View new posts | View your posts My 4 week n00b scratch pack... *Completed*

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So I decided almost a year ago I was going to be a Ghostbuster for Halloween this year. I have loved GB since I was about 4 and I was very excited to start on the project. My original plan was to buy a shell, but I unfortunately did not look to buy a shell until it was too late (about a month ago). So I decided to build it out of foamboard mainly. In hind-sight I wish I would have used all styrene, but maybe on the next pack. My whole pack is build for around $200 (including uniform) and I still need to make a gun and trap. I was going for semi-movie accurate, but still able to finish in a 4 week time frame (our first Halloween party was on 10/12 so I had to rush). The entire pack is built from Home Depot and Michelles products, other than the tubing and resistors, which I bought from GBfans. So here is my little story. Feel free to ask any questions or give feedback. I know there are a few things wrong, but I am happy with it.


The original parts. Alice frame and welding goggles off Ebay for about $30 for both.


The pack is based off Norm's plans.


My foamboard cuts are not clean and I later found out I did not take into account the width of the board, so in the end my pack was not perfectly spaced.


The gunmount and motherboard are made of 1/4" MDF




I used wood filler to hide the foamboard edges and to fix my uneven cuts. I then primed


Primed and PVC painted


My lighting is bought from superbrightleds.com. They have great products that are prewired and ready for power without having to mess with resistors. Each 3 led piece has red leds


I just used colored plastic folders for the lighting


After the flat black it started looking very good. I used both the $1 black paint and the $5 Kyrlon paint, and I think it is really worth the extra money. I did a first coat of the $1 paint, then coated over it with the $5 paint


Bumper A-La-Norm. I wish I had a real bumper, but I was short on time and it ended up alright in the end.


Ready for stickers


I got the stickers from HProps and got them printed at a shop on sticker paper. I then clear coated. I was a little unhappy with how the clear coat dulled the black and silver (especially the silver, looks more gray now).


Testing the lights. I am using a single 9 volt battery that will later be housed in the gun, but for now was taped to the back of the mobo


My semi-finished pack.


Not bad for 4 weeks (plus I have a newborn so most of my time is with her!)


I decided not to paint the ALICE frame, partly for time, and also because I liked how it looked normal.


Suited up. Also goggles are on. The goggle were quick Norm goggles that took maybe 1 hour to throw together.




The lights worked great, although I wish they blinked. They are superbright though and were cheap (maybe $12 for all of them) and easy to install.

That is it for now. I will be starting on the thrower soon and going to make a very quick trap in time for Halloween.

Things I know are messed up and questions for you guys:
1) All the parts are a little crooked from when I mounted to the mobo. I kind of blindly drilled holes for the L-brackets.

2) The power cell is VERY crooked from attaching the the injectors are too long since I only glued them instead of drilling a hole for them.

3) There are too many brass connectors and are the wrong sizes. Mainly because I just threw a bunch of them in my basket at Home Depot, and that is what I used (Those brass connectors are expensive though!)

4) Do you guys adjust the waist belt for the ALICE pack? In the movie it looks like a very thin belt attached to the frame and mine has a large padded belt. If I use it, it covers up the utility belt.

5) I have not decided if I am going to weather the pack or not. I may just use some silver paint.

6) I know little about batteries, etc. I am using 1 parallel wired 9-volt (with spare handy) to power everything. By the end of the night the lights were dieing. Can I just hook up another 9-volt, at the same time or will that mess things up, or just make it last longer?

For batteries, you're running a lot of lights from one 9V. I'd suggest using a couple of rechargeable 9V batteries, then swap one out halfway through the evening. A 9V will drop into one of the pockets of your flightsuit no problem. If you have a choice, always get the Ni-MH (nickel-metal hydride) rechargeables instead of the older Nicads.

Thanks for the input. I easily found Ni-MH batteries and chargers for about $20 for a kit. I will have to look into it.. Thanks!

Thanks for the tip! I ordered a charger and 2- 250mAh niMH batteries, which will save me a lot of money seeing how a 2 pack is almost $8 at the store!

Using the folders for the cyclotron was a great idea! Looks good!

Looks great!! That's how I like to see it done!! rather than trying to get others to do work and research for you!

my only suggestion is to make it sit a little higher on the ALICE frame. From the back shot it looks a little low on you.

Lawrence

Pack is looking great. i really need to get started on mine soon

>.<

Pretty sweet!

Nice job.. excellent example of crafstmanship and imagination.

those lights are bright man! looks great, hey you and i have two things in common. we are both new pack builders, and new dads..mine is 5 months old...

I'll join the new dad, new pack club too. Daughter is 4 months, pack is in the conception stage. Good question about the waist band of the ALICE frame, I was wondering about that myself. They don't look to use it at all to me.

Good looking pack by the way, I'll look forward to seeing how the gun comes along.

That is great! I have a 5 month also. I am going to dress her up as a ghost :p we should all take pics of us ghostbusters and the babies

I also started the gun today and should be done this week

You could pick up that cheesy sexy ghostbuster set, and use just the pack for your little one.. But rightside up..

Which products did you order from superbright leds? They have tons of different items, and I am thinking of emulating your project.

The light bar in the power cell is the "LB3 series 6-LED Light Bars"



The cyclo lights are the "LBM2 series 2-LED Light Module"



I will also be using a number of other single LEDs that I had already bought from there for other projects on my wand. Let me know if you need anything else!

Here is an update on my gun.


I am using 1/8 board and the HPprop plans to build it.


I can not figure out how to "round" the edge, so it is going to be square.


From Norm's plans


One down...

I am going to be placing about 7 or 8 LEDs in the gun. It should look very bright.

Thank you, after looking around, I figured that's what you ordered, but wanted to make sure.

How do you connect these to the battery source?

Anything between 9v-12v will work. It comes pre-wired so all you have to do it connect the black to negative and red to positive on your source. You can use a simple 9v battery if you like.

Those fuel injector cleaner grips are genius. One could almost just use the bottle as both the grip and the handle.

Something that's more accurarate than the Gum Out bottle is Axe Touch shower gel...



A lot less cutting and closer in size.

But will my wife like the smell?

women can't resist!

thanks for the tip! I might check it out although I can't dump axe in my gas tank :p or can I........

But... but... Id' feel like more of a man using fuel injection cleaner as my body lotion.

I hear ya... but one can't smell like motor oil all the time.

the axe idea is awesome, wish i knew about that earlier! of course if i go cleaning myself up too much, my wife might start suspecting something...gum out for me.

lookatthemonkeys...you give me hope that I can scratch build a proton pack. I'll be part of the new dad club in January (our first).

I won't be able to build a pack in time for Halloween, but I'm going build one. I've never build props before...always wanted a proton pack.

This site is awesome...so glad I found it.

Haha, I am glad I give you hope! I have never built any props, per se, before, but I have built my share of things here and there. But I am sure my pack could have been way better if I had better power tools and I had practice working with these materials.

Quick update on the gun. I got everything painted and I am starting to piece everything together. Today I did all my wiring that is going to go into the gun. Hopefully I have enough room in the thrower to put it all. I am using 2 switches. One that controls the lights on the pack, and one for just the gun. It will be connected to 1-2 9volt batteries.

Sorry for the crummy camera phone pictures. Will get some decent ones tomorrow.


For the lights on top I just drilled to holes and shoved the LEDS up through. I just used some LEDS that I already had lying around.


There is also 4 LEDS that will light up the top inside of the gun. For the graph bar hole on the right side I plan on printing out an image on clear overhead projector paper and gluing it inside so the light will shine through. I just need to figure out what image I want to use.

I hope to get some more pictures tomorrow!

I need to ramp up my work speed, otherwise I'll have gunless packs for halloween.. I'm watching your build as well for tips n tricks...

So not a whole lot done, but I am getting further with my thrower. I finished wiring up everything, added both the handles, and put the tip on. I could not figure out a way how to insert my clear tip into the 1" thrower and cover the empty space in between, so just cup a hole is a cap and stuck it through and painted it silver. The clear tip I used is a small container from JoAnnes that held glitter I still need to make a bottom of the gun that is removable (I am having some issues) and make the additional boxes and make the knobs.