So I’m getting ready to start building my first trap and I’ve noticed something. There’s only a two ways to actually build one and I think that’s a bit limited. The only plans I’ve seen involve:
Cutting all the pieces out of wood or foam board and glue them together
Cardboard boxes
I’m not counting buying one either, I know you can do that but this is all about making one.
What else have you used to make your traps out of? There has to be more ways than this to make a good, decent looking trap, without breaking your bank account. Anyone know of anything that’s already in the basic shape of one that would require some modding to make it great? I’ve thought about tupperware containers but they have too much of a rounded edge look.
I don’t understand what you mean about there only being 2 ways to build one unless you mean accurate or inaccurate. If you want to make a movie accurate trap your choices are pretty much metal, plastic, wood, cardboard, foam or paper. Anything you can cut into the correct shape and have it hold together. If you just want something trap shaped then you can use just about anything.
Yeah I’ve looked through several of those and they are all really good. What I was really looking for is something that’s already made in the basic shape of the trap that can then have pieces added to make the trap. Kind of like the PKE Reader being made from a lint brush. I don’t have access to a lot of tools so the wood/metal plans I can’t do. I like the foam board ones but I’m just looking for ideas to use something existing and adding to it.
Does that make more sense? Sorry if the above didn’t
Like turning welding goggles into Ecto-Goggles. I think someone made a trap out of conduit boxes. But you are really only saving yourself the time of making the body. You still need to add the rest. This might be a “You’re going to need to get REAL creative” kind of deal here.
I think one of the mods here Garee did it. I will check his threads for you. I did find this… I don’t know if this guy ever finished this but here is one started out of an electric pencil sharpener -
You still kind of have to do ALL the work on this one.
I would say go to your local Home Depot or Lowes and cruise around. Pick things up and mess around with them to see if you can find your general shape. I think most found parts builds start with just thinking outside the box. Who knows? You might find the next cool way to make a budget trap.
So you’re saying you want something that’s a trap but not… :sigh:
No matter what you’re going to have to do more than slap paint on something to get a trap so why not buy an xacto knife, break out some cardboard and glue and teach yourself some new skills? Even an electrical conduit is going to need to have holes drilled into it for a handle, knobs and switches. I made a trap in a single day using nothing but a ruler, xacto, hobby saw and a dremel from parts you can get at any hardware store: http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=27457 and you don’t even technically need the saw or dremel if you don’t mind using some extra elbow grease.
Alan that’s pretty cool! I really like that, I think I might be able to expand on that idea! Thank you !!!
Jack no that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just looking for something that’s the basic shape of one then I would add more to it, like panels, knobs, etc. I know that I can make one out of cardboard, I made several parts for my proton pack out of that and it worked very well. I’m just looking for alternative things that can be used as a base for the trap. Something that’s close to the dimensions to the box itself, then using that as a base to add the rest of the details to. Just like the link that Alan posted. Something like that is exactly what I’m talking about.
btw, I did check out your trap and that’s pretty impressive!
Ok I think I might have found something that will work! What do you guys think? It’s a tiny bit bigger than the actual trap but I think this will work nicely for a base to work off of.
In the time you’ve spent looking for something that you can slap “panels, knobs, etc” on, you could have cut out the pieces and put it together yourself. Just some food for thought.
Yes and the time people spend going to the dollar store and picking up a lint brush they could have carved the entire PKE out of wood. Geez there are haters everywhere. Sorry for thinking outside the box and trying to be creative. Next time I’ll be sure to do exactly what everyone else is doing.
You’re welcome to do what you want VonZ, we’re just trying to show how doing things accurately in the first place isn’t that much more work and gives better results. Good luck with your build, I’m interested to see what you come up with, just don’t expect a lot of response from most of the members here.
Why should I not expect a good response? Because I’m trying something different? That’s a pretty crappy thing to say. I come to this website where I see amazing things done with every day items being crafted into amazing props, and all I get is shot down for trying to think outside the box. Way to make a first impression on here..
everyone new tries something different and “think outside the box”, rarely succeeds, then does it how it’s supposed to be. with your behavior; why do you want to join here, if you dont want to learn anything to make your ghostbusters props better?
