Hello fellow Prop builders! I just want to help out any fellow ghost heads without much time or money to make a pack. With Halloween fast approaching I thought of a few things that have helped me overcome my prop building fears the last couple of years. First of all I am not that good with power tools and don’t consider myself a master at prop building by any means.
In 2005 I knew I wanted a Proton Pack of some sort. I am very thrifty and didn’t want to spend much on the whole costume. I almost ended up getting a Rubies costume. I just couldn’t get past paying that much for a sub par jumpsuit and poppable/inflatable Proton Pack. Knowing my luck the damn thing would deflate by the end of Halloween night.
I had exactly one week and built a pack out of cardboard and found objects around the house. Here is my result - a 4 day build that came out somewhat decent. I just had to make due with what I had. It was hard to break down and make a rough “junk pack” (I really wanted to build a more accurate pack) but I had fun with it. It ended up being kind of like the old RGB toy pack if it was more movie themed.I have coded what I used below much like Bradester did for his awesome Dollar Store Proton Pack. This pack was made for under $30. Lots of black duct tape was involved. I even made the straps out of the stuff.
And here it is in action. My jumpsuit was only $3.99 at a thrift store and the “patches” are made from printable iron on transfers.
As most of us have gone through the “must build another one” phase, the next year it had to be bigger and better. I was walking through a Home Depot and ideas started sprouting up each aisle I went down. for this pack blue plastic electrical boxes were my friends. They work great as they have rigid lines and can be had for usually $1-$5 a piece. Here is a picture legend on what makes up pack #2. This one was in the $100 range. The main portions not labeled (power cell / gun mount / bottom of the booster frame) are all crafted out of scrap wood. The rest are unique/found items.
And here’s this one in action. I used a battery powered closet light to illuminate the cyclotron. The jumpsuit was purchased from a local army surplus store. The patches are again printable iron on transfers. Please note the green cable attached to the booster, although I thought it was cool at first, it has been removed to keep the pack more accurate. These pics were also before I weathered the pack.
Well guys, hope this helps some of you. As a final note this pack on ebay cought my eye. I’d say that a good 50% of it is blue electrical boxes that can be found at any hardware store. Even the gun body is made out of one. It’s pretty good looking considering not much fabrication is involved in making a pack like this. It can be quick and cheap (Even the boogieman is impressed with this one → 
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. I love my 2nd pack but still really liked the 1st one. I’m limited for space so I think I’m going to stick with the 2nd one for a while unless I get the time and money to build a styrene based pack.