I’ve been a Ghostbuster since I was old enough to work a tape player and have since come upon this website. Needless to say I’ve been inspired. I’m planning to build a proton pack (imagine that…) and I’m not broke. I do have a budget but it does allow for incorporation of light, sound and motion a la this:
This will be my excuse to geek out over Ghostbusters and learn how to develop skills in crafting things. I work with computer hardware/software not with wood or other similar materials. I’m currently trying to figure out what to build the pack out of.
I’ve been looking at this board for about 2 days straight, reading pretty much every topic about everything I can think of before asking any questions with obvious answers (I actually DO read FAQ sticky posts on forums ) but I have yet to make up my mind as to what the primary material my pack will be constructed out of. I love PVJ’s styrene pack but I think there are some aethetic qualities with styrene that I don’t particularly care for or are missing. It doesn’t look metal enough so to speak; maybe it needs Iron Maiden’s logo on it somewhere
I wouldn’t mind using wood since that seems to be the most common choice among you guys. I just don’t want it to end up weighing more than me. I’m a lil dude, only about 5’6" 125 lbs…
I’ll probably end up building most of it in my father’s workshop so there’s not really any room constraints if that has any bearing of the choice. I’ve only got 1 piece of advice so far and that’s “measure twice, cut once”
If you feel so inclined to help me make up my mind It’d be much appreciated.
good for you!!! im happy to see some newbies are willing to do some footwork to find answers to FAQ instead wanting everyone to spoon feed them the answers they are looking for. my personal opinion… i say try and track down a vacuumed formed shell. that is what i used on my first pack. otherwise wait for a couple months cause there is guy who will be doing a run of fiberglass shell, which is what im going for on my second pack or do it like pvj. good luck to ya, have fun.
I’ve looked at some of those. There’s one on ebay right now for around 200 dollars found here:
I don’t really care for how it looks. It may be a good option but something tells me I’ll wish I would’ve built it piece-by-piece. Most of the guys on here have a reasonable iteration of this story:
!paraphrase on!
a few years back a threw together a junk pack for halloween. I thought it was okay for the time. People thought it was cool. The next year I wanted to make it better. I got closer to what I wanted but it still wasn’t there yet…this year I’m going for 100% movie accurate.
!paraphrase off!
I don’t wanna be that guy. I only plan on doing one of these so I want to make sure it’s pristine the first time around. No regrets, no compromises. Yeah, I realize that just having one that looks like the one in the movie will impress most people but I’m building it for myself too. I like standing back and looking at things I’ve accomplished. I did mention that I’m not privy to the powertools and woodwork but I’m motivated and catch on quickly to fundamental concepts.
Thanks for your response though. It got me thinking for backup plans. I appreciate it.
It sounds like you’ve got a pretty good attitude. I like that you are building it for yourself and not worried what other people think. When I built my last pack I can’t tell you how many time I heard, “Dude, does that matter? No one else is going to notice.” But that is the point, no one else will notice, but me. And it’s my pack, or in this case your pack, so build it how you want it.
The only advice I can give you right off the top of my head is this… I think it would be a lot less work to get the “metal look” from styrene, than it would be from wood. Styrene starts out with a smooth surface, so all you have to worry about smoothing the joints/seems. Wood requires a lot of sanding, priming, a little bondo/wood putty, and several coats of paint to get rid of the appearance of wood grain.
The other thing I’ll mention is weight… Be very mindful of the weight. If you build everything from scratch, build it as light as you possibly can with out comprimising too much of the strength. I built my pack completely from scratch and was fairly cautious about the weight and it still weighs 45 pounds. You don’t realize it at the time, but it adds up FAST!
Anyway, hope that advice was somewhat helpful. Good luck with your project and post some pictures of your progress when you can.
I’ll definitely be taking pics along the way, probably posting them in this topic. Wood grain is a problem…hmm. Thanks Skywalker. I think you’ve just put me on my path. I think I’m gonna go with styrene and do want I can artistically to make it look like metal, weathering and soforth. Now to find the stuff. Home depot or yellow pages…I guess I’ll have to call around
This is gonna be fun. Thanks for the quick replies. It makes me feel @ home on the board already.
Sounds to me that you have the money to make one. Am I right?
Check on Ebay and here and you may find someone who may sell some of the stuff to you. Just avoid Hot Shot though.
On the lights, I recommend PM Exoray. I heard his lights system is cheaper and works just as good as the more expensive ones that is being sold.
It is still expensive though but I heard his light system is excellent.
Good luck on making your proton pack. I can’t wait to see it.
If you want, I can PM you some of the other members that is selling stuff at another forum. Unfortunately, you can’t join that forum anymore. Let me know if you want it.
Some advice on buying styrene: Try to find a plastics distrubutor in your area and buy a large sheet (they usually come in 8 foot by 4 foot sheets). I personally suggest 1/16" styrene. It will need reinforcement, but it’s easy to cut with a hobby or x-acto knife or some other kind of razor. Don’t ever buy styrene sheets from a hobby store. They’re way overpriced.
man…I can’t even count the # of times I said that to myself lol. then I looked at the pack and thought it could be better…I will say this much, this hobby is addictive…if you can do just one pack and be happy with it, even if it’s not 100% movie accurate, then more power to you. me, I got bit by a bug and it keeps me building. good luck and I can’t wait to see your progress
I’ve only found one place around here that sells plastic but it’s long distance so I’ll have to use my roommate’s cell since we’re not paying for long distance. I might just have to ride over there as it’s only about 30 minutes away. usplastic.com has it but I don’t wanna have it shipped. I’ll probably do that tomorrow afternoon or saturday. I’ve got plenty of free time in the next few days so I’m gonna be doing some running.
Once I get something built it’ll be posted. In the meantime keep the pointers coming. I take them all into consideration.
Me too… I don’t care how good you are to start with, you always learn something new in the process of building a proton pack (or other props/models)… It’s almost impossible to not want to build another one, better than the last.
well, my roommate’s birthday party was friday night, I had to pull an all nighter last night so saturday was wasted. The plastics shop is closed on sunday so I guess I’ll have to take that ride tomorrow.
I think I want to used some really high quality hose too, kinda like the same stuff that’s on the back of washing machines only smaller.
I would suggest reading the "Feedback " in the seller forums on various sellers and not listen to one guys opinion before you buy from anyone, oh and buyer beware and cover your butt And have fun! :lol:
Multiple coats of shellac, you can recoat every 15-30 minutes 4-5 coats should erase grain in most woods, for closed grain woods 2-3 coats will work… Apply 2 coats, sand then apply 2 more and sand, repeat until grain is gone..
Well I just ordered some more parts. Small stuff like the resistors and basically whatever was in stock here at the shop. That local place won’t sell me raw styrene so I’m stuck for that. I’ve found places online but I don’t really wanna go that route unless I have to.
I just got a Wii recently so I’ve gotta split my spending between that and this.
Do they have some kind of policy where they will only sell to businesses or something? Anyway, the online route is still probably going to be your best bet. It would still be way cheaper than buying styrene from a hobby store. The second best option would probably be to get plastic signs from a hardware store (for sale signs, etc). Just make sure to get the signs that are printed on regular sheets of styrene rather than that corrugated stuff. Somehow, I doubt that corrugated stuff would be very fun to work with; probably hard to get rid of that ridged look.
I may have to order online. I should be expecting some of those widgets n’ such to arrive sometime this week/early next week.
It really bums me out though because I’ve been researching light and sound options here these last few days and I get lightheaded at the prices. I know I said I have the money to do it, and I do but, well crap.
Leaving them out is not an option but it may be closer to Halloween before I can actually order some of those boards. The lights aren’t really that expensive, it’s the sound systems that look like the killer. I thought about getting the lights from exoray and the sounds from hyperdyne but I doubt their kits would be compatible.
hmmm…
EDIT: I did get my clippard 331 and 701s today. As well as the elbows and hose barbs. I’m starting to get a nice lil pile-o-parts.
I found out about something called Sintra and I was wondering if that would be a reasonable replacement for styrene considering I can get Sintra locally but not styrene.
Anyone used the stuff?
Thanks for any input you give me.
I’ve been kinda off and on with the pack though. Been saving up and parting out. About once a month I’ve been buying a bunch of stuff from AJ. Then I’ll move on to Mr. Walker that everyone seems so fond of
Scratch-building the body is probably going to be the last part of it but I haven’t posted inna while so I wanted to let you guys know I’m moving forward, avoiding stagnation and maintaining motivation. Besides, I’ve got a 10/31 deadline!!
) but I have yet to make up my mind as to what the primary material my pack will be constructed out of. I love PVJ’s styrene pack but I think there are some aethetic qualities with styrene that I don’t particularly care for or are missing. It doesn’t look metal enough so to speak; maybe it needs Iron Maiden’s logo on it somewhere 
