First EVA Foam/Foamcore Scratch Build [update: Mar.23, 2020]

[jonogunn]

I debated posting this as I’m a little embarassed by it. I think my build so far looks good from a far but up close you can see how messy it really is. I admire all the “clean” builds I’ve seen on here. But I figured this would be the best way for some constructive criticism.

I was born in 1984 so I was born a Ghostbuster. Finally got around to building a pack after so many years of wanting to but never knew how to nor had the finances. Once I discovered EVA foam years ago then seeing many great packs built with it I took the plunge. I’m from Vancouver, Canada

So I took tips from lots of people’s posts on here but I mostly followed the guy who built a eva foam/formcore pack in 12 hours. props to him.

So lets start with some wide shots…

![image](

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vXc0ZIB7oF_jcxYl3CLkGeTmpbA7rk-_lqbiM0w88ZY8Gr7VU5VnHf9QBPgcULhzI0u04ojnCcEuLDlWnAgD8Bav0oOiEU-cKL82T3ipefrqWbzhE-dJ4X-yVwUd7NOHS91bVp5pQw=w2400)

Before I continue this is my first time using kwik-seal and I may have over did with certain components that i regret and may have made things look worse as I can’t smooth it out. I’m just praying that after painting everything it’ll all end up looking okay…

Lets start with my custom made ion knob and booster ladder

Ion knob is made with popsicle sticks on a poorly cut foamcore base. I was hoping the kwik seal would make it look better as it filled in the empty space between the sticks but it ended up like this…

My ladder is made with EVA foam in the middle parts and foamcore on the outer brackets. the small slits are small wooden popsicle-like sticks I cut in half. they aren’t placed perfectly straight and ruined with kwik seal again. But once again, I’m praying paint will cover all my follies.

N-Filter and HGA are EVA foam glued with hot glue. I also tried using hot glue to imitate the welding marks. Holes in the N-filter were made with a old brass pipe I found…any imperfections i hope to cover up with kwik seal

Spacers are EVA foam and the pipes are some rubber pipes I found and cut up. they aren’t as solid as PVC foam and you can squeeze them but they are solid enough to do what I need and I’m happy with them. The tops are capped off with EVA foam

Gearbox, gun mount, that little thingie, Booster box, Ion arm

Corner piece

I’m not 100% happy with the powercell slit as it’s not cleanly cut but I’m too lazy to make another

Bumper is made with EVA foam and forecore for the edges. I originally used EVA foam for the edges but didn’t like how it looked so I switched to foamcore which had an added bonus of making it more sturdy and holds it upright better.

I’m proud of this find for the shock mount knob. I had gone to Home Depot to buy a bunch of washers to create the knob which would have been $12-$15 but then randomly found this hollow thing in an aisle for a few dollars. I’m gonna put a washer at the top and botom and maybe fill the inside with EVA foam to help hold the bolt in place. It’s a lot lighter than the washers too.

A bunch of other stuff I will use. The resistors I bought from a electronic store. I actually like the gold look so I won’t be spray painting it black. the blue and yellow cables I found at home. The red cable and the wrong size rainbow ribbon are also from the electronic store.

I ordered a 1/4" MDF board at Home Hardware for the motherboard but I dunno how I will cut it yet. I hope not to rely on power tools as I don’t have any and no confidence using a jigsaw ( don’t have a work bench to use it on).

I plan to seal the pack with PVA glue then use Rustoleum primer and spray paint. AGAIN I HOPE THIS WILL MASK ALL THE MESSINESS AHHH!

Alice frames here go for about $52-$60 at army surplus stores.

The major issue I have is the lights and sounds. I have practically no experience with circuitry and Arduino programming so this will be a major learning curve.

Any questions, comments, criticism are all welcomed here! And again thank you everyone for being so sharing and helpful on this site!

[Styrofoam_Guy]

It looks pretty good with the material you are using.

It is not easy with the edges using foam core or eva foam. Spackling compound could be used to try and cover some of the edges as it is light and can be sanded.

For the HGA and N-Filter you might be able to find a used aluminum water bottle at the second hand store. We hav Value Villages here in Toronto that has cheap used items and I found one with the right OD for my HGA.

Other cylindrical items were wood dowel or PVC pipe the correct diameter.

I originally made my pack using Blue Styrofoam to see if it could be done.

When I got to the bumper I switched to 3D printing as I had recently gotten into the hobby. I then replaced most of the pack with 3D printed parts.

For the motherboard I used a piece of acrylic sheet that I cut with a Jigsaw. MDF might be a bit heavy.

If you do get into the arduino stuff you can do quite a bit with lighting and sounds.

I lucked out and got a Matty wand when they were released and I am using that for my pack. I taped into the speaker of the wand and wired it to an amplifier in my pack for more volume.

[jonogunn]

does anyone know if it’s a good idea to cover the whole thing with bondo?

/edit nevermind i just did more research about it.

I’ll probably try covering my bumper and parts of my HGA and N-filter with bondo to get it all flush looking

[KCGhostbuster]

Coming along very nicely! I think you’re going to have a great pack.

I don’t know if this helps, but I posted a EVA Foam/Foamcore speed build video a few years ago: https://www.gbfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42211

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5jlzIwyN6c

[jonogunn]

@KCGhostbuster post_id=4931115 time=1581703119 user_id=17318

Coming along very nicely! I think you’re going to have a great pack.

I don’t know if this helps, but I posted a EVA Foam/Foamcore speed build video a few years ago: https://www.gbfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42211

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5jlzIwyN6c

Dude your video is the reason I finally got around to making one! I followed to ur video the closest out of all the references out there. Unfortunately mine isn’t coming out nearly as clean as yours

[jonogunn]

@KCGhostbuster post_id=4931115 time=1581703119 user_id=17318

Coming along very nicely! I think you’re going to have a great pack.

I don’t know if this helps, but I posted a EVA Foam/Foamcore speed build video a few years ago: https://www.gbfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42211

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5jlzIwyN6c

I have a question regarding the L-brackets and socket cap screws you used to attach the mobo to the shell. Are those threaded L-brackets that fit specifically for the socket screw caps you used?

I’m having trouble with this step. I went to Home Depot and found a pack of 4 L- brackets

And I tested out various screw and bolt sizes but nothing would fit. It’s either slightly to big or too small. Do I have to drill the hole a bit more to widen it slightly or something? I’m not sure what to do. Thanks

[KCGhostbuster]

Apologies for the delayed response. I epoxied a nut to the back of the l-bracket that would properly fit the button head screw. It works okay but it’s not great.

[jonogunn]

Here’s an update. My pack is nearly done.

It’s far from a clean looking build and has tons of imperfections.

I took some liberties with the resistors on the ion arm. Didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg to ship accurate ones to me here in canada so I just bought modern ones from a electronics store. I thought about painting them black but honestly I like the way it looks as gold pieces.

I got discouraged at one point when I saw how clean some of the other foam packs I’ve seen here are.

Just waiting on the some pneumatic elbows I got from amazon that would serve as legit elbow replacements from China, waiting for my MDF motherboard to finish drying and the 3D printed proton wand kit to come in from the UK.

Like my pack I did a terrible job with the fitting of the mobo wooden blocks. Does the job just fine but shoddy craftsmanship.

I had initially went with the tee nut method but then found a #7 drill bit with tap bit package and just went with that instead.

The piece I’m least happy with is my N-filter. It’s made out of Eva foam and couldn’t find a way to make clean circle holes on it so I just went with painting white circles instead.

I Test fitted the shell, mobo, and Alice frame to make sure everything fit okay and I almost teared up trying it on. I waited my entire life to finally be a ghostbuster and I’m finally this close to living my life long dream! Damn paint can’t dry fast enough!!

Gonna post more pics tomorrow once the pack is fully connected

[kingpin]

Those blocks seem pretty big, wouldn’t something half as thick produce a happier medium? (Lighter in weight, and needing shorter overall bolts)

[jonogunn]

@Kingpin

Those blocks seem pretty big, wouldn’t something half as thick produce a happier medium? (Lighter in weight, and needing shorter overall bolts)

Looking at it now you’re right. I cut these by handsaw from a wooden table leg I found and just went straight to cutting it into squares.

Do you think I should try to randomly saw off pieces of the wood to cut down on the weight?

I’ll remember this for next time thanks!

[kingpin]

If possible, it might be worth cutting a quarter of the material away, thus turning them into wooden L-brackets. That way, also, the bolts holding the brackets to the motherboard are less likely to interfere with the bolt through through the bracket and the shell.

[demon-vice-commander]

Very nice scratch-build! It’s always good to see people building packs with alternate materials.

If I can make two suggestions; shorten your vacuum and beamline hoses a bit (since they’re a bit long), and if possible, see if you can nab an accurate Spectra strip ribbon cable from eBay - the ribbon cable, being one of the few splashes of color on the pack, draws a lot of attention to itself, and having the correct version will just make everything look “right”.

[jonogunn]

@Demon Vice Commander

Very nice scratch-build! It’s always good to see people building packs with alternate materials.

If I can make two suggestions; shorten your vacuum and beamline hoses a bit (since they’re a bit long), and if possible, see if you can nab an accurate Spectra strip ribbon cable from eBay - the ribbon cable, being one of the few splashes of color on the pack, draws a lot of attention to itself, and having the correct version will just make everything look “right”.

Thanks!

When u say vaccum and beamline hose are you referring to the 3/4” split loom tube? If so then i was on the same page about it and thought it looked a tad long. I just didn’t want to deal with ripping it out in fear I may damage things more but I’ll try to be careful.

Regarding the ribbon cable unfortunately it’ll have to stay as it is. This was meant to be done on a budget and I’ve already gone over it. I knew I was going in with this having to cut corners here and there in terms of accuracy. I haven’t done any weathering yet but I planned to try dirtying it up hoping it would dull it a bit.

[demon-vice-commander]

The beamline is the 1/4" split loom running from the HGA to the tube with the elbow fitting; the vacuum hose is the 3/4" loom that connects the gearbox to the vacuum tube.

[jonogunn]

Ah got it thanks. I’ll be sure to do that

[KCGhostbuster]

For your first build I think this looks fantastic. Definitely much nicer than the first couple of packs I made. Don’t get discouraged -it’s a mistake to compare your work to others. Many of us have been making packs for years, of course ours are going to look cleaner.

On many of my packs I’ve used wood blocks to attach the pack to the motherboard. Other than cutting down the weight a little, no one knows what you’ve done under the shell. As a hint, you’ll also want to put a block of wood behind the dixie cup bracket so that the weight of the thrower will be properly be supported.

[jonogunn]

@KCGhostbuster post_id=4932098 time=1583387291 user_id=17318

For your first build I think this looks fantastic. Definitely much nicer than the first couple of packs I made. Don’t get discouraged -it’s a mistake to compare your work to others. Many of us have been making packs for years, of course ours are going to look cleaner.

On many of my packs I’ve used wood blocks to attach the pack to the motherboard. Other than cutting down the weight a little, no one knows what you’ve done under the shell. As a hint, you’ll also want to put a block of wood behind the dixie cup bracket so that the weight of the thrower will be properly be supported.

Thank you that makes me feel better. as for cutting down the wood since it’s already epoxied in i may just random hack off pieces around the bolts.

And yes thanks to Mr_Stay_Puft’s second pack thread I learned the wood block behind the dixie cup bracket and have done so already

[jonogunn]

anyone know which type of black i should be painting my MDF Mobo?

I gave it a metallic undercoat then topped it off with flat black. I have some clear satin I could use as well but that’s it

[jonogunn]

Gonna be a few months before a lot of stuff I ordered from China on eBay will be here so here’s a brief update on my mostly finished pack

I have a question regarding my wand handles if someone can answer me.

I was able to get some metal pipe that’s about 1.25”. Can any tell me how to attach it to my wand body kit?

Here it is next to the smaller blue pvc pipe.

[BlkBullitt]

@jonogunn post_id=4932828 time=1585023586 user_id=23412

Gonna be a few months before a lot of stuff I ordered from China on eBay will be here so here’s a brief update on my mostly finished pack

I have a question regarding my wand handles if someone can answer me.

I was able to get some metal pipe that’s about 1.25”. Can any tell me how to attach it to my wand body kit?

Here it is next to the smaller blue pvc pipe.

Not sure if you resolved your wand handles issue or not, but your wand body appears to be 3D printed (looks like WindDrake’s model on Thingiverse).

Do you have a 3D printer? If so measure the ID of your handles and the OD of the mount on the wand body, model, and print yourself some spacers to fill the space (give yourself ~.01" for clearance on both measurements) or reprint the body with different diameter mounts for the handles.

For attaching the handles I’ve typically used 2 part epoxy for the rear handle. For the front handle it depends on what you’re building. If you’re using WindDrake’s model I believe you would use 2 part epoxy which is what I did on the first pack I built. Right now I’m in the process of building another pack and while WindDrake’s model is excellent I decided to spend some time reworking the wand models to be even more accurate (rotating front handle, tip extension lever, more accurate gun track that allows for adding an S-hook) and the front handle now bolts to the front collar on the wand body via two socket head cap screws.