User avatar
By LeoCor Replicas
#4977626
Figured I'd share my own Hasbro Pack modifications. I tried to go mostly for screen-accuracy, but also throw in a few personal choices.

I started by removing all of the main tubes, which was way easier than I expected. I covered the fake electrical tape with the real stuff, and re-colored all of the fittings using metallic Sharpie. For the red tube that goes into the right side of the cyclotron, I covered the original molded tape and clamps with real tape, and added two real hose clamps (which were a pain in the butt to tighten all the way). For the power cell lens, I colored in the space with a large blue Sharpie, using a cloth to even out the streaking marks, repeating the process until the lens was evenly coated. I was going to add screws to the ion arm, however the brass rod currently makes that an impossibility, as it's one piece that bends at an angle. For now, I applied a Molotow Liquid Chrome marker to the bulk of it, and used a soft brush to even it out (I did the same thing on the PPD). I snipped off the fake screw on the top of the booster frame, sanded it down a bit, widened the hole slightly with a 5/32 drill bit, and added a more accurate socket cap screw and washer. Same with the HGA, just with a bigger bit for the bigger screws. I also replaced the Phillips-head screws on both sides of the bumper with a similar size set of socket caps and some washers (I believe the Afterlife Pack uses pan head screws, I just prefer the look of the socket caps). I filled in the screw holes on the side of the ion arm with some plastic wood, as the sight of them irritated me to no end. I didn't actually notice until today, that the inside of the cyclotron pan had a line of ribbon cable inside, so I took some old scrap cable from another pack project, and carefully hot-glued it over the molded stuff.

I haven't done much to the neutrona thrower, but I did take out the vent light cover, and I added two very small, short socket-cap screws to the handle. Thankfully, they don't interfere with the barrel mechanism.

For paintwork, I added a lot more weathering, focusing on making it look really dusty and grimy. I used various combinations of dark taupe, light tan, and matte black with a coarse brush and a dry-brush method. I also added some hints of rust around the screws and some of the "metal" parts. The screws for the CRT emitters are supposed to be brass, and I didn't have any that fit, but I did have some metallic gold spray paint, which appeared to do the trick pretty well! I also added a little bit of dirty green paint to the gas mask hose bit.

I still need to add some parts, like some accurate cable mesh, and a new ion arm cap with fake screws, but for the minimal amount of work I put into this, I think it looks really cool! I'll post any updates I make on this thread as well.

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kahuna900 liked this
User avatar
By buster126
#4977628
Nice! You did the fake cables thing too on the broken plastic tube. Actually, it looks like you replaced the entire tube with a new one? I thought that was one of the simplest things to do to really add more realism to the pack. I just glued on some wires over the molded ones and bent some outward as it looks on yours.

For the Ion arm you could always snip off the heads of whatever screw you want to use and just glue them in place. I went a step worse and just used a small washer and smaller nut that fit inside the washer and glued it on there, it looks accurate enough. My take on on mods is you don't have to do what the thing actually is, just fake it to make it look like the thing.
But I can see the pleasure of getting and modding the real deal things on the pack.

I also covered up the screws on the side of the arm, I went real cheap and got some black thin carboard and mixed on some super glue under and over it to make it solid. Then dabbed a little black over it to blend it to the surroundings again. You can't even tell its there!

My pack needs some grime, it really warms up the colors, great work!
LeoCor Replicas liked this
User avatar
By LeoCor Replicas
#4977668
Thanks! I did replace the whole tube, which was thankfully pretty easy to do. Brute force for the win!

The wires inside aren't wholly accurate, but I think they'll do the job for now. I also made some mods to the resistors on the ion arm. I snipped off the plastic imitation screws, drilled a few small holes, and stuck in some tiny socket caps. I also stuck in a lead I snipped off an old Trap resistor, and stuck that inside the top of the fake RH-25. I didn't like the look of the molded screw on the shock mount/bellows, so I snipped that part off, tried drilling a hole (failed miserably, as it went askew), so I covered the hole with a washer, and used a screw slightly smaller than the hole, so that there was enough room to move the screw and washer into the middle of the bellows, and super glued it in place. Lastly, I made a quick mod to the injector tubing, wrapping the black one with blue electrical tape vertically, making it the correct color without needing to replace the part entirely.

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Last edited by LeoCor Replicas on January 23rd, 2023, 9:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
kahuna900 liked this
User avatar
By buster126
#4977685
I stabbed in a little metal doohickey on my top resistor as well, I didn't consider replacing the fake screws on them though, I settled for just painting them. Yours look solid replaced!

I'm waiting on some blue electrical tape to do the same for the side black cable, I had recently noticed Adam Savage had done the same on his modded pack as I was wondering how he got his blue, if you look closely, it has blue tape around as well, even though he doesn't mention that mod. For some reason it's the only color tape I don't have.

The last major thing I'm waiting to do is add the padding on the back of the alice frame, I'm waiting on some spacers to put between the brackets and pack to give it more clearance to be able to add the proper padding on it.

The thing that's bothering me is the hose it came with, it's so rigid and sticks out so much it looks awkward. I've pinned it under the red wire to hopefully keep it in that bent shape eventually after some time in that position. I'm considering maybe a heat gun to it as well, maybe it will help mold it to a new more desirable shape. Added some wires sticking out of the hose as well, as I saw them in the scene where the pack is tried out for the first time on the field.

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User avatar
By LeoCor Replicas
#4977690
Your Pack looks great! My hose was also really stiff, but I haven't taken my heat gun too it yet. I tried gently stretching it out in sections, and it seems to have taken out some of that stiffness. Love the '84-style grips on your thrower! I still need to pick up a set, as my rear handgrip still has the gap from where I removed the fake plastic gaffer's tape.
User avatar
By LeoCor Replicas
#4978248
Finally got some of the screen-accurate wire mesh from Charlesworth Dynamics. I think I've completed most of the main mods I wanted to make to this thing, but I'll probably tinker with it forever. 😂
I added some slightly more accurate screws to the cyclotron, as well as adding some black paint to the proper parts, but I still need to get paint markers for the wires. I also added wires and a grub screw to the front of the Thrower, based on photos from the Ghostbusters Reference Library.

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kahuna900 liked this
User avatar
By LeoCor Replicas
#4979226
More Pack updates. Rectified the issue with the firing mode button being disguised as the hat light, which was probably one of the most frustrating mods I've done, since it was such a tight space to work with. That being said, I'm really glad that the mode button is now activated by a more accurate momentary switch. While I was doing that, I figured I'd swap out the "intensify" button for a slightly smaller one. I never noticed before how massive the stock one Hasbro used was before I compared it.

I also modified my cyclotron cable a bit, nothing major, just some cosmetic fixes. I picked up some LED lenses at Apex Surplus for the interior cyclotron, but I could only find red ones. I colored a few with green Sharpie just to differentiate them a bit, and weathered them to match the rest of the pack. They didn't fit over the molded lenses, so I snipped off the threaded bit, cut off the molded parts, added some short socket cap screws as anchors in the remaining holes of the cyclotron panel, and glued them on. Finally, I made this whole thing run off of a 3000mAh Talentcell battery pack. I had to make my own JST-to-USB cable to connect it, so I just snipped off the stock JST cable from the original battery compartment, and spliced it onto an old charging cable.



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kahuna900, ccv66 liked this
User avatar
By LeoCor Replicas
#4986098
Boy, I'm just terrible at updating my projects.

Re-weathered the whole Pack, as I went way too heavy on the silver the last go-around, this time going for a bit more black and browns for the overall piece.

I added an LED underneath a new light shroud for the hat light next to the proper mode change button, wired to the same circuit as the other orange LED on the wand, as well as also adding a new, bulkier shotgun grip thanks to Harsin's 3D Printing on Etsy! I also cut out the vent light cover for accuracy's sake. I used an old spacer from a broken wire rack shelf, some plastic clothespins, and yellow and silver paint to make a fake Neutrik connector on the the hose. It splits into two parts, so it's easily removable, and not permanent. Not perfect, but okay from afar. I also repainted the scuba hose part in a darker green, though I plan on replacing the hose entirely at some point. I repainted the CRT emitters in a weathered silver, and their cones in copper. I took out all the screws, and painted them brass as well.

Minor changes, but ones I think improve the Pack greatly. Can't wait to trek around town for Halloween. Just remind me to invest in back pain meds beforehand. XD

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