KMan's HWT side-track

[T K[501st]]

No permanent attachment so it can be easily removed.

 

Now that would be nice! I would love to see you attempt this, 'cause I think it will look darn cool. 

[kman[TK]]

So anyway, back to the main topic, I managed to swing by Home Depot and pick up the ABS pipe and caps, so that's one more thing off the list.

 

 

I pulled everything together and actually laid it out on the oil pan backplate.  Having done so, I'm a bit puzzled at some of the dimensions recommended, especially comparing things to the actual screen shots of the real thing.  In fact, comparing the dimensions LISTED on the Pop-It "tupperware" containers to the ACTUAL dimensions of the pieces, it's kind of no wonder things aren't right.  Now that I've laid them out, I've assembled some more idealized dimensions, based on looking at the layout and comparing to the screen shot thread.  In doing so, I'm really pretty sure that a lot of the pieces in the reference build could be improved, in terms of accuracy in matching the screen shots.

 

 

I also dug my lockbox out of the closet, but it turns out that the dimensions are really not good for this.  I'm definitely going to need to keep shopping for some parts.

 

So here's the photo with everything laid out as best as I could manage, given what I had on hand:

 

 

The lock box dimensions are huge: 12.5" x 8.25" x 4".  It's noticeably too wide (by 3/4" compared to the reference build, so it either hangs off the left edge, or shoves the box on the other side too far over), and WAY too long (12.5" compared to the 11" length in the reference build).  BUT:

 

The recommended cardboard Photo box (for bottom left radio): 11 x 7.5" (per Ukswrath... I don't have one to confirm)?  This is just too long, as well.  Looking at the screen caps (above), and looking at the reference build, the box is noticeably too long.  It clearly should end at or just before the bottom of the pack, not hang off the bottom by approx an inch as the reference build does.  I think the "ideal" length measurement is probably more like 10", so it doesn't overhang the bottom of the pack.  (making the lock box dimensions that much more unusable)  Further, the reference build has the box cut down to 2.5" deep.  This is convenient for streamlining the pack, so all the boxes are nearly the same depth, BUT every screen cap shows the radio box CLEARLY sticking out of the back of the pack quite a bit farther.  I think it should actually be more like 3.5-4" deep.  (Per Ukswrath the photo box is 4.25" high, which may be a little tall, but I think not by much)  The lockbox's 4" depth works well, but since it's wrong in every other way, that's out.  The hunt continues... with revised dimensions in mind.

 

As for the button box on the upper left, the small tupperware container used in the reference thread looks good in the pack photos, but compared to the screen caps it's WAY too small.  It should be the same height as the baby wipes cylinder in the middle top row, which per Ukswrath is 8.5".  The box I found (in the photo above) is 9" long, which would probably work, but at 5" wide, it's way too wide, so back to the search.  I think the ideal width is probably 4" (similar to the center cylinder), so the ideal size for that left button box is 8.5" x 4".  Quite different from the 6.6" x 4.75" Xe 041 tupperware that the reference build used.  (even though the actual measured measurements of Xe 041 are more like 5.75" x 4")

 

Moving onto the upper right vent panel.  The reference build calls for the Xe 051 tupperware, which the specs state are 8" x 5.6" (but I measured it at 7" x 4.75").  Again, though, comparing the reference pack to the screen caps, that box is WAY too large.  It should be much smaller.  Interestingly, the Xe 041 originally slated for the button box seems to work pretty well there.  I measured it at 4" x 5.75".

 

As for the upper center cylinder, I haven't found anything better than the baby wipes container used in the reference build... YET.  The container I had on hand is smaller than the one in the reference build, about 3" x 6.5".  I used it in the photo just to have something there, but I'll need to locate one that's the wider 3.5", and the taller 8.5-9" (again, ideally matching the height of the button box to the left).

 

Lastly (for now), we have the center right box.  The reference build calls for Xe 061, stated as 9.1" x 6.6" (tho I measured much smaller), but that's huge and just doesn't seem to fit well.  A better fit appears to be the Xe 051 box (which was originally slated for the vent panel, right above), which I measured at 7" x 4.75".  I'm still not sure how to address the angle of the panel, so I may well end up going a different route entirely for this.

 

Obviously I have not yet begun to work on the cup/cone setup on the bottom right edge.  And I still need to find those juice lids for the radio box knobs.  Baby steps, I guess.

 

I'm hoping once I have more of the final parts that center circle that's part of the base back will be covered?  Else I'll need just put a flat sheet of plastic over it to hide it somehow, maybe.

Edited November 17, 2016 by kman

[Caligari[TK]]

I struggled with the same dimension discrepancies too and altered them to what looked good to me.  I made templates for everything in photoshop to help me work it all out.  I'll be posting what I did when I get to the point of cutting & gluing.  I'm very interested in what you come up with.  I was toying with the idea of just making a pack per the guide to get approved and then going back and making a more screen-accurate version later.  Of course that costs twice as much.  Keep up the great work!

And I can't see any of your pictures.  Anyone else have that problem?

[kman[TK]]

Rick, if you're surfing at work, you may have an over-aggressive firewall.  Try it on your phone and I'll bet they'll come up normally.  Most people have no problem, but for some reason there are a few firewalls out there that just don't like my server, even though it's been scanned many times and is totally clean.  (They're just straight links to JPG images, no fancy processing, even!)

[Caligari[TK]]

Me? Surfing at work? lol...  And yup, that was it, duh.  Can you tell I'm the IT guy at work?  *sigh*   Very nice diagrams, btw.  I had wondered about the same things and you detailed them perfectly.  Can't wait to see your finished pack!

[kman[TK]]

Two weeks shy of 1 year to the date!

 

But I've recently started working at this again, inspired by a buddy who knocked his pack out.

 

I don't think I mentioned it above, but I did get my orange pauldron in, from trooper1 at MEPD.net.  Fantastic quality!  Truly a step above the cheaper Etsy and eBay pauldrons I own.

 

 

I've decided to let go of the hand-built carefully-scaled boxes, and just knock out a pack per Ukswrath's sticky build thread, since that'll match other local HWTs better anyway.  I already had the tupperware bits, after all.  I even grabbed the photo box from Michaels, since I happened to stumble across one and it was so cheap I couldn't say no.

 

One thing that's been holding me back is my personal dislike of the art board system... I can see the knife cuts and lifted edges, and it just bothers me.  That, and hand cut curves are never going to be as perfect as the CGI ones in the game (especially if I'm the one cutting them... poorly), so I wanted a more refined approach.

 

Enter 3D printing!  I've learned enough modeling that knocking out these basic shapes, on flat plates that can easily be printed and applied, is really easy!  And it delivers the perfection I've been seeking!

 

Here are some pics of the basic plates I drafted.  (Note these are early models that have been refined a bit... I haven't taken updated pics of the more detailed models, but these show the basic idea!)

 

(I refined this a bit, adding serrations to the knobs, for instance.  This had to be be printed in two pieces but that works fine! Note I made the upper frame thicker, just like on the real onscreen models)

 

(This arch panel is pretty final, actually... I don't think I made many changes)

 

(yes, the center plate in this button panel is sunken instead of raised, here, but I've since fixed that)

 

(The vent panel has separate louver plates that are placed into the grooves, just in like Ukswrath's sticky pack build thread.  This lets you paint them separately, and the fit is nice and snug so they glue into place very easily, and the "bump bars" make it nearly impossible to put together incorrectly!)

Vent louvers:

 

Closeup detail of the vent panel, with a quick paint job applied:

 

 

Here's the basic pack, all laid out, with the 3D printed panels laying atop the tupperware tubs:

 

Overhead shot:

 

I'll likely use an actual soda bottle cap for the cup assembly at the bottom.  I'll make a printed disk capper for my white cup, but that'll be unique to each person's cup, so probably not useful to others.

 

Once I'm satisfied, and have an approved pack (read: my models passed muster!) I'll publish the models to Thingiverse, free to all to access.

 

I'm excited to be making progress on this!

 

Edited November 3, 2018 by kman

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Looking great, Kalani, and glad to see that you are back on track!  For the top left button panel buttons I used these:  https://www.lowes.com/pd/Scotch-Rubber-Bumper-12-Pack-Rubber-Adhesive-Cabinet-Bumpers/1000328139

[magni[TK]]

Great progress so far!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

NICE! Great job so far 

[kman[TK]]

7 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

Looking great, Kalani, and glad to see that you are back on track!  For the top left button panel buttons I used these:  https://www.lowes.com/pd/Scotch-Rubber-Bumper-12-Pack-Rubber-Adhesive-Cabinet-Bumpers/1000328139

Thx!  I have those, too.

 

Although I might get black ones instead, now that I know they exist.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M8I6YLH/?coliid=I30EH0HAOXQ8GW&colid=2SE1JG8WV7K6M&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

[kman[TK]]

Today, I:

 

Cut the rim off the plastic tupperware boxes with my Dremel, as well as the little corner ridges.  Cleaned up and ready to paint!

 

 

First coat on the button box plate (filler primer):

 

 

Second coat the on the button box!  Plus painted the three tupperware boxes, all cleaned up and done with those (visible in the background, there).  They're glued to the tupperware boxes with e6000.

 

 

 

Cut the TK shoulder bridge section, and heat shaped it to the curve of the tube:

 

 

Cut off the end of the faceted cup, painted it, cut a flat top cover for it (I used the lid from the largest tupperware box as a plastic donor!), and painted that, plus painted the cap from a 2 liter bottle of soda I was ready to recycle anyway. 

 

 

The flat lid is being glued to the faceted cup (e6000) as I type this, so once that's cured I can start adding rivets.

 

I still need to:

 

Sand and paint the radio box faceplate

Cut the picture box shorter, paint it, glue on the faceplate

Predrill and rivet the gray cup to the black faceted cup

Add the top screws to the faceplates where needed

Clean off the labels/logos and paint the baby wipes canister

Paint and glue the rubber bumpers

Cut the ends off the tube end caps and get that all glued together, with the TK shoulder strap part.

Cut out the oil pan opening and remove the screw top, since I guess we can't use the antennas anymore?  Bummer, since I bought the antenna.

Attach all the various parts to the oil pan. (Gotta look into how best to attach them!)

Attach shoulder straps

 

I can't recall if the oil pan is supposed to be painted, or just left as bare black plastic?

 

I also need to look into exactly how the magazine pouch attaches to the pauldron?

 

I think that's about it, though!

 

Edited November 4, 2018 by kman

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Awesome job so far Kalani

[kman[TK]]

Ran into a bit of a snag on my way to completion.  Two snags, one bigger than the other.

 

Snag #1: My wife didn't want me to waste a perfectly good thing of baby wipes, when we have a toddler in the house. LOL  So we had to finish those before I could use it, LOL.  Just emptied it this morning, finally, and painted the base coat on the main body.  I'll add the black square next.  I want to cover the top of the lid with a round disk, so you don't see the telltale Baby Wipe lid, so I need to scrounge some scrap plastic to glue over it, then I'll paint the lid and be ready to start attaching stuff! 

 

Snag #2: One downside to 3D printed covers I didn't think of.  I had painted another coat on the biggest one, the arches piece, and left it drying in the sun for longer than intended, on a hot day, and the dang thing softened and curled.  I probably should have used PETG (or even ABS) for better heat resistance.  I'm going to replace the full plate with regular plastic, and just re-printed the part with the arches on it, which I'll glue down well to the plastic.  Being well-glued should help stop any future curling.  But having time to cut that plastic sheet is going to delay things slightly.  Plus I have to repaint the arches, now.

 

With any luck, things should start to move fast on this, now.  Although I do need to get some webbing and buckles for the pack straps, first.  I think have I have old camping cinch straps I can sacrifice for this.

 

I'm thinking I want to 3D-design some mounts for the curved pieces.  Just a simple curved bit with a flat back, so I can hold everything nice and straight, and it won't wobble at all.  Shouldn't take long since I basically need to trial and error to get the curve just right, and then it'll be a quick print.

Edited November 12, 2018 by kman

[magni[TK]]

[kman[TK]]

Slow going (life got REALLY busy, but some progress.  We finished the baby wipe canister (LOL).  Base coat on the canister body is done.  I decided I didn't want to see the top of the lid opening (really obvious what it was!), so I cut a disk of plastic to put over it.  Turns out those tops aren't perfectly flat, so I had to cut away much of the middle of the cap, to get the topper to sit down better.  It's all glued, and the paint should be dry by the time I get home.

 

 

 

Finished canister:

 

(pic to be added once I get home!)

 

 

[kman[TK]]

Quick update:

 

 

Note these are just placed for the photo, not yet attached.  Pretty happy with how this is coming together, though!

 

I still need to:

 

Sand and paint the radio box faceplate

Cut the picture box shorter, paint it, glue on the faceplate

Predrill and rivet the gray cup to the black faceted cup

Add the top screws to the faceplates where needed

Clean off the labels/logos and paint the baby wipes canister

Paint and glue the rubber bumpers

Cut the ends off the tube end caps and get that all glued together, with the TK shoulder strap part.

Cut out the oil pan opening and remove the screw top, since I guess we can't use the antennas anymore?  Bummer, since I bought the antenna.

Scuff up the bare black plastic of the oil pan

Attach all the various parts to the oil pan. (Gotta look into how best to attach them... I'm thinking nuts and bolts, so components can be swapped out easily as/if needed.)

Attach shoulder straps

 

I also need to look into exactly how the magazine pouch attaches to the pauldron (or shoulder straps)?

 

The to-do list seems longer than it should be, for how close it feels, but most of these steps should go fairly quickly.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looks awesome 

[magni[TK]]

Getting there!

Packs looking good!

I used machine screws and lock nuts. Not a budge!

I riveted pouch to pauldron in two spots. Doesn't hinder arm movement and still have on me when I take a break from pack on long troops.

Bummer about that antenna

Almost finished!

 

[kman[TK]]

Done with the bumpers and the screws.  This box is done! (excuse the drying paint)

 

 

The rest of the to-do list has taken a back seat to some other emergency costume needs (with a deadline), but I'm back on this 100% now.

 

Tonight I 3D designed and printed 2 new parts: Shaped mounting blocks for the baby wipes bottle and for the faceted cup parts.  Because screwing round objects onto a flat surface makes for oddness, in my book.  This should let me very securely mount the two parts to the backplate, prevent them rocking or moving, and in the case of the lower faceted cup, holds it off the backplate at a good vertical angle.  There are reinforced screw holes in the mounts which should let me fasten things together nice and tight.

 

 

 

 

 

I still need to:

 

Sand and paint the radio box faceplate

Cut the picture box shorter, paint it, glue on the faceplate

Predrill and rivet the gray cup to the black faceted cup

Add the top screws to the faceplates where needed (partially done)

Clean off the labels/logos and paint the baby wipes canister

Paint and glue the rubber bumpers

Cut the ends off the tube end caps and get that all glued together, with the TK shoulder strap part.

Cut out the oil pan opening and remove the screw top, since I guess we can't use the antennas anymore?  Bummer, since I bought the antenna.

Scuff up the bare black plastic of the oil pan

Attach all the various parts to the oil pan. (Gotta look into how best to attach them... I'm thinking nuts and bolts, so components can be swapped out easily as/if needed.)

Attach shoulder straps

 

Small steps, but ever closer nonetheless...

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Wow, brother... just WOW!  (Don't forget to weather that beauty up, though).

[kman[TK]]

5 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

Wow, brother... just WOW!  (Don't forget to weather that beauty up, though).

Thanks!

 

Oh yeah, plenty of weathering coming.  Just gotta establish the baseline first.

[allan1313[TK]]

Looking good. Yeah that PLA has a low melting temp. I been printing my 000 put in PETG just to be safe.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[kman[TK]]

18 hours ago, allan1313 said:

Looking good. Yeah that PLA has a low melting temp. I been printing my 000 put in PETG just to be safe.
 

That may be my ultimate plan.  This was mostly a proof of concept, with black PLA I had on hand.  If it works out, great, if not, it should be pretty trivial to swap in PETG faceplates instead!

[kman[TK]]

One step forward, a couple small steps back.  I cut down the box... to 2".  Instead of 2.5".  *sigh*  At least they're cheap!  I'll pick up another at Michaels... or if I get ambitious, maybe I'll pull out my table saw (it's a bit buried at the moment) and make a proper wood box, instead.  I have the wood to do it, so we'll see.

 

I also managed to accidentally knock the bottle cap off the cup assembly, so that's regluing, then I get to paint it again.  Probably needed another coat of paint anyway, so could be worse.  Plus, it was scary how easily that popped off, so I used a LOT more glue.  If this happens again, though, I'll cut off a piece of dowel and screw it into the top plate, and glue the cap to that, so the whole assembly has a lot more physically secure connection points.

 

I did, at least, sand and paint the radio box faceplate.  So that's done.  Depending on how well the paint dries (it's a bit colder than optimal), I may do one more coat (unless weathering will deal with any small imperfection), else this part is done, at least until I have a box to glue it onto.

 

 

 

I still need to:

 

Sand and paint the radio box faceplate

Cut the picture box shorter (or make a box!), paint it, glue on the faceplate

Repaint the cup assembly

Predrill and rivet the gray cup to the black faceted cup

Add the top screws to the three faceplates where needed: Radio Faceplate, Button Box, Arch Box

Clean off the labels/logos and paint the baby wipes canister

Paint and glue the rubber bumpers

Cut the ends off the tube end caps and get that all glued together, with the TK shoulder strap part.

Cut out the oil pan opening and remove the screw top, since I guess we can't use the antennas anymore?  Bummer, since I bought the antenna.

Scuff up the bare black plastic of the oil pan

Attach all the various parts to the oil pan. (Gotta look into how best to attach them... I'm thinking nuts and bolts, so components can be swapped out easily as/if needed.)

Attach shoulder straps

 

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by kman

[kman[TK]]

My wife got ill so I was managing a toddler solo all week, so things have been moving slowly.  But I finally got a little bit of reportable progress.

 

Got the cup repainted, so that's good.

 

The photo box has been cut down (CORRECTLY this time) to 2.5".  I've been thinking about pack mounting options, and decided to use the lid plus some reinforcement.  I cut two sides of the lid down so it fits perfectly inside the box.  Two edges of the lid's rim (minus about 1/4") will fit flush inside the box, and I'll add a couple of cheap L brackets in the opposite corner.  I can glue inside the box rim to the remnant of the lid rim, and that will give me a very strong full-length connection on 2 sides.  I'll use a strip of strap wood inside so I can mount the lid (as a backplate) REALLY firmly to the oil pan.

 

 

With that worked out, I went ahead and glued the radio faceplate on the box with e6000, and screwed in the corners.  (I decided to use #8 machine screws with nuts, instead of the #8 sheet metal screws Ukswrath had used, since this 2-part printed faceplate really needs to stay in place firmly.)  I even got a coat of paint on it!

 

 

I'll add another coat of paint before calling this done, but we're very nearly finished with this part.

 

I cut the new backplate for the arch box.  (sorry, no photo yet)  I used the self-adhesive floor tiles I had originally purchased for this pack.  I took the warped 3D printed plate, and just traced around it and cut out the new plate.  Worked pretty well, I think.  I touched it up on the bench sander, and slapped on a coat of paint.  Assuming it looks ok when I get home, I should be ready to glue the arch faceplate on it, and attach it to the tupperware, and we'll have yet another piece done!

 

Next steps:  I need to:

 

Sand and paint the radio box faceplate

Cut the picture box shorter (or make a box!), paint it, glue on the faceplate

Repaint the cup assembly
Clean off the labels/logos and paint the baby wipes canister

Paint and glue the rubber bumpers

Predrill and rivet the gray cup to the black faceted cup

Add the top screws to the three faceplates where needed: Radio Faceplate, Button Box, Arch Box

Cut the ends off the tube end caps and get that all glued together, with the TK shoulder strap part.

Cut out the oil pan opening and remove the screw top, since I guess we can't use the antennas anymore?  Bummer, since I bought the antenna.

Scuff up the bare black plastic of the oil pan

Attach all the various parts to the oil pan. (Gotta look into how best to attach them... I'm thinking nuts and bolts, so components can be swapped out easily as/if needed.)

Attach shoulder straps