lift the whole thing by the booster and swing the damn thing around. And it all lined up really well:
Nice, right?
And I started redoing the opening for the power cell lights. The same problem I have with the cyclotron lights is my problem here. There should be only a very small indentation before you reach the colored plastic. I can't even grind the fiberglass or have enough material to be structurally sound at the thickness required. Instead, I carved a much bigger hole than needed. I used a grinding wheel to indent the outside the right thickness, then cut a piece of the "for sale" sign plastic about the size size. Bam! Epoxy that SOB on there and then I can cut out a hole for the lens later:
I'll have to use some Bondo around the edges of the inset plastic to fill the gaps, then level it. It should look very seamless when complete, and give me a strong, thin, and even surface to mount the blue lens behind.