[edspengler]

Update on preliminary try to make Spengler style banjo bolts. This only took a few minutes using a dremel grinding wheel, I took a quick break at work but will do more later. Overall I think it looks pretty good and I’m happy with where this is going. Pics show before and after grinding a modern bolt.


Update- back at it after work. Not perfect, but here is is attached back into the banjo, I ground the edges on both bolt heads and am happy with how they look. This is such a tiny detail that really nobody, NOBODY would notice unless they’re looking for it (also my flashbulb wires are not blue and green).

[edspengler]

Today was quite productive, I ended up spending the better part of 4 to 5 hours wiring all the electronics together on the MB. Also got the charging plate hooked up the the battery. The battery is a big boy, but this pack needs the power to pack the punch! I began with connecting all the electronics together and running speaker wire from the audio to the speakers, I ran these long and then cut to length once connected.


I had to disassemble the “server rack” of audio boards to connect terminals on the lower boards - I had to switch out the power plug from a female barrel to a male barrel, and also run wires for the vent relay. The boards on top had to come off to be able to use a screwdriver to screw the terminals in the lower boards.

Once everything was connected and the speaker wires cut to length it was time to tidy up the look. I used red loom I had on hand to manage loose wires between the audio boards, cyclotron, and power cell. The point of installing all the audio onto an acrylic base was to hide all the pigtail wiring under the plate. I had to solder the connectors for my smoker to the wires I ran down from the relay that is mounted on the audio board.

All in all it took a great deal of patience to get through this, but I am super OCD when it comes to electronics and wiring management. Here is the final result

The vent kit is just zip tied in for now, I will have to figure out a more permanent mounting solution. Everything works great and the shell fits over everything properly. The last bit of cable management will be the ribbon cable to the wand when that time comes. If you’re wondering about my color choices for the interior, it is supposed to be a homage to Slimer and the containment unit. That’s all for now!

[edspengler]

After messing around with the setup, I had to rearrange the smoker to have the tube facing down to make sure it works properly. After many tries to getting it placed to fit under the shell, here we are. Here is a demo of the engine running under the hood


Another thing today was an attempt to address the blue tubing issue. Modern tubing is not the same color as the clippard tubing that was used on the original packs. I got my hands on some blue polyethylene tubing (plastic). It seems like that would paint fairly well given the use of a paint formulated for plastic. I had to do some sprinkler repair for my yard so I also picked up some blue paint when buying parts. Here is how it looks, not perfect, but it will do for now.


The paint cured well on the tubing, but will scuff if it is scratched hard. The red tubing in the picture is genuine vintage clippard tubing.

Also took a little time to do some track mixing, I would like this pack to have its own unique music tracks that highlight the audio system. Here is a sample of what I was working on


I will be happy to share any files I create with anyone that asks once my build is complete.

[alphabeta001]

Holy crap that looks epic and awesome. It also looks like you're going for the 84 weight with all the audio gear in there

[edspengler]

I have been working on things here and there over the last few days. The elephant in the room on the soundboard setup was that I never connected the ribbon cable that goes to the thrower - I had to take things apart (again) to get the ribbon cable to come in from behind the acrylic plate and tuck it behind the wires contained by the red split looms. I connected the ribbon cable to the wand board to test things out and everything works wonderfully.


Here is a quick video of how things look running with the shell. I had to mess with the relay for a little bit to get the timing on the smoke just where I wanted it. You’ll also notice the TVG style restart after the overheat. Having spent many hours playing the game, the post overheat restart is part of my headcanon.


Another outstanding item with the soundboards is volume control once the shell is on. My idea has been to manage volume with the crank knob like many others have done. A while back I ordered some pogo pin connectors and decided to make a pot cable setup that easily connects and disconnects between the shell and MB. Soldered everything together along with some shrink wrapping and screwed the pot back into the shell.


The connector is magnetic so it just pulls apart when the shell is lifted off and is easy to reconnect when putting the shell back on. You might notice that it is a 5-pin connector when I could have used a 3-pin. When I ordered the connectors I wasn’t sure if the smoker would have to be installed into the shell, so I thought I may need the extra 2 pins to connect to the smoke relay in the MB. When the shell is removed and the pot is disconnected, the sound system reverts to a default volume which is mid lower range.

I also added some decals here and there, bottom of the thrower, big red label on the back of the MB (my favorite) and a nice name tape on the frame. I know the real name tags were just masking tape and that they read first name last initial. Back when I was doing the goggle build and researching labels, Moby Sign Co was kind enough to send me some name tapes as a bonus, as one could not ask for a nicer name tape I applied one to this build. I also added the foam to the top of the MB and the green tubing to the thrower. I used the GBfans foam and cut the edges to give them a closer look to what is on screen in certain scenes (the rooftop scene does not show MB foam).


I chose to use clear cyclotron lenses (for now), however I did spray them with “glass frosting” that is meant to obscure clarity of glass, such as for a bathroom window. It really defuses the light nicely, as you can see in the side by side shot. I taped the lenses in for now, so it would be very easy to switch to red in the future. I like how the cyclotron appears dark when the pack is off and I do like to play with TVG colors every now and then as I am a huge fan of the game.


I still have to cut the mouse hole in the shell for the thrower loom and still waiting on my welded parts as well as a few other small details. I have white neck foam, but can’t seem to find my gaffers tape… that’s all for now, thanks for following along!

[tobycj]

Are you not using a vintage Alice frame on this build? I'm surprised by that, especially as I'd think it'll be pretty heavy once finished!

[edspengler]

Are you not using a vintage Alice frame on this build? I'm surprised by that, especially as I'd think it'll be pretty heavy once finished!

I am using the GBfans reproduction frame and straps that I picked up a few years ago…for now. The frame itself is rock solid, no give at all like the newer Rothcos etc. I have full confidence in the frame’s ability to solidly carry a traditional hero pack. If I come across a vintage frame and straps at a good price at some point I could switch it out.

[edspengler]

I got my split loom yesterday and counted out the ridges for the vacuum line - here is what I came up with


So 87-89 ridges for the the vac line.

Since Freeky Geeky already went through the trouble to count the ridges to the thrower connection, I will use his number. More to follow soon…

[tobycj]

Are you not using a vintage Alice frame on this build? I'm surprised by that, especially as I'd think it'll be pretty heavy once finished!

I am using the GBfans reproduction frame and straps that I picked up a few years ago…for now. The frame itself is rock solid, no give at all like the newer Rothcos etc. I have full confidence in the frame’s ability to solidly carry a traditional hero pack. If I come across a vintage frame and straps at a good price at some point I could switch it out.

Ah, I assumed as it has the ridge in the bottom half of the centre bar it was a Rothco/Fox etc. I'd not realised the gbfans replicas had that too.

[edspengler]

I ended up getting the thrower and the pack (more like the MB) permanently connected. I really wish there was an easy way to disconnect the wand from the pack, but such is an 84. Thanks to the reference library one can see how the thrower is attached to the loom, the superhero is the only pack that has 2 holes in the top of the handle and the other heroes have one hole in the bottom of the handle where a zip tie passes through.


The hole on the Spengler thrower is precariously close to the edge and I moved mine a little more towards the grip to be a bit more conservative. I do have some steel cable from my Halloween yard setup, but I did not place it in the loom. I cannot spot it in the 84 pictures and suspect it may have been added later for 89, so to stay true to the 84 nature of this build I left it out (please correct me if I’m wrong). I also drilled two holes in the MB to fasten the loom in with a zip tie (or two as I did for now)


I used random zip ties that I already had in the garage, a friend of mine is sending me some legit ones, when those arrive I will replace all the zip ties in the loom.

Thanks to Freeky Geeky, I counted out exactly 271 ridges to be visible between the shell and the thrower, interestingly from his measurements the Spengler has the shortest loom, which I can totally see now when looking at the reference photos. I added electrical tape and tried to space it out, but ended up applying it at an even interval to keep the loom looking good.


At first I preferred the split less loom that is on my spirit build, but this one is growing one me, it has that weird wonky look that is fitting to the original props. I still have to add the vac line loom and cut the mouse hole in the shell… it’s coming along.

I'd not realised the gbfans replicas had that too.

I started looking at vintage frames and I did not realize this feature was not present on the originals. I can swap it out eventually if I find a good deal, otherwise I am ok with leaving it as is.

[edspengler]

So I thought I was done, but I had to go back and cut the mouse hole to be able to put the shell back on. I had given this some thought and had considered several options from a dremel grinder or sander to a saw. I took a more cautious route and ended up using a coping saw, and drilled holes to give the blade room to turn in the curve. I used a file to finish the hole smoothly. Note that when using the file I held a vacuum cleaner up to the area being filed to keep the dust from flying all over the room.


Here are some pictures of the loom passing into the shell


I have also been struggling with getting the smoke tube/fan to stay in place and line up consistently with the shell. I ended up attaching a bracket through the same hole that holds the charging plate and that did the trick like Mr Scott working the keyboard to present transparent aluminum (that’s the ticket laddy). I didn’t take pictures of this but can post some later when I take the shell off again. Here is a video of the shell and thrower in action together. The thrower is still missing the bar graph as I am waiting for a bezel to arrive, once I have that I will install the bar graph. Ignore the sound of my dog’s tail hitting the wall in the background. I do not recall if I mentioned it before, but I sped up the lighting sequence a little on the power cell and cyclotron as Egon’s runs a little faster than the others, it can be noted in various scenes including the rooftop.


That’s really it for now, let’s see what happens next.

[edspengler]

Very minor update but still something of note. A friend had some blue tubing that is lighter than my original modern tubing but darker than the color that I painted the original. I was pretty excited to get it in the mail today, it’s perfect! Here is a comparison of the different blues. This is set, unless I ever find some vintage blue or vintage dyed tubing. It would be perfect if I could get my hands on some tubing dry rubs…


That’s as exciting as an update that will happen during the work week, unless my welded parts show up.

[edspengler]

Things have been pretty quiet on the build front, mainly waiting for (mainly the welded) parts at this point to tie things together. I did however accomplish something today. A friend had sent me a piece of white neck foam a while back, so I was able to get it painted and installed. To make things easy I removed the ALICE frame from the MB to be able to have room to work around the top bar. I got the tube cut to length and used painters tape and strategically placed paper to mask off the edges before hitting them with black spray paint. I know some people choose other things, but that is what I had on hand and I wanted to get it done. The pictures below summarize the painting process which I repeated for the other side as well.


Once the paint was sufficiently dry (I left it outside in the summer heat for a while), I got it fitted to the frame. Before the final fitting I cut a small piece out to provide room for the center piece of the frame. Once it was on I applied the gaffers tape to get a good fit and bolted the frame back to the MB.


Once secured one can see the white inner foam peeking out similar to how it appears in the movie. The foam roll also hides the upper speaker grate fairly well, so only the trained eye would notice that accuracy deviation that I felt was justified by the killer audio. That’s it for now, I will also work on mounting the vac line this weekend and maybe start another project while waiting for parts (I have a brown gizmo, gigameter, second wand, other book project… other sale prop… just to name a few). I’m waiting for the welded pieces, custom (surprise) grate to cover the subwoofer, wand bezel, and at some point a custom Spengler specific wand knob… to name a few. I can also start prepping the booster ladder for when my parts arrive.

[edspengler]

Mail call!! Real vintage Panduit zip ties from a buddy that has been a consultant on this build. Can’t wait to get them in. That’s it for a weekday update!

[edspengler]

I got my wand bezel in the mail today from Freeky Geeky and it fits the Mack’s wand body exactly. It is always such a treat to get something in the mail from RJ. I had to disassemble some of the wand interior to get it in there as my fingers are too damn fat to work around the lever release. The bar graph will be held in with circuit board standoffs that are epoxied to the thrower body interior, so it is still removable if necessary


I still have to glue the bezel lens on, but I am waiting for a new gold paint pen with an ultra fine tip to arrive to try to paint portions of the bezel.

Earlier in the week I also added the vac line using the measurements/ridge counts that I previously posted.

The top portion is held in place with a magnet, as drilling into that area of the shell is very difficult due to the shape of the shell and the shape of my drill.

I also got news that my welded parts should be shipping to me this week, so once those are in I’ll be able to add the ribbon cable and finalize the tubing. Really looking forward to that mail delivery!

I’ll let the epoxy sit overnight for the bar graph standoffs and reassemble the interior tomorrow.

On a different note, I have been rewatching “The Haunting of Hill House” on Netflix and it is hands down one of my favorite horror dramas which I have watched countless times already. We live with our own ghosts and hold on to our own haunting memories… but that is the subject for a different post later.

[edspengler]

The epoxy standoffs work great and the bar graph and bezel are successfully in. I got a super fine gold paint marker and painted the rivet and contacts, then carefully used a very small amount of superglue to affix the lens onto the bezel.

Below are some pictures before the clear lens is applied


Here are some pictures once the lens is on. I also took the opportunity to replace the zip ties with the genuine pantsuit zip ties.


With that, the thrower portion of the build is pretty much complete! I’m really happy with how it has turned out, it certainly has a good deal of heft. I am hoping to get my welded parts in soon to be able to tie the pack together into a presentable state.

[edspengler]

As I had mentioned a while back when I attempted to grind the welds on the injectors - I was going to revisit the task… well, today I revisited the task. I had been putting this off as filing can be a bit tedious and labor intensive. As I am waiting for the welded parts to move forward, why not take on this task? I started off using the large flat file I had used to clean up the “vent” speaker holes in the MB. Lots of filing on the sides and bottom of the tubes as well as frequent stopping to check that I don’t mess it up. After I had filed down the edges to nice corners I finished off the rough surfaces with a drum sander on the dremel. The file does not leave behind a clean surface, but sanding smoothed it out great. Here are some pictures of the process as well as a reference library shot to compare.


I gave the edges a quick coat of paint and will finish and reattach it tomorrow. Note that the injectors from the reference library are missing the center weld between the tubes that is present on mine. I decided not to remove that to maintain the strength that the weld provides. Also, nobody is going to notice my injectors anyway, only a handful of people would appreciate it