An injection molding apparatus (10) comprising: a heated manifold (16), one or more fluid driven actuators (210a, 210b) each interconnected to a corresponding valve pin (211 a, 211 b), a housing comprised of one or more metal plates (202a, 202b, 204a, 204b, 206) arranged to form a manifold chamber (208), each of the fluid driven actuators (210a, 210b) being mounted within or at least about one foot from within the manifold chamber (208), each fluid driven actuator being fluid drive interconnected to a proportional control valve (213a, 213b, 213c) that is mounted either within the manifold chamber (208) or having fluid flow ports (213p1, 213p2 ) that are interconnected within about one foot of corresponding fluid flow ports (210p1, 210p2) of a corresponding fluid driven actuator (210a, 210b).