Scratch Built Mk1 Arc Reactor (cave version) PIC HEAVY! The second attempt

Dynofiend

Well-Known Member
Recently I completed my first Arc Reactor build, but a few 'niggles' with it annoyed me enough to make me want to do another one. The thread for my first RT is here.

Additionally one of the pieces I made (the long leg of the 'cage') was based on a screen grab of one part of a set of stl files very nicely sent through to me by a kindly forum user, which prevented me from being able to sell (at cost only price) any other arc reactors to my collector friends in New Zealand (the supplier of the files reasonably requested that I didn't sell any reactors I made using their files, and technically, I was using part of one of their files, albeit in a very minor way).

As such, I wanted to make one that was entirely my own creation. Now, after studying so many images online, I was very familiar with the RT, and also with the software I was using, so I remade the one file that was not entirely my own work already (the long leg of the cage), and set about perfecting all the other files I had made previously too.

Below is a photo progression with a few notes.

2013-10-20 17.19.21.jpgThe 'kit'
2013-10-20 17.19.27.jpgBuilding the cage using a jig made from a plank of wood and a pencil
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Some of the parts taking shape. The tri-ring is a 'mixed medium' piece of lots of different sources!

2013-10-23 21.24.52.jpg2013-10-25 19.17.49.jpg2013-10-25 20.02.56.jpg2013-10-25 20.03.59.jpg2013-10-25 20.05.01.jpg
Construction begins, the cage completed, inserting the electrics, and gluing up some of the components. Also pictured is the recharging cable, which allows you to recharge the internal battery using a regular NiMH 9v battery charger, but plugging in via the accurate, but also functional 6 pin RT plug.

2013-10-25 20.05.39.jpg2013-10-27 14.52.22.jpg2013-10-27 16.12.56.jpg2013-10-27 18.58.07.jpg2013-10-27 18.58.19.jpg2013-10-27 18.00.01.jpg2013-10-27 19.39.42.jpg2013-10-26 17.39.53.jpg
Painting and final assembly.
 
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The finished reactor. I paid attention to the, colour, pattern of damage and overall alignment of all the pieces of the 'auction version' cave reactor to get as much right as possible. Hope you like it, because I sure do!

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Why thank you!

I should probably post the 'source' picture I was working from. The only things I can immediately see that aren't quite right, are my four layer clear ring, which should be a bit thicker, and in one piece (and probably use greener plastic), the diffusion ring, which should also be one piece and a frosted white, and that's about it for the obvious stuff.

IM_Mk_1_RT_reactor_view_2.jpg
 
The tri-ring & bezel how are the attached to the arc itself?

Did you glue it to the diffuser?

Sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions this is my first build. :)
 
I haven't seen anyone build the cave electromagnet yet. And I would like to see how people would attempt it. I already haveIMG_5422.PNGIMG_5423.PNG It's an okay first attempt.
 
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The tri-ring & bezel how are the attached to the arc itself?

Did you glue it to the diffuser?

Sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions this is my first build. :)

No problems at all. The front bezel is fixed to the triwing, which in turn are both fixed to the small wire ring underneath, which itself is attached to the top brass ring. The brass ring arangement is glued directly to the diffuser. You might want to use small spacers to make these parts the correct heights in relation to your diffuser and outer clear ring, as it is important to have the outer clear and front bezel at the right height relative to each other. Study this picture carefully (click on the image thumbnail, and then again on the image once in the slideshow viewer to view at max size), you can see that behind the three arms of the triwing, the clear spacers I used are just visible.

View attachment 247942
 
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I haven't seen anyone build the cave electromagnet yet. And I would like to see how people would attempt it. I already haveView attachment 256679View attachment 256680 It's an okay first attempt.

Looks like a great job there! The original/back up props from the movie were for sale recently, I think at propstore. They had some great images if you didnt see them already. The reason I didnt want to tackle this is because this prop isnt as iconic, and does, to some extent, just look like the inside of an old alarm clock for those that dont know :D
 
No problems at all. The front bezel is fixed to the triwing, which in turn are both fixed to the small wire ring underneath, which itself is attached to the top brass ring. The brass ring arangement is glued directly to the diffuser. You might want to use small spacers to make these parts the correct heights in relation to your diffuser and outer clear ring, as it is important to have the outer clear and front bezel at the right height relative to each other. Study this picture carefully (click on the image thumbnail, and then again on the image once in the slideshow viewer to view at max size), you can see that behind the three arms of the triwing, the clear spacers I used are just visible.

View attachment 247942

Grateful for this, I studied this photo for hours & that was my conclusion was that the brass ring arrangement was glued directly to the diffuser, I have ordered my tri-ring & bezel to be 3d printed in high quality. Lets see how that goes.
 
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