I’m a newbie to all of this but have been reading the boards for some time. I finally gathered up enough courage to try my hand at building my first pack.
I’ve decided to use 1/8" plywood for the motherboard and to construct the initial components primarily out of foamboard, borrowing inspiration from a previous poster who also utilized expanding foam filler for such a project.
My sister is havin a costume-themed wedding next month and I have decided that I will attend as…of course…a Ghostbuster. Hopefully I’ll be able to put together an acceptable-looking pack by then using the construction methods I have planned. If all fails, I do have my old RGB toy pack from when I was a kid as a backup
I will be posting photos soon of my progress. As of now the motherboard has been cut (and I have already messed it up by forgetting about the two protrusions that stick out at the bottom, so my pack will be perfectly rounded on bottom…oops!) I have some pieces being glued together right now and will be taking photos shortly.
If I manage not to kill myself in the process, I have plans for a much more movie-accurate version for this Halloween. This will be my prototype.
Okay, so I’m running into my first challenge. Perhaps I’m an idiot and can’t read plans, but I see all the plans for the individual components but nowhere have I found a good reference for where on the motherboard these components actually mount. For instance, I’m a little sketchy as to exactly where the “ion arm” goes in relation to the EDA and Crank Generator. The reference photos seem to be a bit hard to follow because there’s so much already on top of everything and painted.
Well I’ve made a few of the boxes and decided to set them atop motherboard with most being held together by masking tape. As you can see by the Ion Arm, I attempted using Gorilla Glue. Not going to be using that anymore throughout the project.
Of course, I still need to complete the components shown in the initial photo and I know this pack will leave much to be desired in the end, but hey…it’s my first attempt ever at prop building! I’m an EMT by trade!
DEFINITELY a prototype, lol. I’ll try my best to smooth out the uneven edges and such prior to the painting/finishing process. Need to complete the rest of the spacer…not even sure how I’m going to approach building the proton gun. Should be fun…
Keep checking your plans and study all the photos you can find. To a lot of people, the first pack is more of a dry run as they figure out certain cuts and dimentions along the way. By the time they finish, they’re ready to start another one. They’ve been bitten by the prop bug!
Well, I finished my first proton pack in record time..just under four days. It’s a shame that I waited until the last minute to build the pack as I could have done a much better job on it.
Obviously there’s a lot missing from this pack. My sister’s wedding was today (yesterday technically), June 3 in which I was designated to be the ring bearer (yes, a 23-year-old ring bearer lol). Nevertheless, here is a photo that was taken during the ceremony. Yes, I know the bumper is missing, that the decals aren’t all in the right spot, etc., and that I have the hose from a Hoover vacuum in place of a proton gun, but overall I was very pleased with my first-time result.
I received tons of compliments, and being a Hollywood wedding there were several professional set designers, art directors, and propmakers in attendance. One propmaker actually paid me a huge compliment saying that it was an almost professional job as far as propmaking goes…obviously made me feel very good.
Anyway, here’s the shot from the wedding (yes, it’s a costume wedding and my sister was indeed the Bride of Frankenstein). If anyone is interested in more detailed construciton photos I have tons.
hehe, thanks for the replies. Yeah, that was Doc Brown. Definitely the most unique wedding I’ve ever been a part of (or attended). It was a fun time though.
Now it’s time to build a second pack for Halloween. With four months to go I should be able to put together something a little bit more screen acruate and polished up.
HOLY CRAP!!! It is only four months to October… Or five months if you’re like me and are the habit of finishing your costume at 1am the night before Halloween. :lol:
