Prime Time

Here's the pack mounted to the motherboard with screws only halfway turned in to hold it in place, then taped over to make sure they don't get painted.  The blue painters tape is applied to the inside just to keep the spray from coming through the larger holes and making odd marks on the interior of the pack.

 

Here's the shell with two coats of primer.  It doesn't look even, but I hit the darker spots a couple of times and wasn't getting much change in color, and I didn't want to over do it any, so I left it a bit splotchy.  The black paint will hide the primer imperfections.

I didn't have time to paint the shell tonight, and probably won't tomorrow due to the chance of rain, but that's probably a good thing.  The paint I used the other day on the beam line and filler tube was the wrong can of paint I had in my garage.  It's been so long since I painted the other aluminum parts that I forgot that I used the whole can of satin black.  I had a can of gloss black in there and thought that was the right one, so I'll have to repaint the two tubes.  I thought they looked a bit different when I was boxing them up with the other metal parts.  Anyway, it's a good thing I didn't have time tonight because I probably would have painted the entire shell with that wrong black paint.  I'll run to Home Depot and get a can of the right kind this weekend and hopefully finish off the painting early next week.

Thanks for looking.

-Matt

Edit -> Undo

Boy that sure was a lot of fun drilling holes and fitting parts and hooking up wires and breathing fiberglass particles...well not so much the last one...but now that's all done.

A few days ago I started disassembling the pack to get it ready for paint.  At first I just took off the two aluminum parts that were still bare and primed and painted them.  Tonight I removed everything else that was still mounted to the shell, so now it looks pretty much like it did when I got it, if you don't count the bullet hole ridden stop sign similarity.

No pictures to show this time.  I just removed the parts and tried to neatly arrange them in a box for when it's time to reassemble.  The bumper and ALICE frame need to be painted, in addition to the shell which will be primed/painted.  I've got the shell loosely mounted to the motherboard so the mobo will be painted in the right areas too.  Then I'll have to take the mobo off to paint the back side.

This will most likely be my only update this week, but I'll take pictures of any progress for next time.

-Matt

Oops

I'm just about finished with assembling my pack and making sure everything is drilled out and all the parts fit, or almost fit.  Next it will be time to take it all apart and prepare it for painting.  I added some hoses and labels in the picture below to give a preview of what the end product will look like, minus the thrower (or wand, or gun, whatever you call it).

However this success did not come without a couple of mistakes.  While drilling out the large hole in the lower right side of the pack were the hose to the thrower comes out, some fiberglass chipped off along the edge on the bumper side of the hole.  The hole is supposed to look like a cartoon mouse hole.  I tried sanding it a little to make it look better, but it is still going to have a gap.  So either I can fix it later on (I have a few ideas), or I can leave it as is and call it "weathering," which a lot of builders do to their pack to simulate age and usage.  It's not in a very obvious spot, and the large hose will mask it some, but I'm still bummed about it.

The labels and cables (cute, I know) really add color and make the details pop.  It will also look better when I have the lenses in the four cyclotron holes and the long blue one in the power cell window.  I have lights that will work for those as well, but no sound as of yet.  Maybe next year.

Before I quit for the night I decided to attach my A.L.I.C.E. pack frame to the aluminum motherboard.  The frame is military surplus like those used in the movies.  There were different types used in the two movies, and mine is more like the one from Ghostbusters II.

 

I had to do a little drilling to get this part together.  The motherboard had holes already mapped out for attaching the ALICE frame, but the two lower ones were too small for the hardware I already bought and knew was pretty close to screen accurate.  So I drilled out the holes big enough for the large carriage bolts to fit through.  There are also spacers between the motherboard and frame, and a couple of washers involved in each spot too.

 

The movie packs had a hole drilled through the upper part of the frame in the middle, above the cross bar, but the frames are solid there, so I had to drill my own hole.  In previous packs, I'd just had a couple of zip ties looped around that part, because I was afraid to weaken my frame.  However this time I decided to go for it.  So I had the two lower bolts in and tightened, then marked off where the screw needed to go and where to drill the top hole, then drilled.  Then when I went to put it back in, it was off by 1/8-1/4 of an inch, so I had to drill a second hole a bit lower.  Hopefully this doesn't weaken my frame too much.  The screw I used was much smaller for that hole, and the two holes I drilled are one above the other, so that's better than drilling side to side and really taking a lot of metal out horizontally. 

Anyway, I got it all bolted down, took some pictures, then couldn't help putting it on my back and looking at my reflection in the SUV windows in the garage.  The pack wasn't attached, just the motherboard, but it was still fun to get to see what it'll feel like and where it will sit on my back.

So now the task is to take it all apart and hope for a day cool enough to prime and paint the shell, motherboard, and a few parts that need it.

"We're close on this one, I can feel it." - Ray Stantz

-Matt

Progress Update 2, 9/14/13

After spending Thursday night doing more research and planning for my drilling points, Friday night I spent a good 2 1/2 hours putting most of the remaining parts on the proton pack.  I didn't take pictures as I went along, but did take some from a few different angles after I was done for the night.

First I attached the vac line tube, then I drilled out the holes for the gun mount and the hose fittings next to the Clippard valve.  I drilled out holes for the tubes that run from the injector tubes into the bottom left side of the cyclotron.  I mounted the beam line and filler tubes, which are the ones that haven't been painted yet.  I had to get new ones since my first set was the wrong size.  I attached the crank knob, which will be able to turn when it's all done.  I also drilled out a hole in the PPD and mounted it just above the beam line.

The hardest parts I had to deal with were the bumper, the ion knob that fits on the bumper, and the booster tube assembly.  When I drilled out the hole in the bumper for the ion knob, it was slightly off center, so I had to adjust it and keep drilling until I got it right.  Then when I mounted the bumper to the shell, it was too wide to just slip over the sides, so I had to tighten it on both sides evenly so it pinched just right and lined up correctly in the middle.  Once I got that all set, I drilled the hole through the bumper all the way through the cyclotron so that the screw that holds the ion knob in place would mount correctly in the inside of the shell.  Getting this all straight was a challenge, and it might be off just a hair as I see the picture again, but I think if I twist it a bit it'll look right.

The angle that the booster tube assembly fits on is not quite flush, so I had to measure and guess a bit to know where to drill to mount it.  I did pretty good and it fit better than I thought it would.  I'll still need to seal it around the edges that don't quite line up eventually, but you have to be looking for it to notice it.

I think that about covers all the work I did.  I have a couple of other holes I need to finalize, test fit the hoses, and run to the hardware store to get some washers and nuts to keep the screws I have holding some parts in place, but other than that I'm just about ready to get to the painting stage.  Now that the temperature is hopefully coming out of the 100s and 90s, it'll be more realistic to get this thing primed and painted in the next week or so.

I'm happy with how this is working out so far.  I'm glad I've had two previous builds before this one, which have taught me a lot that I don't have to figure out this time.  I'm excited to see how it turns out.

Thanks again for taking the time to look.

-Matt

Progress Update, 9/12/13

I've begun to attach some of the pieces I've had sitting in a box for months to my new shell.  It's a bit harder than it looks, this stuff doesn't come with simple drawings and pre drilled holes like Swedish furniture.

Tuesday night after everybody went to bed I sat in the living room with my shell, box of parts, and laptop looking at reference photos. The aluminum parts have holes drilled and tapped, but the shell doesn't, so I have to make templates out of paper in some cases to help me know where to drill on the shell.  I didn't have time to get to everything, but I got a good enough start that I could have a few things to drill in one sitting.

Wednesday night after everyone was in bed again, I brought most of my parts, supplies and necessary tools out to the garage to start drilling.  There was extra room since one of our vehicles is in the shop.

Not all of my templates worked perfectly, but with a little work I got a lot of parts added.  There's still half a box of parts left, and after I add those I'll just have to strip it all down again to paint the shell, but it's necessary to test fit the parts before paint to avoid excess scratching after painting.

I only took a couple of pictures when I was done for the night.  I might take more in better light before I work on it again.  Here's what I've got so far:

Sorry for the lack of variety in the photos.  

The first part I added was the ion arm assembly on the top left corner.  It has two mounting points in the aluminum, and I was slightly off on the bottom one so it was a little crooked at first.  I widened the hole a bit and got it close enough.

Next I added the injector tubes, the two cylinders along the left side of the body of the shell, just below the ion arm assembly and power cell window.  I might need to add some support to the inside wall where it is mounted.  I ended up using a shorter pair of screws to mount it than I intended and it worked out better.

I swapped out those screws with the ones for the HGA, the cylinder on the top right corner.  It went on pretty easily, as my template for that one was the best I'd used so far.

The part that looks like a light bulb in the pictures is a Clippard pneumatic valve that glared with my camera flash.  It also went on easily, but might be slightly off centered.  It will be hard to tell with the wires and labels and everything when all is put together, so I'm ok with it.

The last part I added was the ribbon cable clamp on the top left side of the cyclotron.  I've seen enough reference pictures that I was able to just eyeball it.

I still need to add my bumper, gun mount, vac tube, booster assembly, filler tubes, crank knob, PPD, and some smaller tube fittings.  There's still a long way to go, but things are going in the right direction.  I'm glad to be making progress.

Thanks again for looking!

-Matt

Shell and Motherboard Unboxing Pictures

Today I received the package I'd been waiting on for months.

 

Here's what it looked like when I opened it in the garage.  Joshua was super excited about the Styrofoam peanuts.

 

That ain't no trash in that bag.

It's my new Proton Pack shell!  It came pre-mounted to a laser cut aluminum motherboard and it came with a free "bumper."

That's the bumper unwrapped.  The guy that made it cut out the major holes for me, which is a big help.  I was afraid I'd destroy it.

I couldn't stop myself from taking the shell off of the motherboard to see inside.  Even the way the pack is mounted to the motherboard, or "mobo" for short, is screen accurate.  The brackets are riveted to the mobo.  It came with a piece of foam that will go on the top of the mobo to give it an added bit of accuracy.  I'll show what that's for at another time.  The plastic bag had the hardware for mounting the bumper to the shell.

The back of the mobo, you can see the rivets here.  Holes are predrilled for mounting it to the ALICE pack frame, which are the military surplus straps that make it look like a back pack.

That's what the inside of it looks like.  It's thin, but it's quite reinforced and should handle a little abuse, not that I'll be playing football in it or anything.

Here's a quick mock up of where the parts will go when they're mounted to the shell.  I had to order a new beam line and filler tube, as mine were too big, but I'd already known that was a possibility.  I'll just flip the old ones to someone else and recoup the money.

So now the major work can begin.  Since most of my aluminum parts are ready to go, it won't take too long to measure up my drilling points, mount the parts, take them back off, prime and paint, then start putting the parts back on.  I've also got correct labels to add to it.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

-Matt

Proton Pack Comparisons

I was asked if I could compare my packs over the years side by side with a screen used pack to show how things had gotten better over time.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to find many pictures of my first foamboard proton pack, other than the ones of it dismantled before it was sold on eBay.  I can post some more detailed shots of my second attempt in relation to the real props, but I should explain something first.

 

There were differences between proton packs used in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II.  Also, there were very detailed packs, referred to as "Hero" packs, as well as "Stunt" packs, which were mostly made of foam, but pulled from the same mold as the fiberglass versions.  Ghostbusters II had a middle version between Hero and Stunt called "Semi-Hero," which were fiberglass shells but with resin detail parts rather than aluminum.  A careful eye can pick out the different packs pretty easily if one knows what to look for.

 

What this means is that since there were different items used for similar parts, or replacement parts in the case of some of the Ghostbusters II packs, the term "screen accurate" is broadened out a little bit.  Some builders like to cherry pick different details depending on what they like, what parts are harder to come by, and what parts are more affordable.  You'll see a bit of cherry picking on my upcoming pack, but I'm basing it loosely on a pack that is traced back to Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters II, which was a pack that was retrofitted from Ghostbusters.  It sold at an auction last year, and a lot of detailed pictures were taken at the time that revealed some details that were new to the prop building community.  There are also two packs on display at Sony HQ in LA, and some fans were allowed to take detailed photos and measurements of those as well.  These packs are what those wishing to be screen accurate try to replicate, in most cases.

 

On to the pictures.  Other than pictures of my own props, the photos came from GBFans.com.  Please go to that site and the Equipment tab to see hundreds of more reference photos.

 

Here is a proton pack that was used in promotional photos for the first Ghostbusters movie (note that the picture was taken without anybody noticing the tubing had fallen out of the vac line):

 

 

 

Here is the pack that is on display at the Sony lobby:

 

 

This is the pack that was sold in the Profiles in History auction:

 

 

The OMNI pack is also a favorite for people to replicate since it was in the first movie and had the clean look rather than the weathered, beaten up look:

 

 

Finally, here's my pack.  A lot of the details were close from the start since I used the right measurements.  Much of my improvements will be because I'm using correct parts.  I cut corners on some details, which shows in comparison to the real props. 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.

-Matt

Aluminum Upgrade!

A big part of upgrading my pack this time around is switching to aluminum parts.  Most of these parts were also aluminum on the screen used packs in both movies.  I've primed and painted the parts already and they are just about ready to slap on the shell.  Compare the parts to the OMNI magazine cover which is from the movie to see where they all go.

 

This part has a few names, but I go with the commonly used "shock mount."  It is the part that sticks out of the bumper, and if a proton pack had a face, this would be the nose.  The one on the left is the new metal one I got this summer from a GBfans.com member who had just upgraded to one that was even more impressive (and twice as expensive).  The one on the right I got on eBay and it's been on both versions of my previous packs.  It's a painted plastic one that wasn't very accurate.

 

 

 

This part is called the "ion arm" and it sticks out of the top left corner of the pack.  It has real resistors which are the same as those on the movie packs.  My earlier versions were made out of foamboard and craft wood.

 

 

 

These are the "injector tubes" and they hang from the left side of the pack, out of the bottom of the power cell that has the blue lights in it.  A blue and red tube will run from this part to the bottom of the pack.  Earlier versions for me were made of PVC pipes and wooden dowels.

 

 

 

This little guy is called the "PPD," but I don't know what those letters stand for without looking it up (neither do most other fans if they're honest).  This sits centrally on the pack, near where the ribbon cable goes in, and it has a blue tube that goes in the top hole from a resistor on the side of the ion arm.

 

 

 

This part is called the "vacuum tube," or "vac tube" for short.  It sits on the apostrophe shaped part of the shell above the cyclotron and a large black tube runs into it.  My previous version was PVC.

 

 

 

This is the "heat sink," and it goes on the right side of the wand/gun/thrower (the part you hold that the stream comes out of).  My previous one was resin and cost more than this one, which I scored for $5 on a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale.  Woo!

 

 

 

This is the "beam line."  It has a Clippard hex fitting at the top which runs a line to the HGA (see below).  It goes right in the middle of the pack.  Previous ones were PVC and dowels.

 

 

 

The same basic part without the Clippard fitting is called the "filler tube" and it sits in the middle/left of the pack.  Same as the beam line, I've used PVC and dowels for this part before.

 

 

 

This is a blurry picture of the "HGA," which is another abbreviation that is made up.  This part goes on the top right side of the pack, above where the thrower mounts to the pack.  It has a Clippard fitting that goes to the beam line and a Legris elbow that runs a tube just behind the PPD.  It has a real aluminum label and real socket head cap screws.  My other version was a black spray paint can lid.

 

 

 

This bad boy is the "booster tube."  My other one was PVC.  The ladder shaped part is referred to as the "booster frame" conveniently, and is a part I've had since I built my first pack.  It is made from resin, just as the film versions were, so there's no need to upgrade (yay).  The P-clamp at the bottom of the frame holds the ribbon cable in place.

 

 

 

My current thrower still has a resin "gun track" and incorrect "v-hook" on it, but I will replace them with this aluminum set up.

 

 

 

Finally, this is the hook that is attached to the upper right side of the pack where the v-hook slides on to connect the thrower to the pack.  My other one was a cheap knock off.

 

 

So there you have it.  The one part that was an aluminum piece on the real packs that won't be on mine is the "N-filter," which I told you before I had used a Pringles can on my first version.  The fiberglass shell has the N-filter molded into it, so I'm not going to chop it off and replace it with an aluminum one, though some people actually do (crazy, I know).

 

These parts will help the pack be more sturdy as well as screen accurate.  I bought them from sellers I found on GBfans.com, or in the GBfans online shop.  Thanks again for looking!

 

-Matt

"We have the tools, we have the talent!"





Before I get in depth with my current build, I thought it would be fun to look back and share with you how far things have come.

 

This picture is one of my favorites, but doesn't showcase the proton pack very well.  Still, you can see how it was constructed out of black foamboard, along with other parts.  That's me in front of the real Ecto-1 at the Ghostbusters video game release party in Dallas during the summer of 2009.

 

 

This picture gives you a better idea of how crude the build really was.  This was after I had taken all of the useful parts off of this pack and transferred them over to my MDF pack.  It sat like this in the garage for a long time before I put it on eBay before Halloween last year and made about $75-$100 off of it.

 

 

Until very recently this is how the second pack, made mostly out of MDF, sat in the corner of our bedroom.  Most of the tubing, resistors, and other components were switched straight over from the first pack.  I tried to upgrade it some each year, but it always had the same cake pan with holes cut out and washers glued on for the "cyclotron."  The filter at the bottom of it with the red stripe and white dots is actually a chopped up Pringles can.  I was fortunate enough to have it signed by Dan Aykroyd in Dallas some time ago.  That was a great thrill for me.  Again, many of the useful components have been taken off of this pack and will live on with the fiberglass shell that is on it's way.  I may end up selling the MDF hull and a few parts still connected, but I will keep the cyclotron with the autograph and put it in a place of honor.  It was the first part I ever built on my own, and as crude as it looks now I'm still proud of it, especially with Dan's signature on it.

 

 

Stay tuned for more pictures of what I have in store for the new pack.  It's a giant leap forward in terms of accuracy to the films.  Thanks again for looking!

 

-Matt

"I was born to wear this stuff"

So you may wonder what would possess a person to want to spend the time and money to build a Ghostbusters uniform, complete with proton pack.  Fair question.

First of all, I think it's fun.  Ghostbusters has always been my favorite movie.  I grew to love it through the Real Ghostbusters cartoon series.  I had a lot of the toys when I was a kid, including the toy proton pack that I could wear and pretend to chase ghosts.  I grew up and wanted to relive that fun, but with something closer to what was used in the movies.  Since they've never been available to buy, like many fans I built one myself.

Secondly, it's an escape from reality.  The truth is the career I wound up with is one that no boy grows up wanting to have.  It's ok, it pays the bills and all, but when I was a kid I never would have said I wanted to be an orderfiller at a warehouse, even if I had known what that was.  I'm sure for a few years in elementary school I would have jumped at the opportunity to grow up to be a Ghostbuster.  So in a way I fulfilled that, even if it is just pretend.  I don't doubt that there's something psychological to go with the hobby.

Thirdly, other people get a kick out of it.  I'm sure a lot laugh at me behind my back, but I don't care.  I get to see kids get excited to watch my pack light up, and adults who are impressed with the details involved in creating such a thing.  It puts smiles on faces.

So maybe it does make me a nerd, or crazy, or whatever else to want to go through the effort to make something like this.  I can accept that.  Either way, I'm having a blast doing it.

-Matt

"Heat 'Em Up!"

Over the past several years I've enjoyed the hobby of building a 'Proton Pack', which is the main piece of equipment utilized in the Ghostbusters movies, along with the uniform that goes with it.

It all started at Halloween 2005 with a store bought Ghostbusters costume, which came with an inflatable proton pack.  (Actually it all started in the 80's when I was equally obsessed with Ghostbusters, but I'll cover that later.)

From there I wanted to build my own, so I started buying a few parts from sellers online, most of which came from GBfans.com, but the majority of the body of the pack, or "shell" was made from foamboard I bought at a craft store and cut into pieces then glued to create a pack.  

That pack proved to be less than sturdy, and I decided I wanted one that would last, so I built a "shell" out of MDF and craft wood, transferring over many of the parts I'd bought for the first pack.

I still like that pack, but it's not as accurate as I'd like it to be, and it's quite heavy, so I decided to take the plunge and buy a fiberglass shell to build my ultimate proton pack.  I'll refer to it as Proton Pack 3.0...or maybe I won't, we'll see.

This blog will document the progress of the pack build, as well as educate those who don't know much about what it takes to build a movie prop such as this.  Every time I've been out in public in my Ghostbusters uniform, people ask, "Where did you get that?" or "How did you make that?" or similar questions.  Hopefully this blog will shed some light on those questions.  If you are reading this, you are most likely one of my friends and you were invited to view this blog.  Hopefully you will see the hard work and craftsmanship that goes into being an epic nerd like myself.

More to come soon!  Thanks for looking.

-Matt