Long story short, I’m a cosplay newbie and I’d like to start planning something (most likely) for next year’s WonderCon. I’ve been discussing things with the friend with whom I’m attending this year’s WonderCon (I’m going as the Eleventh Doctor, she’s going as Ash Williams) and we’ve considered doing a Ghostbusters cosplay as one of our options for next year. However, even if we decide to go with something else for WonderCon, I’d still like to look into the Ghostbusters props/costume for other cons.
Now, I understand that this is an expensive proposition. If I do this for WonderCon, I’ve got a little more than a year to work on this. If I consider that I work full time, that gives me a little more than 110 days of free time to work on it. What I’d like to know is what my starting point should be. I don’t know if I’ll be able to drop close to $1,000 like I’ve seen some full costumes cost but I can definitely spend a few hundred over a year’s time if I need to. I’ve got disposable income, fortunately.
Also, if it helps at all, I work for a big box hardware store, so if there’s any advice on sourcing any of the parts (I saw a lightsaber hilt build on Instructables that was made entirely from plumbing parts at Home Depot) from our shelves, I’d certainly appreciate it.
Go easy on me, but don’t beat around the bush. I know this is going to be a long and difficult process. I’m prepared to accept the challenge.
there are some awesome pack designs out there, and this site is full of great referance material and plans to help you on your way with your new adventure… and if you get stuck, there are plenty of awesome people around to give you a hand.
Stefan’s plans are arguably the best around, and you can find them easily in the ‘plans’ section of the website… so that should help you figure out where to go from here
Basically, what I want to do is build a pack but I’d definitely like to look into what I can do to tweak it to make it visibly unique. I don’t want it to be a hero pack, since doing a Ghostbusters cosplay allows for a lot of flexibility in terms of characterization, so to speak. It’s not restricted like my Eleventh Doctor cosplay. I can easily make my cosplay a GB franchisee in a city other than New York. Since I’m originally from Chicago (though I live in San Diego), I’m thinking of incorporating the Chicago flag into the uniform somehow. A patch shouldn’t be that difficult. Hell, maybe I’ll even do the flightsuit in a different color.
For starters, what material would you suggest I use to build the pack? Stefan’s plans there suggest aluminum, but I don’t really have the tools for building out of aluminum. I saw one on Instructables that suggested insulation foam. Is that a material that can be adapted to fit those plans?
i know some people that have used EVA foam or even card as bases for pack building… others use wood… it all depends on what materials you’re comfortable with using and what your budget stretches to
Good to know. Panels like this are cheap and numerous, so I think that may be my best option, especially considering that using that as the base will save on weight.
I definitely want to keep my budget under control for now. A more expensive pack build can come later.
Alright, so if I make the pack base out of foam board using Stefan’s plans, about how far along would that put me? I know that I’ll have to buy a bunch of the various greebles. Also, if I use that foam, what kind of adhesive would I use to put it all together? Would Loctite or Gorilla Glue work?
I’d really like to start ASAP to at least do a test build using the foam board. Also, at what scale do I need to print off the plans for them to be 1:1? Nevermind, they print at 1:2 if printed at normal resolution, so I just need to print them at 200%. That assumes that I can get my printer to cooperate. It’s very temperamental.
Ugh. Boo. Discover doesn’t do their 5% cashback at home improvement stores until 3Q this year. I was hoping that they’d start in April like last year so I could get my base supplies for the test build for a little bit cheaper.
Welp.
Looks like I’m just going to have to dive right in. I’m going to get some foam boards, some adhesive and a rotary dremel at HD. That’ll be my proof of concept to build on.
Alright, I’ve been consulting this list and comparing it to Stefan’s plans. I noticed that there is some redundancy in the small greeble parts. Items such as the bumper and clippard - am I better off crafting those myself or buying them to add to the design?
Alright, so in advance of buying parts from Home Depot (since they offer a 5% discount to cardholders) I applied for and was approved for their credit card. The store I applied at gives a one-time $50 discount when approved for a new card. I used that to get ten sheets of foam, a couple tubes of the Liquid Nails and a caulk gun. Now I just need to find a hot wire cutter. Any suggestions? The one on HD.com is out of stock online.
Dude, I’m not being rude but you need to become familiar with the search feature in the upper right hand corner. Everything you’ve asked can be found here in about 300 different ways. Your enthusiasm is to be commended but you need to slow it down a bit. And read. And study. And absorb.
The answers are at your fingertips young grasshopper.
I’m not trying to rush anything. The first purchase of the foam is just to see if I can actually successfully build something using it. What I build with that isn’t going to be the final product. It’s just a proof of concept.
My advice is the one given above - use the search button, for example using building materials, and you’ll find tons of build threads showing dedicated people building a pack using their choice of material.
As you seem to be looking into foam board - as I did, here’s the link to my (incomplete) build thread so you may get a feel of how you could do it. (The pack is now 95% complete, but I haven’t updated the thread.)
In my thread you’ll find a link to Lordgilpin’s foamcore project, THAT was inspiring to read!
I took around 4 years to build my pack but I didn’t have a schedule, I worked as I felt like it. But I can tell you that if you dedicate yourself to it, 110 hours should be more than enough, just take into consideration the extra parts you will need for the details, their cost and the time needed for them to arrive.
A scratch build pack can take a lot of time and work. Don’t rusj things. Look through the build threads. There’s more to building a pack then one realizes. This site is full of all the information you will need. Take your time. Research research research. That’s your number 1 priority. Good luck on your build tho. Oh if no one has mentioned it u mite wanna check out the studio creations shell. They are fairly cheap and very light weight and also an excellent choice in a first pack build.
Check here, there’s a few different sets of plans ranging from full out blueprints with pretty accurate dimensions of all the components, or plans like Norm’s plans which have been around for 10+ years and while his are not accurate, he gives nice easy ways to build the parts out of easy to find materials
