I’m looking into building my second pack. Can’t decide if I should use a resin shell or go for a scratch build out of mdf. Suggestions please. My first pack was vacformed with lots of resin parts this time I want to use a lot of real parts.
I would probably recommend either a fiberglass shell from one of the forum sellers or scratch building with styrene. MDF is ok for making a casting buck, but can make for a rather heavy pack.
If you have the spare time to scratch, go for it, but otherwise a resin shell would be very heavy and not as durable as fiberglass.
Fiberglass shell. Save yourself a lot of time. It will be strong and done right. Look up a bigi330 shell. A lot of the parts on the board were made specifically for it. Joeluna makes some resin parts and Vinc makes the metal parts himself. You’ll get a discount as well if you but it all together. Nick has some great parts for it too
Its up to you. Scratch building takes a ton of time. If I had to total all of my receipts, I could have bought a fiberglass shell, and been done a LONG time ago.
But then again, I am very particular about the details and have done, re-done parts, and spent a small fortune on what DOES NOT work.
I built the majority of mine from MDF. One can’t replace the feeling of satisfaction but, given the option of having to do it all again or buy a fiberglass shell*, I’d probably go with a shell.
I can comfortably carry my pack around for about an hour before the weight starts to become a problem.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it and every hour I put into it was thoroughly worthwhile but if you want a proton pack more than the experience of building a proton pack then go with the shell.
- I do realise that I’m probably in a position where I could use the MDF pack as a form for a mold; win-win.
Here is two packs side by side at the Scifi convention at Stockholm december 2011.
The one on the right is Bigi shell pack with all it’s glory, a really splendid pack with lights and sound.
The one on the left is my scratch built one, made mostly of wood and MDF with steel, aluminum, fiberglss and resin on the side and with lots of primer, bondo on the sallad mix. Lights, and sound, yes, in that too, though sounds are still on the table.
Now, the curious thing is, that the Bigi pack weights nearly double that of the MDF built. And it cost double…
I made my pack (on the left) from scratch, and would not give that experience out for anything. Seing something like this coming from your own hands is unbelievable.
But, all that aside, if I were to make a pack now, I would get a shell. Took us few years to make three full Ghostbusters outfits, and making them from shells and kits would have been faster, and easier.
If you have a shop where you can do the work, and you got the time, go for the MDF route, make on piece like the Crank Box and see if you want to do it fully yourself. If you do not have a workplace, please, do not try to sand MDF inside your livingroom… Messy..
I like building things with my own two hands- Scratch! Just don’t be in a hurry or you will go crazy.
I definitely say try a scratchbuild at least once in your life. My first and second packs were scratchbuilds, and I agree, it is a magical experience. Having said that, just bc of my skill level, I wasn’t happy with my scratchbuilds (it was 10 years ago, afterall…) I currently have a fiberglass shell pack that I wouldn’t trade for the world… It just depends on your skill level, and how happy you will be with your end result. In the end… Do what you do… 
I agree with Chibigear, if you have the workspace then your first one should be scratch.
It really does feel good when you know every part inside and out and it will be your unique pack.
me… I can’t stand spending more than a year on something or I will get stressed and end up hating the thing. I did my pack with a FG shell and resin parts and I almost went insane with how much work it was needed on it before completion (I’m still on cosmetic details)
I can’t imagine myself doing a scratchbuilt one… I would probably end up hating it so much that all the fun around Ghostbusters would be infected… as it has happened to me before with starwars.
I had never, EVER spent so much time on a costume and props… 1 year and 2 months before I could wear it and show it off is a long time for me. This is not a hobby for patience impaired hobbyists.