Merry Christmas Everyone! While browsing therpf the other day I came across a for sale thread for a pack shell that claims to have production ties? A 3rd generation casting I believe? Correct me if I’m wrong. Anyone know anything about these?
I assume you’re talking about this thread?
From what I’ve heard it’s not a direct casts of any production pack but was originally built by a group with access to one for measurement purposes. Most I can say is there are reasons why certain things aren’t offered on this forum which are generally very good reasons and means it’s a good idea to stay away from them.
Yep, that’s the one. I was wondering why this was not on this forum. Thanks
I’d recommend avoiding Bowelrock’s (because like Videobob’s, the history of the piece is so completely murky), and more importantly (which is the likely reason why it’s not on this forum) it’s still a recasted part.
That and Bowelrock was banned from GBfans about 1-2 years ago. That’s why it is not on this forum.
The shell comes from a discarded stunt mold. Unfortunately before being discarded the mold was cut into 4 pieces and was was not reassembled perfectly. The cyclotron has an egg shape to it and the center valley is missing at least 1/8" of material so accurate parts (beam line/filler tube) will no longer fit on that shell.
If you wanted to use it you’d basically have to cut it into 4 pieces and reassemble in order to get the correct shape back. It’s a nice piece due to it’s lineage but I wouldn’t try building a pack from it without heavy modification.
Looks like they fit fine to me..
BR’s shell is close like VIN says but i’m pretty sure even bowelrock says that some things match up and some don’t
Does that even matter?? Its more accurate then anything else out there, it has the correct ties, and its the same price as other shells out there.. You can’t go wrong. Accuracy will always win over practicality.. The pics speak for themselves. Peace..
To be honest I looked at the pictures on the board and was not impressed a lick.
Seriously? I’d much rather have a cleanly made pack with sharp lines than one that has dubious at best heritage if I was going to spend the cash.
The beam line/filler tube are undersized on that build in order to fit. It might look fine to Phish4dinner but he’s not exactly an authority on accuracy by any means.
He is, however, an expert at injecting himself into threads, EXPLODING WITH DRAMA and then backpedaling. Stick around everyone, I’m pretty sure this will be one of those threads.
I’ve seen at least 2 of these that were cast by Ross and both were warped pretty bad at the cyclotron and where the clippard valve is attached above the cyclotron as well as the gel coat was peeling off in spots. Still boggles my mind why VideoBob would recast something like that.
As far as I’m concerned, the only thing on that shell that’s a cast of anything production used is the N-Filter, which was most likely pulled off the Sony Hero pack (which is where the measurements were taken from for this shell) and slapped on for the molding. There’s just too many other little details that do not line up to make me think this was used for anything in either film.
I’m not denying that there are some poorly made shells out there, but the screen used packs weren’t exactly pristine or razor-edged either.
Here is information about the packs, and the molds on Proptopia: http://www.proptopia.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5517
A quote for those who can’t view the topic:
As we described in the Videobob thread… the mold is probably a 4th or 5th generation that bowelrock is selling. It basically goes: GB1 Pack > Casted for USF / GB2 > USF Modified > Mold Modified Back to GB > Bowelrock > Videobob
There are some details that line up very nicely.. but the shell had to be extensively modified to get it back to where it is. I know also that Bowelrock is trying to commission someone to take a casting and fix the mistakes so he can sell castings of that. Videobob’s shell is basically a twisted mess compared to the Bowelrock castings. (I thought Phish4dinner bought one so he could show that they weren’t very nice.. and that he was gonna throw it away… but I guess not?)
And as was mentioned… Bowelrock = Ross Arbuckle. He was banned 2-3 years ago.
I didn’t say they were, I just stated my preference for a “cleanly made pack with sharp lines”
I’d actually like to see people do some comparison shots with the shell Ross is selling and every type of pack seen both in the films and on display (which would include the USF packs), just to show that his shell was not used anywhere in production of anything officially Ghostbusters related.
This would include GB1 heros and stunt foam packs, GB2 Heros, semi-heros, and stunt packs, as well as the USF packs. Just be nice to have some definitive comparisons to put this topic to rest.
If no one does this by tomorrow, I’ll try to tackle some of it myself to share on here.
That way, instead of this boiling down into a flame war, this discussion could, you know, be productive?
Good call, Matt. Do we know of any stunt pack pictures that aren’t already in the reference section?
im not alone when, i dont think anyone with a videobob shell has reason to enter this discussion.
It doesn’t matter who has bought what shell or from whom, but Videobob shells are just poor casts of Bowelrock’s shells so there’s no reason to enter them into the arena for comparison.
Adam, you are on of the many who are against these shells, so wouldn’t you want as many people as possible to join the discussion so as to educate them, regardless if they have the shell or not?