Talk about the your favorite Ghostbusters Collectibles from Mattel, Kenner, and more.
#4848124
Michael Scott wrote:And then there's this:

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Granted if you display the HQ closed up against a cabinet or wall, not a big deal. Some that plan to include this in their layouts with modulars and other sets are upset. I'm not mad about it, but I do plan to see if I can change it without affecting the hinges or interior layout. I've got the facade I built a couple months ago that I can possibly use to mod it, as long as the colors match.

Your thoughts? Also, after seeing the interior, exterior, and accessories, what do you plan to add or modify when you get the set?
(I quoted Michael's entire post since we're over to a new page after Smeghead's comment.)

The back wall doesn't bug me a lot. Due to its placement up against surrounding buildings on two sides, you never see it from that angle in the films, and even when I visited the actual firehouse last year, I only shot it from two sides. It never occurred to me to go into the alleyways and see it from those other vantage points. (Although after my trip, I heard there's an interesting-sounding eyeball mosaic in the pavement in the alleyway behind. Scroll down through the comments on this site: http://www.everywhereist.com/hook-and-l ... stbusters/)

It may be challenging to modify that rear wall due to placement/functionality of the hinge. Maybe just make a free-standing wall to put in front of it and then move when you're opening it up.

As for the things I plan to modify, here are a few...

Janine's hair
reverse the placement of Janine's phone and computer
remove the tiny containment unit altogether, since I spent a lot of time, money and effort making my own basement dio
apply 'burning Vigo photo' stickers onto tiles instead of onto wall, figure out a way to suspend them
(possibly order a duplicate set of the stickers or copy them myself)
reverse-engineer details from the ground floor like the lockers, alarm bell, etc. and add them to my existing garage dio
fourth locker for Winston (note to self: check movie, I think there may be more than four total)
replace green slime with regular bathroom floor tiles
possibly replace pink slime with regular sidewalk tiles
adjustments to front doors and sign to make them more movie-accurate
different tiles for over doors saying Hook & Ladder 8, Ghostbusters Inc., possibly Ghoststoppers/Ghostblasters just for fun

I do wish there was something that could be done to flop the darkroom so it would match the movie better (door on the left), but I think it might be better to just free-build a small vignette for that scene which combines a darkroom and a toilet, and of course the De Pasto 4000 printer.

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And is it just me, or does it bother anyone else that on the second floor there's a potbelly stove with a chimney pipe, yet the chimney does not extend up through the third floor and out to the roof?

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Plus, what is up with that videogame? It's got legs like a pinball machine, but it's a vertical cabinet (with a pixelated Stay-Puft face on the screen). I've never seen a videogame like that before.

Alex
#4848133
For suspending the photos, I'm thinking attaching the tiles to some lamp brackets:

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- and have them placed along a length of thread, possibly even with knotting the thread so that the photos can't slide.

Alternately, the LEGO climbing rope could be used:

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As for the graphic, I'll take a stab at making some cleaned up versions (burned and non-burned), with the sellotape removed.


Regarding the chimney, it might end before the roof line, in a non-existent vent. The fact there's no pipe leading through the top floor isn't a major issue to me, nor is the rather unsightly rear wall of the Firehouse.
#4848146
I noticed the stove pipe inconsistency too. I don't recall seeing that in any movie shots, but I'm sure Alex or Kingpin will show in the next post if I'm wrong. :-)

I noticed that the lockers will have added depth thanks to the outer gray walls being void on the inside rather than full brick. You can tell from the inconsistent 2x1x2/3 slopes used on the outer wall rather than the 2x2x1 slope bricks. I'm already brainstorming some fun stuff to try to squeeze in those lockers.

Kingpin, I like your idea of hanging the Vigo photos on a line.

As far as my mods/additions planned, so far I'm mostly evaluating food and accessories I can sprinkle in the background. I may decide to keep a few elements from my version of Janine's desk. And Louis will get short legs instead of the standard size ones, and a combed hair sculpt for his non-possessed face. I'll probably keep the ECU under the stairs even though like Alex I built a more detailed basement.

I'd like to make it where the doors open outward, but I don't think that'll happen.

On the roof I might add some pipes or antennas or something to fill it out a bit.

That's all I've got so far. I'm warning you guys now if you post an awesome idea I will probably "borrow" it. ;-)
#4848193
So here's the result of a few hours mucking about in Adobe Illustrator:

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I dropped the sellotape, squared off the photograph (because it was wonky), and made a set of variants using a more accurate colour selection for the portrait prop (but included one with the original colours for those who wished to have it).

They're not to scale for printing, and will need to be colour converted to CMYK (the River of Slime photo still needs tweaking, I feel, and I'm not completely certain about the proportions of the PKE Meter on the face of the brick), but these should make a nice addition to the Firehouse once finished.

If we can find someone who'd be willing to print them onto bricks, that'd be even better. :)


I had to employ a bit of guesswork with the right-hand side of the photo, as the one decent, and possibly intact photo decal was obscured by the Photo Lab door.

Edit:

I'm much, much happier with how this version of the River of Slime photo has turned out:

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Smeghead, Alex Newborn liked this
#4848496
In addition to the upright consoles for Star Castle and Missile Command.

http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... &start=240

And in GB2 they had a Jump Bug game and possibly some other games.

http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... 37&t=37244

But I've never seen a game in real life that corresponds to the design in the Lego set... an upright cabinet on the stilt-like legs?

Alex
#4848535
It's possible it started life as a Pinball machine, before they opted for an arcade machine.


So it's been kinda bugging me of late how the guys don't have any boot details on their legs, seeing as this is something that's becoming more and more commonplace with minifgures these days.

There isn't a 100% perfect option, but these seem to be the best options out there at the moment:

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- The Belt's quite good (although the weapon belt is already depicted on the Ghostbusters), but I'm not so crazy about the leg pockets.

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- I'm not keen on the belt on this one, but the lack of pockets and folds in the fabric are definitely plusses.
#4848544
Hey Croker!

Not to take away from your tip, but your Diecast cars are metal and the Lego Folk are Plastic. I'm not sure which type they are made of now, but not all Plastics play well with Acetone. Here's an example from one of my threads...

Styrene reacts to Acetone, let's pour some into a clear styrene cup.


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You can see the reaction right away, the styrene gets cloudy and starts to melt. Give it about 20 minutes and this happens.

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Best to test it out on a Block you don't need before cleaning off the Figures.
#4848545
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Yeah, you've got to be really careful with it on plastic. A tiny little bit on a q-tip/cotton bud on hard plastic has worked for me in the past. But yeah, it'll eat straight through thin plastics.


As an experiment I've sacrificed a mimifig and it survived ok.
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Although it would be probably easier and far safer to just paint some boots on the original figure.
#4848547
I vaguely recall from some Star Wars collecting threads that concentrations are different on household chemicals between the UK and the US. I think it was in a discussion of hydrogen peroxide as a method of whitening yellowed plastic, but it might be worth checking to know how consistent the concentrations of acetone are between countries.

For stripping paint off Legos, I have used Brasso and a Q-Tip, but it requires a lot of elbow grease. I did try some industrial acetone that I had on hand, but it melted the plastic.

Alex
#4848563
Lego is made from ABS. I have seen many people online use nail polish remover to clean printing off bricks. I found that one out the hard way as a teenager, when I attempted to remove some sharpie scribbles my younger self had made on a road plate, and removed the printing along with it! The plastic itself was unharmed though.

As an AFOL, I am a "purist" these days, so I prefer to only work with the available elements. But that doesn't mean I have anything against people who customise things... Except "Kragle". Glue is where the line has to be drawn! :P
#4848612
I'll keep the nail polish/acetone option available as a last resort (I actually have some acetone I got for a different project).

I'm also currently working on a design to build a more accurate looking alarm panel from LA23. It'll require moving the tool box, but it satisfies the perfectionist in me. :) Hopefully I'll have something to show for that soon.

I probably should make the final tweaks to the Vigo photos. I think for sizing purposes, it makes more sense to go with 2x2 tiles for them. I will look into the possibility of getting them printed up as custom bricks in the not too distant future, although one site I found said it needed a minimum order of 50 for a design... Depending on the price I may have to knock one or two designs off of what I'd be willing to get printed up.

Of course, I'd appreciate any leads people had on brick printing, especially anyone who might be able to print up the PKE decal onto the 1x1x3 double-ended brick. That was a bit of a bad omission on Lego's part, and obviously we don't know if they have plans for anything more after the Firehouse (I also have an idea for how Vigo's portrait could be achieved (a print on a solid window pane, with a wooden door frame - much like how the internal doors have been achieved on the Doctor Who Ideas set:

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Alex Newborn liked this
#4848644
Kingpin wrote:Image

- I'm not keen on the belt on this one, but the lack of pockets and folds in the fabric are definitely plusses.
If those are genuine Lego parts, you could slide these legs off of the pelvis section and then slide them onto the plain tan pelvis that comes with the GB minifigs.

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Are those legit Lego legs, or are they custom pad-printed knockoffs? I am not sure how close their color of tan plastic would match, and I don't know if their internal design would allow for parts swapping.

Alex
#4848657
The legs look like legitimate LEGO, although the printing seems to be on the outside face of the leg, the front of the foot, and a bit of the front face of the leg... the top face looks unpainted, as does the inside edge.

Brick Customs - Universal Legs

However, that might be an acceptable compromise until Lego itself makes something more ideal.
#4848758
I was sorting out some LEGO bits we'd bought from a charity shop a while back, and as I'd had a brainstorm about how to assemble the triangular section on the top of the alarm panel, I took the opportunity to try build a prototype with the spare bricks (as well as a mock up of the internal wall for scaling), and this is what I came up with:

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This version would have a 1x1 round plate on a 1x2 plate modified with jumper at the peak in the finished version. The construction of the bell mechanism isn't the same as Lego's, I'll need to do some experimenting to try get it to look right - however, the brick I've used offers a possible alternative.

I initially was pleased with this design... However, having come up with the next design, this initial version has lost a bit of its lustre.

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This configuration for the top of the panel is much more appealing, but is trickier to achieve as the 1x2 modified with arm up bricks don't seem to come in brown yet (at least, I wasn't able to locate any with Google or eBay), neither do 1x1 with Clip Horizontal on End, but 1x2 with Clip Horizontal on do come in the right shade of brown. An alternate option could also be achieved with a 1x1 tile modified with clip and some standard brown 1x1x3 or 1x2x3 bricks, or a 1x1 lamp holder/1x1 plate with ring, which could add a more ornamental look to the section.

Additional things to potentially consider (and I will be buying so I can try them out) would be to replace the 1x1 round plates with some 1x1 flower edge to make it look more like a carved detail, to add a 1x1 plate round with through hole to the light bulb's red transparent couple with stick. I've also considered adding a sloped base to the design (not part of the original, just something I'm considering). The light could also be moved onto the edge of the panel, as it appeared on the real one.

Both designs would necessitate the modification of the existing interior walls (as everything beneath the thin strips is made from a 6x5 panel, and would require a new one made of a variety of 1x1 and 1x2 blocks, as well as a 1x2 with four knobs.


What's also rather neat, is that some of the design concepts could be used to build a more accurate version of the rear wall to Venkman's office, however that's something I won't be able to look into until I have the Firehouse kit.

In the meantime, I'll start working on a parts list for the Alarm Panel.
Alex Newborn liked this
#4848897
Here's the parts list to build a the design I've had worked out so far:

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Note: The Parabola should be metallic gold.

I've got the parts on order so that I can build a more finalised version of the alarm board, from which I'll detail any tweaks I decide to implement to finish it off.
#4848916
I put the bricks from your parts list into LDD and played around with it.

What will keep the 6x6 plate vertical? The 1x2 with 4 studs you mentioned?

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Ignore the 1x8 plates at left and right. They're just a temporary way to put the round plates and tiles on the proper level.

Yeah, the 1x2 modified plate with the vertical arm (part 88072) doesn't seem to be made in reddish brown yet. It's not on Bricklink or in the LDD.

Alex
#4848928
Alex Newborn wrote:I put the bricks from your parts list into LDD and played around with it.

What will keep the 6x6 plate vertical? The 1x2 with 4 studs you mentioned?
Do you mean atop of the 4x6 plate, or against the wall? If it's against the wall, it'd be either a 1x4 with four studs on the side, or a 1x2 with two studs on the side.

As for the 1x2 modified plate with vertical arm, I may have someone come across a source for this via Brick Owl (I'll be curious to know where they came from if they're legit). I'll let you know if they're the right colour when they arrive. I can't recall if one of my orders includes 2 lamp holders in reddish brown, so I'll have to see how it goes, and if the modifications require them.

I forgot to include a 1x1 lever with a black base and light grey arm to the part's list for the bell hammer.
#4848947
After Alex pointed out the weird hybrid arcade game/pinball machine I decided to try to make something different.

When I converted my second Ecto-1 into 1A I had some extra parts left over. Until tonight they've just been in the box. I figured that's a good place to start. I ended up with this:

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The only parts that weren't from the Ecto set are the minifig and microphone/joystick. I borrowed that idea from the Dimensions Midway Arcade set.

It takes up a 3x4 footprint. I don't know if I'll keep it or modify it, but I figured it would be fun to share.
#4849041
I got most of parts in the post today (all bar the order specifically from Lego's Pick a Brick had arrived), and I'd already discovered I'd forgotten to include a third 1x4 reddish brown studless tile in my parts list (and in my order). I've also failed to find any reddish brown lampholders, so in their absence I'd recommend using some reddish brown 1x2 plate modified with horizontal clip on end to form the pitched section of the alarm panel.

However, I do have some good news to report. I was able to confirm that the 1x2 plate modified with arm up I received were genuine, and reddish brown, and having had a quick look on Brick Owl there were a few American sellers who had this brick in stock: Link

Hopefully some of the remaining parts will arrive tomorrow, giving me the chance to provide some photographs of a build. :)
#4849181
It's still missing a piece from the base, but as one of my brick orders arrived today, I was able to get the alarm panel (mostly) assembled:

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Here's where a bit of builder's preference comes in, depending on if you think the 1x1 round plates look good, or if the 1x1 round plate with tabs look more suitable.

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Another choice of preference: using either a grey or white 1x1 stud with hole for the base of the bulb, or not using one at all.

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There's still some room for tweaking, and I'm currently thinking about replacing the 2x2 tile and the 1x2 beneath it, near the top of the panel, with 1x3 tiles to improve the top of the structure as it's a little wobbly.

Meanwhile, I also took the opportunity to put together LEGO's design for the PKE:

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And I also played around with an alternate idea for the Containment Unit lights:

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