"Man, this equipment is heavy"

Caution:  The following post contains "selfies" of me wearing the pack.  I figured me looking tired and frumpy would only make the proton pack look even better by comparison.

So tonight I put it all together.  First I re-installed the toggle switch for the pack lights in the thrower that had come apart, re-connecting the hose to the pack in the process.  Then I attached the bottom plate and gun track to the bottom of the thrower.  Next I anchored the hose to the motherboard so it won't come out of the hole in the side of the pack.  Then I put the shell back on the motherboard and tightened everything down.  For the first time everything was where it was supposed to be and I could see what I've been working on for so long.  Fun moment.

I couldn't resist putting it on and looking in the mirror, then taking a few pictures with my phone to show you guys.  I promise I'll try to look better when I'm in uniform.  I look halfway slimed in these pictures.

I realize that doesn't show you much, so I took it off and put it on the couch for some nice shots of the other side of the pack.

At that point I flipped the toggle switch to turn on the lights, and nothing happened.  I was afraid of that.  My repair of the toggle switch that had come apart didn't last long (it did work before I put it on and took pictures), so I had to improvise.  There are two switches on the face of the thrower, only one of which had any function on my version, the bottom one.  The top had the same kind of toggle switch, but it hadn't come apart so much during disassembly, so I took it back out, took the top off of it, swapped out the business end with the part that runs the lights, then mounted the light switch to run from the top spot instead.  So far it works without any problems.  Here's a picture of the inside of the thrower.  The blue things are the backs of the switches, the one with wires runs the lights.

Yes, that's duct tape on one of the handles.  I told you I rushed it last time.

It's hard to see, but I glued the heck out of it to make sure the switches hold in place.  If it's worth gluing, it's worth over-gluing.  I'll just hate myself down the line when I want to take them back out again to update my thrower and/or lights.

So basically that's it.  I'm done with more than 10 days before Halloween, so I can take it to a party we're going to next weekend, and maybe take some fun pictures with it in the near future as well.  Keep an eye out for a few more blog posts between now and the 31st, as I'll share some pictures and maybe more information about the other pieces of equipment that I carry as a part of my uniform.

Thanks to all of you who have read my posts, commented on the blog or Facebook, and encouraged me along the way.  This is way more fun when people appreciate what you put into it, and I hope you enjoyed seeing this thing come together as much as I enjoyed doing it.  That being said, I'm glad to be done.  Let me know if you want to see it in person.  I can't wait to show it off.

-Matt