Proton Pack Pattern Plans

Mooniteman said:
By foamcore do you mean that thick ass poster board ? Does it come in different thicknesses - I'm wanting to layer mine upinstead of having anything hollow. Did you cover it in anything to smooth it out or jsut spray it as is ?
Click to expand...
I covered it with like 8 coats of wood glue and packed it with expanding foam.
 
i would advise against using foamcore. im not a fan of packs using that, as it gets dinged and you can see the styrofoam inside. if you absolutely must use the foam, the pink insulation foam at home depot is your best bet. plus at 1.50 a sheet, think how many sheets of that you'll need vs 1 10 dollar foam 4X8 sheet of insulation.
 
Home Depot carries the pink foam... Lowe's carries the blue. The pink is kind of crystiline, a little "crunchy" if you will. If you can find the 3M brand of blue foam, it is very "smooth" when you cut it. Very little foam powder.
 
Thanks Trey - that link will help. I've kind of got my own odd think going with my build with foam/wood.

Does anyone think I can cover the polystyrene with bondo to eliminate some of the odd texture ? Like my cyclotron was tough to keep smooth when cut since this foam kinda blows.

Opinions ?
 
NO. DO NOT make a gareeeeee budget pack. he has to constantly repair it because it consistently always falls apart(he updates after every event he wears it to about what he needs to repair, thats not a lead i would want to follow). not to mention they look ridiculous because they are made from electrical boxes with very little modification to them and glosticks.

if you want to go the budget route, go the ORIGINAL budget route and follow Norm Gagnon's plans, who, is someone the majority of the ghostbusters community has unfortunately forgotten, thanks to shell sellers and gareeeeeeeeee's empty promise of a "budget pack", which is more like that movie with tom hanks and that house he was trying to repair but it kept falling apart and spending money to repair the stuff that he had fixed which originally cost him A LOTmoney and hilarity ensued but not the funny kind, you know "theMONEY PIT"? that one.

Norm's pack, is budgetly accurate, stable, consistent, and reliable. ive built SEVEN, let me make that larger 7 (SEVEN) packs using his plans. if i hadnt gotten more experience with scratchbuilding and the tools to do that and want a slightly closer degree of accuracy, i still would be using my dog eared note covered yellowed paper norm's plans.

i'll save you the digging:
Norm Gagnon's Prop Plans - Equipment - Ghostbusters Fans Wiki

when there were no plans, norm made them. that page is filled to the brim with ghostbusters prop history. cripes, he COINED the phrase "ghosthead." as a fan of ghostbusters.

this message is for ANYONE contemplating a proton pack and someone linked them to gareeeeeeeees plans.




as for the bondo covering the polystyrene i dont see it being a problem as its plastic. i may have some concern how it would react to foam, but then im more willing to risk a little to see if it can do what i want it to do.
 
Last edited:
Wow - Themanwoaname ! That's quite a write up !

I really don't care for the Garee budget pack plans at all. I'm kinda just doing my own thing.

I've made most of my stuff out of wood now, and everything foam I'm probably gonna replace since I freaking hate the way it looks. Not to mention, it feel like it's gonna flake and crack at any second.

But ANY suggestions for building the Sync Gen would be appreciated. I'm thinking about doing it out of styrene, but I'm worried about the stability.

I know the freaking foam wouldn't hold up any better though.

*le sigh*

The stress we endure for our own stupidity.

- Moony
 
mooniteman, i saw you were wondering what to make the synch gen out of. if you are looking for a more sturdy alternative, mdf in layers is the way to go.
this thread is helpful with a build using mdf, making the pack in layers. its a totally exceptional idea.
Here we go again , Update , 03.09.10 DONE !!!! - Community - Ghostbusters Fans Forum

just be sure you use wood glue as your adhesive and clamps or screws. if you use screws you may also want to sink the heads.
 
All my upper stuff is made of wood - do you think these added layers of wood will pretty much kill my spine ?

Also I don't really have the ability to core out a pieve of wood that way - I've basically got a hand saw and an exacto knife. My resources are stupid in their limitations.

But honestly thanks for the help so far - people who have already built packs can be kinda snooty on GB fans.

- Moony
 
if your upper stuff is made of wood, it would help make your pack consistent. the pack i have now is made out of 1/2" plywood, and its about 25 lbs. with a good alice frame with full set of straps, look at it as an investment, the weight will be hardly noticeable. when you check over that last link i sent you'll notice the builder took care to make the center of the layers of the synch gen open for electronics, and it also would help in keeping the pack light.
SynchronousGenerator.jpg



the next pack i build i will be following some plans ive made using stefans, and the "here we go again" link as a guide for some ideas.

mdf is easy to work with, as you can use a hand saw to cut it, and it shapes very easily with sandpaper. a 2'X4' sheet at home depot is less than 10 bucks and you can yield a large portion of your pack out of 2 sheets. its also very sturdy, and can be sealed with the same stuff you would use to seal a puzzle(the name escapes me right now, but i saw it in that thread too). just be patient with mdf, and dont drop it.

im on gbfans. im a scratch builder through and through. screw the model kits and gareeee builds.
 
I'm honestly loving the crap out of this scratch build plan and I may have a go at the MDF, but I'm sot sure how on earth I could gut the inside of the ring without ruining it since my saw is a dinky p.o.s. and I can't afford much better.

What would one cut the inside of this thing out with ?

- Moony
 
hmm. what kind of handsaw do you have? do you have a drill? maybe you can use your dremel to drill a hole in the center of the circle, then use the handsaw to cut out the inner circle?

my second proton pack was made using just a dremel and a blade from a hack saw with duct tape over one end for a handle. i have faith in you.
 
The hand saw I have is a dinky little thing - I'm not even sure what type it is - I think its a hand jig saw.

And I wish I had a dremel but money is super tight.

and :

my second proton pack was made using just a dremel and a blade from a hack saw with duct tape over one end for a handle. i have faith in you.
Click to expand...

That's the way to go mate ! I've literally made some of my best props with my pocket knife and a lot of sweat... and blood.

Thanks for the faith - I'm gonna be up all night contemplating how I can cut into the MDF

- Moony
 
hate to keep bumping my own thread, but I looked over those drawing and did some calculations. Does this seem accurate ? 2.75 is the sync gen height so...:

Picture1-4.png


look right ?
 
Mooniteman said:
That's the way to go mate ! I've literally made some of my best props with my pocket knife and a lot of sweat... and blood.
Click to expand...

i believe it isnt a project until i bleed on it.

Mooniteman said:
hate to keep bumping my own thread, but I looked over those drawing and did some calculations. Does this seem accurate ? 2.75 is the sync gen height so...:

Picture1-4.png


look right ?
Click to expand...

that looks right, however in leu of getting 1" mdf, i chopped everything down to 1/2". the solid face peice, might be better to leave solid until you have your cyclotron figured out. so you can mount to it, and then cut out that hole.

packc.jpg
 
Wow great ! I'm guessing I can just use wood glue to hold those suckers together right ?

But this is great thanks for all your help !

Moony
 
Mooniteman said:
So I'm gonna jump in and build myself a "budget" proton pack for fun and I'm wondering if there are plans that can be printed to scale - like a sewing pattern - that could be used to construct a Proton Pack. You know something that can just be printed out and layed out over some wood or foam to minimize any mistakes from someone as terribly dyslexic as myself.

I've already looked over Stefans plans and all that btw.

Cheers

Moony
Click to expand...

movieman on Zealot forums (and i think 405th) posted some pepakura files. they are in A4 size and im using them - going to take the basic shapes after i re arrange them and glue the paper down to cardboard, cut out, build up the shell, then get some various doodads and fill them in, such as wooden dowels/pvc tubeing for the parts that just out, and an old IDE cable for the ribbon - i know it will only be about 70 - 80% accurate, but i dont have alot of time to build or the luxury of buying a kit.

i can link u to the pack parts im using if u want
 
This thread is more than 13 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.

Similar threads

C
Looking for a pattern (wolverine tactical vest)
Replies
0
Views
296
cosplaydadtr
C
Peter Parke 67
Custom pattern?
Replies
4
Views
1,115
smithjohnj
S
XavNZ92
Dune Stillsuit pattern files now available for free
Replies
2
Views
2,246
mrdolphin
mrdolphin
Jennigirl
Help with adafruit soundboard for Proton Pack
Replies
1
Views
529
Jennigirl
Jennigirl
Jake Kassnoff
EVA Foam Pattern Dummy
Replies
0
Views
1,327
Jake Kassnoff
Jake Kassnoff
Back
Top