Ghostbusters - Proton Pack (WIP)

[Epona_Rhi]

Hey mateys,

I just wanted to introduce you guys to my newest project. Some friends and I assembled GB-Costumes for Halloween four years ago and reviewing those pics I thought "Hey, why not reanimate the idea and go for a more screen accurate look this time?". Watch the pic and you will get my point...



So I started the project by registering to GBFans.com, studying screenshots and "Stefan's blueprints" and buying some light wood at the DIY-market. Until now it costed me about 25$ and circa 30 hours of work. Here are some progress shots...



Hope you like it so far

 

[maboot38]

Looking good, man. Keep us updated. I'm planning on doing one myself based off the same blueprints.

 

[MooCriket]

Cool-Beans...I will be watching with great interest:love

 

[Celtic Demon]

Fantastic stuff - wanting to make one myself!

 

[clonesix]

my favorite thing to see in-progress photos for! Keep taking pictures and posting. Thanks

 

[Epona_Rhi]

Thanks for the kind words!
Since I was about 8 years old I so wanted one of these packs... and now, 20 years later I finally have the opportunity to make it happen. It's right what they say: The good thing about being an aduld is that you can finally make your childhood dreams come true :lol

Here is a new picture. As you can see most of the simple parts are nearly finished. Next week I will start with the details:



As a matter of fact this baby weights a lot already and it is not nearly finished. So I'm beginning to think of ways to make it lighter... Any suggestions from your side? I thought about makeing molds for the separate boxes and casting them with a lighter material. What possibilities do I have concerning the casting material? I have to admit this is a new arena for me.

 

[thegreatgalling]

Its getting better and better! How is the weight right about now? I wouldn't imagine its too bad, but I guess it depends on the wood your using.

100 posts!
Joe

 

[M Bison]

You know, the Proton pack has always been a holy grail of mine so I will be watching this thread with great interest.

Alas, the money involved just kills it for me. hehe

 

[Epona_Rhi]

A small but picture intense update...

On monday it looked like this:



Yesterday I glued it on a stable board and filled all the gaps with putty. After a lot of sanding it looked like this:



This morning I primed the whole thing:



...last but not least I gave it a matte black finish just because I still had that can with black color staying around... I felt the urge to see my black protonpack master:



Now the construction is too heavy for me to carry during costuming events :lol That's why I'll create a mold. A resin/fiberglas-construction will be the way for me to go. Wish me luck

 

[maboot38]

Hey man, based on the level of documentation you are doing for this, I think it would be great for you to write a photo rich tutorial to post here onr on GBfans or both, so that others can learn from your methods. I'm anxious to see how you get that thing to light up and make noise!!!!

 

[jackdoud]

I can't wait to make one of these. I'm concentrating on the suit and belt gizmos at the moment, figure since I want it for a costume there's no reason to start with the pack. I'm still up in the air over buying/building a pack but after seeing your progress I'm leaning more towards building my own. Any idea what this thing has run you in terms of time and materials so far?

 

[the_doctor]

Damn impressive pack! One day I must have a crack at making one of those...

 

[Epona_Rhi]

First of all: My appologies for staying silent for so many years. Building the prototype for the pack was the easy part but when I checked the prices for silicone, I swear I could feel the whole project giving me a punch in the face. Molding huge objects like that pack is really expensive. Well, at least here in Germany, not sure about the US

So for the last 4 years my prototype had to stay in the basement, silently waiting for me to push it further. When we moved last year, the inevitable happened: the pack gave in to gravity and fell... and the cyclotron was hit. Fortunately for me the whole pack was made of solid wood and mdf and so the cyclotron didn't break completely but it was enough to get me thinking. So I decided it was time to move on and give that prototype at least a decent coat of silicone to make it more sturdy. ...and that's what happened last spring



Since then it has been waiting again for me to go on. Well, and today the delivery guy brought me the components to build the support shell. So tomorrow I will get some clay from a local hobby-store and start the next step. This time it will hopefully not take me 4 years to finish...
@jackdoud: Sorry I did not reply you back then. It was a real downer for me realising I would not be able to go on at the time I wanted... Not sure if you're still interested in this information but it took me about 2 weeks (including several walks to the DIY-store) to build the prototype. Material was mainly mdf and some scrap-wood I had lying around but I guess the overall-price was somewhere between 40 and 60 Euro (mdf-sheets, PVA-glue and some screws).

 

[MasterT1984]

a nice pack indeed, ever tought of adding some LED's?

 

[Epona_Rhi]

a nice pack indeed, ever tought of adding some LED's?

Light & Sound is definitely a long-term-goal but for the moment I would be just happy with a usable mold. Especially since this is the first time for me to mold something this size. I'll post some update-shots later

 

[Epona_Rhi]

Today I built the support shell for the silicone:

I started by building a clay-wall. That way I can split the support shell into two parts later:



This wall was then covered with aluminum-foil. That way the fiberglas won't stick to the clay (hopefully...):



I covered the whole pack with vaseline and gave it a spraycoat with Ease Release 200. That way the support shell shouldn't give me a hard time coming off. We'll see tomorrow.



Then the chemistry started:


The product description said it would be ready for demolding 90 minutes later but it would take another 24 hours until totally cured. Since I am not in a hurry I decided to let it cure over night and check back tomorrow. I really hope it turns out the way I planned it. Fingers crossed

 

[DL4567]

Wow, such familiar sights! I used the exact same molding materials on my shell mold. Hell of a project, isn't it? Looks like you're doing a great job so far. Making the first shell isn't easy unless you're very experienced with fiberglass (I wasn't) but the feeling of accomplishment is well worth it. Good luck and I looking forward to seeing more of your progress pics.

 

[MasterT1984]

ok, looking good already, keep on the good work

 

[Epona_Rhi]

Thanks for the kind words, guys!

Wow, such familiar sights! I used the exact same molding materials on my shell mold. Hell of a project, isn't it? Looks like you're doing a great job so far. Making the first shell isn't easy unless you're very experienced with fiberglass (I wasn't) but the feeling of accomplishment is well worth it. Good luck and I looking forward to seeing more of your progress pics.

Thanks, man! This really pushes my self confidence I must say the choice of materials really didn't feel to bad. Everything was very easy to work with so far. Up to this point the project really is a lot of fun. Well, except for the one time I did not wear a long-sleeve and some hair on my arm came in contact with silicone. When I realized what had happened, the silicone was already cured (of course) and took me quite some time to get it off. Lesson learned, I guess

 

[Epona_Rhi]

Small update. I took off the support shell:



Next step would be to clean all the edges of the support shell but since this is going to be a bit messy I decided to wait until tomorrow. That will also be the big day for the silicone-mold to come off the pack. More soon.