[ecto1321]

Hey guys. I'm a long time reader but a fairly new poster so let me start by introducing myself. My name is Steve and about 2 months ago, a buddy and I finally decided to take the plunge and build some proton packs. Since that time I've been glued to these threads and I've learned just an incredible amount about these things. The talent and knowledge of some of the people on this site never fails to amaze me. I've seen you guys build everything from proton packs and ghost traps to ectomobiles and even ghostbuster themed rooms with custom handbuilt furniture! I mean come on, ikea cant even hold a candle to that! lol. Anyway, Ive been inspired, so here goes nothing...

Although the intention is to have these packs completed by halloween, I didnt want them to just be quickly built "halloween packs." A couple of things I've realizedso far. First, order your supplies way ahead of time. A lot of this stuff is made to order by fellow fans who also have full time jobs and families. Quality work isn't quick. Nor is it cheap! Just when you think you've bought everything you need, theres always one more carriage bolt or one more hose to buy. Measure before you go to home depot! I cant tell you how frustrating it is to drive all the way there and then not know what size washers you need. lol. Finally, you can never have too many reference photos. Theres always some other angle you need.

A couple of questions I still have too:
First, what do people use for spacers between the pack and frame? Id love to use some rubber stoppers or something but Im having a hard time finding the right piece. Any suggestions?
Second, anybody suggest a particular type of glue for gluing things to the fiberglass and resin shell?
Third, do people generally use the wood and bolt method for attaching everything to the shell or just the larger pieces like the ion arm and hga?

Im still waiting on the main pack parts to arrive. I ordered most of the stuff from Colin at MMM and AJ Quick, but i was also fortunate enough to be able to score an exoray shell. I also went with a Jupiter Electronics light kit and a crix soundboard. Everything from mmm is on its way minus the motherboard which should be going out very soon. I'm expecting the shell to ship Monday. The jupiter kit came really quickly. Not sure on the status of the soundboard yet but I'm pretty excited for it.

Pics to come soon as soon as I can figure out how to upload them.

[ecto1321]

I know its not screen accurate, but i really like the look of these for attaching the padding to the alice frame. I think they give it an industrial look.



What do you guys think?



Also, finally found the right size carriage bolts- 3/8 inch. Might need longer than these though. We'll see.

[ProtonCharger]

how do those plumber straps avoid hitting you when you move around? i can imagine hair pulling and skin pinching.

you can get spacers at ACE. this is entirely what you'll need (recommended to me) for all that area/hardware:

12 - 3/8" WASHERS
3 - 2" x 3/8" CARRIAGE BOLTS
2 - 1/2" SPACERS ALUM OR NYLON
1 - 3/4" SPACER ALUM OR NYLON

[jackdoud]

The engineer in me is saying "why are there hose clamps on there, there's nothing to clamp". Aside from the dangerousness PC mentions I guess I'm just a fan of regular zip ties and electrical tape. Whatever floats your boat though.

[ChapterMasterTu'Shan]

The reason for the padding being there is to protect the back of your head. You've just replaced a hard surface with smaller, sharper, hard surfaces. I'd strap that thing on and trot around a bit before getting dead set on the clamps.

[ecto1321]

Yea, I definitely have to wear it around a bit before I decide whether or not I want to keep the clamps. Part of me likes the look of it, but part of me also wants to stay true to the original.

Thank you for the parts list PC. You have no idea how helpful thats going to be.

[KieranWalker]

Yea, I definitely have to wear it around a bit before I decide whether or not I want to keep the clamps. Part of me likes the look of it, but part of me also wants to stay true to the original.

Not to mention, y'know, cranial trauma. >_>

[ecto1321]

Yea, I guess cranial trauma would be kinda a bummer. A bloody head always tends to ruin a good halloween party. lol

[ecto1321]

Monday was a good day! Felt like christmas morning...



I was also able to get to the hardware store this past weekend to pick up some parts for the ecto goggles.





Need some work on those pvc pieces, but then again, isnt that what this is all about. I also was able to get to an ace store today and found a bunch of great looking knobs and thumb screws that should look great on these. I was really impressed by their selection. Plus, when the guy behind the counter heard what i was building, he told me to "remember one thing...if someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!" lol. So now im pretty sure im going to have to go back there with this thing once its done.

One of those packages was also my MMM gun kit, which looks great!
Here it is laid out...



Today I started work on the gunbox...
I drilled out some holes, cleaned out the vent, and dry fitted the lights.





And later tonight, I did some more work. Man, and to think I actually believed I might get to primer today. What a long process!



Front cylinder, gun knobs and cooling fins mounted using plastic epoxy.



Drilled out gun ear to accomodate an led and switch. Ill have to add another led to my jupiter kit. Still need to enlarge back of switch hole to fit the whole body of the switch.



Where I left off...cant wait to get back to it tomorrow night.

[ecto1321]

Only had about an hour to work on it today. Got the rear instrument box and clippard mounted. Also prepped all dials for mounting. Started adding fake welds. Not really such a fan of them so far. Ill have to try to clean them up tomorrow.

[irricanian]

Looking good! Keep going!

[ecto1321]

Spent most of the weekend thus far working on the particle thrower and a couple of odds and ends. This is the first of two throwers I'm building and I've definitely picked up some tricks along the way that i will implement on the next one. Now, some pics!

mounting the vhook


at the suggestion of the forum, i marked the area of the rear handle that i wanted to cut away. this keeps the vents clear and gives me more room for electronics inside.


mounting the trigger box with the supplied pins. getting the position of the holes was very tricky. i ended up sharpening the mounting pins a bit, putting them in the trigger box, and pushing them into the resin gun body to mark where i needed to drill.


trigger box mounted and extension lever in place


i couldnt resist...


painting and priming


after two coats of primer on the gun


silver...the suspense is killing me! pretty happy with how my fake welds turned out too. i used a bondo spot filler and the method described in the how-to forum.


finally...

[ecto1321]

Also had a chance to get my mmm mobo mounted up (thanks colin!). I used 3/8 inch carriage bolts for the bottom mounts and 1/4 inch machine screws for the center mount. All have 1 inch aluminum spacers on them and the mobo is sitting perfectly level with the frame.




and i decided to lose the hose clamps in the interest of accuracy and comfort

[ChapterMasterTu'Shan]

Cut the frame off the bargraph on the thrower. It's supposed to be a piece of acrylic.

[ecto1321]

I actually cut the frame off the top and bottom, but im using the two side frames to hold the acrylic lens in. As long as it looks decent, i think it will provide a bit of protection for the lens.

[ecto1321]

Well, since mounting up the mobo and finishing up with paint on the thrower, I've finally had the chance to wire up the gun and test out the lights and some of the sounds.

So, first step was finding a suitable cable and then running the wires through the trigger box and slow blow box. I found a suitable cable in my scraps that had about 20 conductors in it and was a suitable length. As a bonus, the cable had two pairs of shielded cables in it that will be perfect for preventing distortion with the longer sounds like the GB themes and the startup with hum.


It was a tight fit through the trigger box but I ended up snaking the wires in relatively easily. My big problem right now is that the larger DPDT momentary switch that I used for the activation switch doesn't quite provide enough clearance for the back of the box once all the wires are attached. I have them hanging out right now, hopefully I will figure out something else soon.




Heres what the wires will eventually go to in the pack. I mounted the sound board and the amp in a project box I found at radioshack. I'm going to cut out a hole in the box for the volume control on the amp.


Here's a shot of the larger DPDT momentary switch I used. This is one of the ones I've seen recommended here on the forums, so if anybody has any suggestions on using it with the MMM thrower kit, I'd love to hear 'em.


Keeping track of what wire goes to what switch was really important. I DID NOT want to try to figure this out afterwards when the gun was all sealed up.














Pretty happy with how the window for the light turned out. On the next gun, I'm going to cut a more narrow hole and then grind down the trim flat like others have suggested. Then I will glue the lens onto the outside instead of trying to fit it in the trim.

[ecto1321]

Holy mother of...its here. My v71 mark x from exoray. Cant wait to try out that texturing technique and get this puppy mounted up!

[ecto1321]

Alright, so now that the shell arrived, I'm curious as to what varying methods people use for attaching the different tubes, hga. n filter, ion arm, etc... I know Ive heard of a lot of people using the dowel method on the tubes, but are you guys inserting a dowel through the entire length and then screwing into it, or just cutting off like a two inch section and inserting a long bolt through to bolt up from the bottom. Also, if you guys do bolt everything on, does that include pieces like the ppd or booster tube which mount on their sides? I definitely appreciate any feedback.

[FeinDTacticS]

You can attach all your parts how you see fit. I see what you are saying now that I can see pictures. It would probably be better to bolt your injector tubes on for added support. Nobody has touched my pack except one time and thankfully nothing was pulled off but I would be pretty pissed if it did happen. The PPD can be epoxy/glued or bolt it from the top where the pneumatic hosing is going to eventually go. Your pack will be awesome for sure with the sound and all.. I have not gotten to that part this year. The pack looks great

[julz]

http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... umoribawar

[ecto1321]

http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... umoribawar

Thanks julz. Ive actually seen this one before and I love how hardcore these mounts are. I'm tempted to replicate some of them, but i will probably stick to fender washers for the most part.

You can attach all your parts how you see fit. I see what you are saying now that I can see pictures. It would probably be better to bolt your injector tubes on for added support. Nobody has touched my pack except one time and thankfully nothing was pulled off but I would be pretty pissed if it did happen. The PPD can be epoxy/glued or bolt it from the top where the pneumatic hosing is going to eventually go. Your pack will be awesome for sure with the sound and all.. I have not gotten to that part this year. The pack looks great

Thanks bud! Yea, i think i was just overthinking things. Its just that this beautiful shell showed up in the mail ans I wanted to treat her right! The good news is that I think Im over it. I made some real progress tonight, probably thanks to this ridiculous schedule Im working under to get this done in time for Halloween. No pain no gain, right? Anyway, I was able to trim the mobo by the power cell and the bottom of the spacer, mount and rivet the aluminum brackets, mount the shell and tap the brackets, and prep both the hga and ion arm for mounting.

Pics to follow.

[ecto1321]

Taping the brackets in place while I try out placements.


Had to trim the bracket under the n-filter so it would fit. Just shaves off about a 1/4 inch.

Drilling and tapping brackets through the shell. The tap is a 1/4-20 and the drill bit should be a #7. I didnt have a #7 on hand so I went with a 13/64ths bit which is only fractionally larger and worked great.

Bottom mounts done!


Couldn't resist laying everthing out. Dont worry, none of the tubes are mounted yet, just laying on the table.

[ecto1321]

Unfortunately I was not as good about taking pictures towards the end of the process. I was in a huge rush and it just kind of fell by the wayside. Next time I open the pack I will take pictures of my method for securing the lights inside the pack, which I actually found to be one of the most challenging aspects of the build. I ended up using foam core to make a disc roughly the side of the cyclotron, cutting out holes in it, and putting the leds through the holes. Between the distance and the diffuser lenses I used, you can hardly tell that the lights are multiple small leds. Anyway, heres some additional pics I took towards the end of the process...

Texturing:




Painted:




Finished:




Video of Lights:


Finally, pics from Halloween:





Thank you again to everyone on these forums. You guys kick a$$ and I honestly could not have built these without the build threads, the parts, the reference photos, etc...that you've all shared with me. Thanks especially to Vincenzo (photos), Exoray (shells), MultimediaMayhem (aka irridican)(all other resin parts and gun kit), PChrisBosch (texturing thread), my fellow NY guys (advice/inspiration), and of course AJ Quick (parts, super fast last minute parts, and all of the above).

[dan20lancer]

Ho wow great pics and good job

[ecto1321]

Thanks Dan!

[nick-a-tron]

Those turned out great!! Great uniforms too!

[ecto1321]

Those turned out great!! Great uniforms too!

Thanks Nick!

[Lewis Tully]

Now I'm all intrigued about how you mounted your lights up. Would like to see some pics. I am at that crossroad in my pack build and am not really sure how to do it. Great looking packs, btw!

[ecto1321]

I opened up my pack today and I'm currently in the process of wiring up sound. Heres some pics of the internals.





As you can see in the pics, the pack lights are attached to foamcore, which is then tacked into place in the shell with hot glue. Provides for perfect placement and good distance/diffusion of the leds.

Wish me luck with the sound!