Another build that's a little different.. Gonk! Gonk!

With the free time I'm going to have in the coming weekends, I decided it might be time to start another project.  If you're familiar with my other build thread TK-40418 and life of a trooper

then you know I'm in the 501st Legion, and a bit of a Star Wars nerd.  I thought about making something that I could put my Stanley car jump pack in, and use for long conventions to charge our cellphones and tablets and stuffs.  I mentioned it to a friend, and found out about the Gonk Builders Group.

So follow along while I try to make these bins into everyone's favorite walking battery.  How hard can it be?

Oh, I can't wait to see this one!

I always thought that robot looked like a taco bell trashcan. 

Definitely going to watch!

The build group has some interesting stuff:  lights, sounds, fog, even walking robots.  My plan is to make a static build that looks fairly realistic, maybe flashing lights, maybe sounds if not too difficult.

The vinyl cutter I bought here last November will probably come in handy, friends with 3D printers...  Although another friend shared photos of one he built and used assorted greeblies like toothpaste tube caps and drinking straws.

I plan to add a 5 port USB hub and cables to charge multiple phones at once.  See where else we go with it.

I hope to see you waiting in this costume like a statue performer waiting for people to come around and use your chargers before spooking them.

This is gonna be good.

One thing I need to decide, how to make the battery jump pack stable inside.  Do they get warm without ventilation during use?  I wouldn't think so, hoping I can just make something with foam and bubble wrap from work.

Last weekend I finally put some effort into this...  And got some decent work done, good chunk of the basics.

Managed to find hinges that would work.  I used the screws that came with them for now, if they wear out I'll replace with nuts and bolts.  But this is one of many things you take for granted but don't have on hand during a pandemic & don't feel like making a trip.  You can also see I used the Dremel to cut out the big pan opening on the side.

The pan is in, I glued it after this photo using the same E6000 and rare earth magnets I used for my stormtrooper build.  I bought another smaller one and mounted it reveresed in the front.  It doesn't have the same lip I could glue to the bins.  So I broke the handles off (it was a barbeque grill tray) and flipped it around, then mounted with 4 nuts and bolts.

What you see is the results of scrounging around the garage and closets for assorted junk to use for "greeblies" (assorted bits to make it look more realistic).  I've already added a few things since this photo.  A generic TV antenna on top.  Mounted an old 7 port USB hub on the back.  Some assorted brackets and things.

So far, I have old computer parts, analog TV selector thing that was gutted for the circuit board, steering wheel hub and horn circuit board, MR2 suspension bushings, Celeron processor.  Found a ThinkGeek cig lighter toy Flux Capacitor that I've removed the mount and added 3' of wire to mount to the front or side.  Old modem to have a CAT5 cable plug in and wrap around.  And ordered a few LED lights for the inside and outside.  (I had an old Cibie small driving light that died on me or that would have gone on top)

Letting the glue dry and more work Friday and this weekend.  We've been working sporadic days the last few weeks and go back full time Monday.

Took advantage of the random 82F day yesterday to get the main body painted.  Rustoleum satin black base, followed by their "Dark Steel".  30mph winds helped with making it look distressed/used.  I went back over it with a little black here and there, will probably add some steel to the bottom edge when I make the feet.  Bright sunlight made it hard to see the differences...

Adding back some detail bits after it dried overnight later today.  Add the Flux Capacitor.  Hoping Amazon sends the LED light strips for the interior soon.  The next big step is the feet.  I think I know how I will do them, but requires a trip to the hardware store.  Trying to stay home, and I keep hearing about long lines to get inside (and the cesspool of cooties from everyone being dumb inside.)

More progress yesterday.  I bought a set of LEDs with a USB plug on Amazon cheap, and a cellphone battery bank.  Bonus, they have a remote to turn them on/off, change color, and even flash in patterns.  Once I figured out that one lead with nothing on it was the antenna, and not the dot on that black box...  After this photo I took it upstairs to a warm living room to take my time to decide mounting spots.

I don't think it's bright enough to just glow the interior, so I mounted two in the back visible, and one above/below the front screen to help add a glow.  A friend has ordered assorted LEDs to make a small control panel for me, looking forward to that.  Another friend has a speaker & I'll use an old cellphone to play sound effects.  Getting there.

Now I'm trying to figure out if I can do something to simulate fog.  I'm wondering if one of those table top plant mister things would work, I've heard the typical fog machines leave an oily residue inside.

This build looks great Jerry!  

I see plenty of vape enthusiasts blowing massive clouds out of their car windows.  Perhaps you can use something like that?

Very cool.

Both the standard fog machines and the vapes create the cloud by heating propylene glycol. When it condenses you get the slick/oily feeling coating.

I've looked at bunch of those things for work-related purposes but never come up with a safe option that doesn't work off the same principal.

I thought about a vape pen (I do own two Subarus, shouldn't I have been issued one?) but figured the cloud comes from the person exhaling or something.  Wasn't sure I could make it vape on it's own.

I’d go back to the dealer and let them know you never received your vaping device   I’m sure they’ll hook you right up!

I guess you could use a small ultrasonic humidifier though the cloud wouldn’t last very long.  

Finally got a chance to go to Mendelson's, the huge surplus store in Dayton that's been sold and clearing out.  They reopened Monday & I masked up for a Saturday trip.

All the cool 1940's electronics and factory stuff that would have been neat on the Gonk is being auctioned online only on June 3rd.  WOMP womp.

In reply to Jerry :

Oh man, that place is closing?  I heard all about it when I lived up there back around 1999-2000 and I always meant to go check it out. 

Minor updates over the weekend.  Went to Pep Boys for wipers for the Abarth and found this little fuse block for $10 I thought would be nice:

Sticky tape back made it simple to..uh stick on.  Rearranged the LEDs inside and added some sticky wire mounting things inside from work to clean up some wiring and move it aside vs hanging down everywhere.

Also added some vinyl to the sides and back, a little Star Wars writing that says Gonk Corporation.  I made a manufacturers plaque in vinyl and plexiglass for something different.  I used an old cell phone holder for the LED remote control, mounted it inside the holder with velcro and screwed the base to the Gonk.  Convenient storage.

My friend is going to make some flashing LEDs for the front, add some sound with a wireless speaker and old cellphone mp4 loop.  Then add the feet and I think it's done.

And my hosting company's hardware failure screwed this thread up too.  Awesome.  See if I can fix the missing photos...

I've gotten quite a bit of work done, and never shared it.  A big stumbling block was the legs/feet.  How to attach something cylindrical to a flat surface?  Most seem to use 2x4s for legs, cover with dryer vent hose and a framework inside the bin.  I didn't have the expertise, tools, etc for all that.

Then I rememebered I had this stuff at work.  The tube holds a roll of thin plastic with material like 4 millionths of an inch of gold, the caps are just there for shipping I think.  If I glued them in somehow, cut the tube in half........

Then I realized the square caps aren't large enough for stability.  It's going to have a heavy Stanley car jump pack inside.  So, SWMBO said smaller bins would match the main bin body.  Boom, grocery shopping trip to Meijer found these guys.

I ended up using the feet bin lids for stability, and time to paint to match the body.  Black base, "dark steel" for an overcoat.  The legs are so short I didn't bother trying to cover them up.

A quick test after drying showed I would still have issues mounting them under the body.  I found a piece of wood in the garage, and a local friend with a garage full of woodworking tools cut it to size in about 3 minutes for me.  I painted the bottom and edges, and made it just slightly smaller than the body so it wouldn't be visible.  Works great!

Next up is the seam that covers where the two bins meet.  Corrugated plastic didn't work, it wouldn't bend enough around the curve.  I have garage door seal strip coming from Amazon today.  After that, it's just a few bits for decoration but basically it'll be useable.  If we ever have an event again.  Still crossing all the fingers for Comic Expo in September but losing hope.

Wow, I never posted a complete photo?  I came here to say SWMBO and I went to northern IN to Indiana Dunes State Park for a get-together with other Star Wars people, and I took the Gonk to share with our jawa costumes.

I'll have to find a few photos from his completion to make this thread complete when I get home.

The finished product.  I also added a Blutooth speaker with my old Samsung S5 that I use in the Abarth for music and Torque that will play a 30min loop of sounds.