That Took Longer Than I Thought...

... I say that on every build.

But first I need to show off my second Ecto Charger pack:

The one on the left is mine. I'd already taken out the straps and removed what was left of the decals.  The one on the right is the one I got on eBay.

Unfortunately I never noticed in the eBay listing that the hose connector knub was broken off.  I'll have to source out some kind of fitting to replace it.

The Ecto Charger straps work great as shoulder straps for the Super Slimer.  There's a leftover slot from where the slime tank originally mounted where the end of the strap fits right in.

Close up.

The other end squeezed into the back as well.  I'll mount it better after painting.  I might use seat belt harness straps on the tanks.

I decided to repurpose the pumps I took off last time to act as handles on the front.  I sawed off the ends and opened them up, ran a big screw down the center, and the idea was to connect that into the hole left where the tank used to be.

This was the result after a couple of hours experimenting with screws and how to drill out that tank port.  There was a spring holding a plastic disc in that hole, acting as a valve for the slime.  It didn't give up easy, and my drill battery was low, so it took a while.

So this is where I stopped for the night.  The handle isn't U shaped like the movie slime blowers, but I might tweak them a little more before I'm done.  I might still add a side handle, too.  I didn't realize I had mixed up the green and blue parts until I was almost done putting the second one back together.  It doesn't matter since it'll all get painted.  I picked up some paint this morning, but with the weather getting wet this weekend that'll need to wait.

Thanks for looking!

Demolition

The Super Slimers arrived today, so I unboxed them tonight.  These toys are basically a big bug sprayer that shoots out green Nickelodeon slime, which is included.  I was on the fence whether I should keep these functional and let the boys have slime blowers that actually shoot slime, or to strip out the pumps and slime reservoirs to make them look more accurate.  Being that these are designed for kids 6 and up, and that I'm giving these to a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 year old who sometimes acts half his age, and the fact that replacement slime would be hard to find with it off the market, my wife helped nudge me over the fence to the non-functional side.

The first task then was to remove the stickers, slime reservoirs, and pumps.  I worked on these after everyone else was in bed asleep.  It was noisier than I thought it would be, but nobody woke up.  Only the dog got freaked out.

I had to remove a few screws to crack open the shells, then saw down a couple of points inside to get the slime tanks off. I left the nozzle in place as well as the tube sticking out where the tanks would be.  I plan on making that a handle.

The pumps came off easily when the screws were removed.

Here are the pictures:

New out of the boxes.

Tanks and pumps removed from the casings.

A close up of the casings, the one with blue trimming upside down, green facing up.

I don't know when I'll tinker with these again, but I'll post an update when it happens.

New Project

One night while browsing on eBay I stumbled across some Nickelodeon Super Slimers up for auction.  There were two in one auction, brand new in the box, which is impressive since I don't think they've been produced since 2008.

This is significant because these items bare a stunning resemblance and function as the slime blowers in Ghostbusters II.  The picture above is an example of what one of these toys looks like when stripped down, painted, and paired with a Kenner Ecto Charger backpack, the 1990 toy version of the slime blower.

I've been wanting to build a scaled down proton pack for my oldest, but when the chance presented itself to create 2 slime blowers for less than the cost of one proton pack, and to be able to give each of my sons one, I had to jump on it.  I love the idea that these are still toys and will hold up better with the boys rather than a normal prop would.

I won the auction for the Super Slimers and bought a second Ecto Charger pack; I still have mine from when I was a kid.  The plan is to create a pair of slime blowers similar to the one pictured above, and surprise the boys with them on Christmas.

I'll post progress and pictures here to chronicle the build.

It is finished...for now.

I'm not sure if one can ever be completely finished with a proton pack, there is so much potential for tinkering and upgrading parts, but for the time being I'm done with mine.

I apologize that I don't have as many progress pictures of building the thrower as I did with the pack.  Getting it to completion was a bit of a challenge.

During my last week of building, after waiting a month longer than I anticipated for my last parts shipment to arrive, I had a couple of hurdles.  One issue was that there was a tiny knob that had a tension pin in it that I needed to remove.  I fought with that thing for an hour before finally taking a hammer and screw driver to it in the back yard.  The pin came out and the disc I was trying to pry free flew off somewhere in the grass and I never found it.  Luckily one of my sellers had one in stock and I got a replacement by the end of the week.  I'm still not ruling out that my dog might've eaten the missing one.

Another problem occurred when I was mounting the parts together with the lights installed and accidentally twisted the handle and severed three tiny wires in the process.  I managed to strip them down, twist them together, and tape them up good enough so that they could still work, but it was a headache to do so.

But finally, for now, I'm done.  

Now I just need some outlet(s) to show it off.

Thrower Update

It's been a while since I've worked on my equipment, mainly due to weather non conducive to painting, lack of funds to buy the last few parts, and having my normal hobby time slot occupied by spending most nights sleeping next to a toddler.  However, most of those issues are working their way out.  The little guy is getting better on his own at night, the weather warmed up enough this week for some priming and painting, and by the end of the weekend all of my missing parts should be en route to my house.

With that being said, here's some pictures of where it sits tonight.

Once again my painting came out sub par, but I went ahead and reassembled it to see what imperfections would be covered by other parts or labels.  I still might go back and do some sanding and touch up painting, or just sand some places bare and call it weathering.

I'm still missing the cylinder the green hose connects to, the long front handle, and the grips.  I ordered some awesome grips from the UK today, the cylinder is paid for and just waiting to be shipped along with the front handle when my supplier finishes welding them up in the next few days.  Everything else is bought and sitting in a box ready to attach right after those other pieces are good to go.

Once the thrower is done, I'll install the sound kit, battery, and speaker in the pack and I'll be done with this bad boy.

Thanks for reading.

- Matt

Harold Ramis, 1944-2014

I still remember my reaction the first time I ever saw Harold Ramis.  I wondered,  "Why doesn't Egon have blonde swirly hair?  His suit isn't even blue!"

My first connection to what has become an obsession with Ghostbusters was with the cartoon series "The Real Ghostbusters."  So when Mom got me a copy of a copy of Ghostbusters on VHS (in your face FBI warning), I was surprised by the differences, since I had no idea the movie existed first.

I've never had a favorite Ghostbuster, since they are so different yet all likable in their own ways, but when you are a tall, thin, dark haired, glasses wearing white boy that makes good grades, it's hard not to envision yourself as the Egon of the group.  So when my friends or my classmates and I played Ghostbusters, either with toys or just pretending on the playground, I was Egon more times than not.  It was fun to be the smart one that figured out all the answers and invented all of the cool equipment.  There was a time as a kid I wanted to be a scientist like Egon when I grew up, only because Ghostbuster wasn't an option, evidently.

As I grew older I began to understand the subtle humor of the movies better, which was the product of writers Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd.  Even as I watched the first Ghostbusters yesterday I found myself laughing at Egon's facial expressions, especially the terror on his face when he fired at Slimer in the hotel ballroom ("Nice shootin', Tex!").

Harold is credited as the one who brought Dan's original script down to earth and made it relatable and believable.  He deferred most of the technical rambling off to Dan's character, Ray, because Dan enjoyed that so much.  The main story of both films is centered around Bill Murray's Peter Venkman character, and funny lines are sprinkled throughout for each of them, including Winston, played by Ernie Hudson.  But Egon, though quieter and more understated, is vital to the story.  He made the equipment, they look to him to know the answers of what to do next, and he delivers.  He hardly smiles or laughs, but is lovable anyway.  I'm sure Harold wrote Egon this way.

Ramis was responsible in part for way more laughs than just Ghostbusters.  As a writer, director, and/or actor he had a hand in hits like Caddyshack, Animal House, National Lampoon's Vacation, Stripes, Groundhog Day, Meatballs, just to name a few off the top of my head.  The majority of people in this country my age and older have laughed because of something he wrote or directed.  That's pretty awesome to think about.

I'm not only disappointed by Ramis' passing, but more so by the timing of it.  This year is the 30th anniversary for Ghostbusters, and I'd like to think there were plans in the works to get the original cast back together for a retrospective of sorts so we could all laugh together with them again.  I'm sad that he'll miss the outpouring of love fans will give this franchise this year.  I don't know if he truly knew how special these movies are to so many of us that grew up with it, and are now sharing them with our kids.  Rumors have swirled for over a decade about a possible third Ghostbusters movie being in the works, but I'd be against it at this point.  It shouldn't be done without Egon.  I'd thought many times before that serious illness or death of a cast member was going to block the chances of a new movie if it got pushed back long enough, especially since they are all in their 60's now.  I'm sad to see that I was right.

To clumsily wrap this up, I'll miss Harold Ramis, but I'm thankful I'll always have his work to bring a smile to my face, help me laugh on a bad day, and something fun I can eventually share with my boys.  When I'm finishing the last details of my proton pack, I'll think of the scene where the Ghostbusters are eating dinner at the firehouse just before their first call, and Egon is putting the finishing touches on a thrower as he eats his meal.  My PKE meter will forever remind me of him.

Farewell Egon.  

Thanks Harold.