Ghostbusters PKE Scratch Build

Snow Builder

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 21, 2013

• #1

Hey all, this has been an ongoing project. I'm posting the ongoing sequence of the build along with current state.

Started with MDF and shaped it based on reference photos and measurements (painted and primed).

Painted the shell with high-gloss paint, beveled edges down the sides, grooves for the wings cleaned up, "scratch" wings cut (to check clearances), and began work on the top display.

Rough mark buttons and LED points and hollow out the display:

Make more space in the shell interior (top and bottom) and cut out a pass through in the top piece so electronics can go into the display.

Create static (nonfunctional) wings

Add detailing to the back (.060 Styrene):

Test Fit

 

Snow Builder

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 22, 2013

• #2

Primed, painted, sanded and clear coated.

Cleaned up LED cutouts and added wing "lights"

Created "bar switch"

 

SofaKing01

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 22, 2013

• #3

Fantastic job so far!

 

Snow Builder

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 23, 2013

• #4

I originally planned to produce this as a full, hollow kit with movable wings but started to get impatient. I decided to create a mold for a static, complete PKE first then come back to it later to mold the kit.

Getting ready to mold

First half of the mold cured and cleaned up. Ready to pour the 2nd half.

Success..
and failure. The mold looks good, but the buck was destroyed (I didn't think that was going to happen).

 

Snow Builder

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 25, 2013

• #5

First pull from the mold (using black resin):

Start of paint and weathering:

Finished:

 

F

freedomoffunk

New Member

• Jan 26, 2013

• #6

Very nice indeed. Will you be considering doing a run of these at any point?

 

Snow Builder

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 26, 2013

• #7

freedomoffunk said:

Very nice indeed. Will you be considering doing a run of these at any point?

Click to expand...

Absolutely. For anyone who's interested shoot me a PM or post to this thread. I'll create a thread in the JY when I have completed resin castings ready.

Additional developments:

I was feeling a little experimental and decided to try to cast the PKE using self-skinning foam. I'm was having problems with the wings, either they tear off during the de-mold process or trapped air is keeping them from fully forming, but the overall results on my test pulls isn't terrible.

Here's a pull straight from the mold:

Painted and weathered:

and next to it's resin cousin:

 

Snow Builder

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 31, 2013

• #8

I've continued to experiment with the foam. I wanted to make sure that:

1. I use the correct amount of urethane mixture (too little and I have incomplete coverage, too much and the mold pushes out and deforms the mold)
2. The foam fully cures and the wings and details remain intact during demolding.

I can still decrease the amount of mixture by a little, but I've had three successful, consecutive pulls. Here's the most recent one:

The PKE is skinned, so the "bubbles" you see are under the surface. Interesting that they are inconsistent through out the body of the PKE, especially since they are not reflective of how the mold was positioned during the pour...

Here's the same pull after trimming:

 

Rion

New Member

• Jan 31, 2013

• #9

Very cool. My Matty PKE is taking quite a beating on my belt. This is perfect for costuming. :thumbsup