- September 7th, 2024, 1:47 pm#4999947
Hi all!
Nobody knows me but I've been lurking on these forums since 1998. About 2 years ago now, I decided it was time to build one final proton pack, and finally make that proverbial 'cadillac' specimen using modern resources - with a twist or two.
Specifically:
- fiberglass shell (Tom Morris, who is awesome)
- aluminum parts, including wand (gbprops - AJ is also awesome), and a real TIG weld connecting the ion arm to the booster tube
- jupiter electronics light kit (again, awesome)
- custom electronics (arduino, relays, sound module, a bunch of other stuff)
- monster sound
What do I mean by 'monster sound'? A developer / sound designer by trade, I couldn't / wouldn't settle for anything less than a tooth-rattling, organ-jostling experience, spinal column be darned. Therefore, this "Last" proton pack features 2.1 channel audio, a 100w amplifier (standing in as the 'belt gizmo'), and over 75 sound effects designed by yours truly, fed through a 6.5" left channel speaker mounted under the crank gen, a 1" 30W right channel speaker in the wand itself, and a 6.5" subwoofer under the cyclotron - all driven by a combination of arduino plus the Tsunami "wavtrigger" device, which allows for up to 18-voice polyphony. Yes, I've needed to start lifting weights to be able to wear the thing for more than 15 minutes at a time...!
Furthermore - my buddy Josh (who graciously lent his machine shop and overall expertise to the project) and I agreed on a few stipulations:
- No glue, or at least, as little glue as possible. Everything should be disassemble-able down to the last bolt.
- Every knob / dial / etc. should be interactive and produce a sound effect and/or have an influence on the overall sound presentation / mix
- As many bells and whistles as we can think of / fit.
All of these goals were achieved - and yet, there's still more to do:
- install a smoke kit acquired from etsy
- plus relays that allow the arduino to control the smoke unit and synchronize its behavior with sounds
- a digital potentiometer to allow for dynamic control of the speed of the pack lights
- a newer, better sound unit that will provide seamless looping (the current model re-reads the header data every loop, which takes time, resulting in a subtle but annoying audible pop on each layer)
- discreet speaker for the smoke kit / nfilter
A couple of other things:
- the wand kit is an older CPU64 model bought through these boards - it has GB2 style grips that are JB-welded in place, and was generally 'authentically weathered' in terms of it having a fair amount of paint chipped off.. which looks cool, so I decided to keep it as is. I'm never replacing it, because building the inside was a royal PITA that I never want to experience again.
- the pop mechanism was custom designed to leave as much room inside the wand body as possible
- the prop also features a pair of accelerometers (driven by arduino) - one in the pack, one in the wand - that trigger handling foley. Sounds awesome when you dramatically pull the wand off of the pack - creates gear rattle when you walk around with it, etc.
- After building a few of these over the years, I got tired of the fake weathering, which if not done well results in a look I call "sugar-frosted props". For this reason, I kept the pack itself clean.
- "There are many like it, but this one is mine" - it's amazing to me how relatively ubiquitous this project has become for so many. "Back in the day", we didn't even know what this beast actually looked like or how it all fit together, and if you wanted to make one, it was go to home depot or continue dreaming. Now that there are so many, I decided to not adhere to any one style or try to painstakingly recreate a specific pack from a specific movie, because it's been done 1,000 times by now - so I cherry picked the features that I think look the best, including the choice to not paint some of the aluminum (it looks pretty - plus I wanted to flex the real welds
)
Once I collate the pictures, I'll post more in this thread about the building process (the inside is nearly as awesome as the outside). For now, enjoy these beauty pics!
Ps. Why the "Last" proton pack? Now that this is mostly done, I want to move on to other projects - I don't think I shall build another one of these, at least not for a long, long time. It's been an amazing journey - from Norm Gagnon's V1 plans with twist ties, foam board, film cannisters, and handmade alice frames, to this magnificence...unbelievable. Life is pretty cool sometimes.
Nobody knows me but I've been lurking on these forums since 1998. About 2 years ago now, I decided it was time to build one final proton pack, and finally make that proverbial 'cadillac' specimen using modern resources - with a twist or two.
Specifically:
- fiberglass shell (Tom Morris, who is awesome)
- aluminum parts, including wand (gbprops - AJ is also awesome), and a real TIG weld connecting the ion arm to the booster tube
- jupiter electronics light kit (again, awesome)
- custom electronics (arduino, relays, sound module, a bunch of other stuff)
- monster sound
What do I mean by 'monster sound'? A developer / sound designer by trade, I couldn't / wouldn't settle for anything less than a tooth-rattling, organ-jostling experience, spinal column be darned. Therefore, this "Last" proton pack features 2.1 channel audio, a 100w amplifier (standing in as the 'belt gizmo'), and over 75 sound effects designed by yours truly, fed through a 6.5" left channel speaker mounted under the crank gen, a 1" 30W right channel speaker in the wand itself, and a 6.5" subwoofer under the cyclotron - all driven by a combination of arduino plus the Tsunami "wavtrigger" device, which allows for up to 18-voice polyphony. Yes, I've needed to start lifting weights to be able to wear the thing for more than 15 minutes at a time...!
Furthermore - my buddy Josh (who graciously lent his machine shop and overall expertise to the project) and I agreed on a few stipulations:
- No glue, or at least, as little glue as possible. Everything should be disassemble-able down to the last bolt.
- Every knob / dial / etc. should be interactive and produce a sound effect and/or have an influence on the overall sound presentation / mix
- As many bells and whistles as we can think of / fit.
All of these goals were achieved - and yet, there's still more to do:
- install a smoke kit acquired from etsy
- plus relays that allow the arduino to control the smoke unit and synchronize its behavior with sounds
- a digital potentiometer to allow for dynamic control of the speed of the pack lights
- a newer, better sound unit that will provide seamless looping (the current model re-reads the header data every loop, which takes time, resulting in a subtle but annoying audible pop on each layer)
- discreet speaker for the smoke kit / nfilter
A couple of other things:
- the wand kit is an older CPU64 model bought through these boards - it has GB2 style grips that are JB-welded in place, and was generally 'authentically weathered' in terms of it having a fair amount of paint chipped off.. which looks cool, so I decided to keep it as is. I'm never replacing it, because building the inside was a royal PITA that I never want to experience again.
- the pop mechanism was custom designed to leave as much room inside the wand body as possible
- the prop also features a pair of accelerometers (driven by arduino) - one in the pack, one in the wand - that trigger handling foley. Sounds awesome when you dramatically pull the wand off of the pack - creates gear rattle when you walk around with it, etc.
- After building a few of these over the years, I got tired of the fake weathering, which if not done well results in a look I call "sugar-frosted props". For this reason, I kept the pack itself clean.
- "There are many like it, but this one is mine" - it's amazing to me how relatively ubiquitous this project has become for so many. "Back in the day", we didn't even know what this beast actually looked like or how it all fit together, and if you wanted to make one, it was go to home depot or continue dreaming. Now that there are so many, I decided to not adhere to any one style or try to painstakingly recreate a specific pack from a specific movie, because it's been done 1,000 times by now - so I cherry picked the features that I think look the best, including the choice to not paint some of the aluminum (it looks pretty - plus I wanted to flex the real welds
) Once I collate the pictures, I'll post more in this thread about the building process (the inside is nearly as awesome as the outside). For now, enjoy these beauty pics!
Ps. Why the "Last" proton pack? Now that this is mostly done, I want to move on to other projects - I don't think I shall build another one of these, at least not for a long, long time. It's been an amazing journey - from Norm Gagnon's V1 plans with twist ties, foam board, film cannisters, and handmade alice frames, to this magnificence...unbelievable. Life is pretty cool sometimes.
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