Talk about stuff that has nothing to do with Ghostbusters!
By Boomerjinks
#24864
I did it. With the Ecto finally more-or-less 100% at-long-last totally "completed" in early spring, I went out and laid the foundation for my next movie car.

On Saturday I bought a 1990 Jeep Wrangler.... and hopefully sometime in July it will have made it's transition from this:
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to this:
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I've got a lot of work to do, work that is completely unlike anything I did while building the ecto. I've got to swap out the rollbars, replace a side mirror, and completely strip all the paint. I'll sell the tires I have on there and replace them with the stock set the dealer gave me, buy new seat covers, and generally restore the whole vehicle.

The mechanical parts of the jeep (engine, transmission, etc) are all in perfect working order, so at least I don't have to worry about that part of the restoration.

Some little fiddly bits that will be part of the car:
Raptor claw hanging from the mirror, combination-lock waterproof crates in the back that store Jurassic Park raincoats in case of weather, a crate with flares and other survival gear from the movie, mock-up nightvision goggles, and my personal favorite, a mosquito-in-amber shifter knob.

I'll make maps of Isla Nublar and I'd like to build a mock-up tranquilizer gun to store along one of the rollbars... but the challenge I am most excited about is finding a way to produce a very very loud, very very high-quality t-rex roar as the car's horn. I assume it'll be a combination of a bullhorn and subs mounted somewhere inside the frame.

Of course I've already scoured eBay for all the cool Jurassic Park merch, like keychains, maps, resin raptor claws, park patches, etc.

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So yeah.. here we go!
By RoboProp
#24950
I saw that jeep (and the Ford Explorer) up close and personal at Universal Studios back in the 90's .

All the graphics on the cars (stripes and all) is vinal and not paint.

Darrin
By secrecyguy
#24997
RoboProp wrote: I saw that jeep (and the Ford Explorer) up close and personal at Universal Studios back in the 90's .

All the graphics on the cars (stripes and all) is vinal and not paint.

Darrin


That's what I noticed the last time I saw it. I guess they did it to save money.
By RoboProp
#25007
secrecyguy wrote: That's what I noticed the last time I saw it. I guess they did it to save money.


Yep, it's all about the money.

Example : A buddy of mine worked on the Batmobile in Batman Forever. He said the fiberglass was so thin in certain areas that the internal neon lighting would illuminate parts of the underbody. The solution was to spread clay under those areas from underneith to keep the light out.

The car looked great on film but in reality was so brittle and flimsy that it couldn't survive the riggors of heavy use. In some of the scenes, the car was being pushed from off camera.

Darrin
User avatar
By jhsanny
#25025
The jeep thing will be great, Boomer. You didn't by chance get an extra set of wheels, the kind they used on the jeep in the movie, did you? I might be able to help you out with locating those (unless you're not interested, or already have), as I work for Chrysler. Just let me know!
By Boomerjinks
#25027
jhsanny wrote: The jeep thing will be great, Boomer. You didn't by chance get an extra set of wheels, the kind they used on the jeep in the movie, did you? I might be able to help you out with locating those (unless you're not interested, or already have), as I work for Chrysler. Just let me know!


I actually do have a set of 5 stock wheels, so we're good to go there.

I spent last weekend completely clearing out the garage and getting rid of all my excess ecto-construction crap, keeping some frames and tanks we'd made as spares, along with a giant bucket of greebles that I never got around to using.

I have a 5-day weekend coming up the 28th through the 3rd, and I am hoping to knock this thing out during that time. Til then I'll be prepping the jeep, taking off doors and lights and sanding the crap out of them. This is going to be so unbelievably hard and fun and awesome!

So... with luck, the paint will be done by the fourth!
User avatar
By jhsanny
#25029
Good deal. Well, the offer still stands if you discover any parts you need are O.E.M. from Jeep. Good luck, and keep us posted! 8)
By Boomerjinks
#25030
What I really need is a set of rollbars that matches the type in the movie... I think they changed the style in 1992 or 1993, but I can't seem to find a set for sale anywhere.
User avatar
By jhsanny
#25060
Neat! And quite possibly one of the most disgusting looking things I've ever seen..with an imagination in place, that is. :lol:
By Boomerjinks
#25122
A little... I say little... bit of progress:

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Sanding paint off the hood, roughing out the clearcoat. At first I was of the impression that I had to get the entire car down to bare metal. This disheartened me because I did not think I'd be able to get it all done before friday. Then Josiah, my painting mentor, came over and told me that the car really only needs to by splotchy and smooth, for the primer. What a relief!

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The car before taking off the fender flares. I think it looks awesome without the rollcage. I've always wanted to have an old willys to paint green with a big white star on it's hood. Then Austin could dress as a soldier and I could wear a generals uniform and ride around with my arms crossed all the time.

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"Lots of people love the EctoJeep because of my enginuity and my 'thinking outside the box' just because it's new and different." Hey we're going to take the paint off of it anyway!

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Ah yes, these came in the mail the other day, along with some old Jurassic Park key chains. The raptor claw originally looked like this:
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It looked okay, but I wanted it to be smaller, sharper, and more menacing. Plus I wanted to be able to fit it between my fingers and scare little kids without pulling guns on them. Ahem. So I dremmeled it down and painted it. I need to respray it a flatter color, methinks. This will be hanging from the rearview mirror in the finished car.

Will (or as you know him, Benwahballboy) is making the vector art for the logo I'll be puting on the doors. He sent me an unfinished version today (the holes in the trees at the bottom were missing), and while I work I made this little thing, I figure we'll put it on a few tshirts or something...
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That's all for now, more later.

Thoughts?
By Boomerjinks
#25261
Current status of the Jeep:

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We'll fix some bondo damage tonight, and prime it tomorrow... it's weird actually being on schedulue for a project O.o
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By jhsanny
#25419
Heck the base color is already about the same anyway now.. You might as well just get a can of red primer to do the stripes, sand it all down to a smooth finish afterwards. Then you just shoot some pearly clear coat over it and BAM! - ghetto bling Jurassic Park ride!
By Boomerjinks
#25580
Well, the paint job is done. I have some wicked orange peel texture in front of the windshield and two or three runs which I'll have to wet-sand down this weekend... but other than that, the hard part is over!

Masked and ready to go. I spent so much time figuring out ratios for the stripes size, and laying under the wheels with a protractor trying to get the angles just right. Goddamn!
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End result. It's not perfect, but it is a VERY pretty 17-year old Jeep!
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The shiny new paint job is complimented by the brand-new lighting gear that came with it. On the jeeps in the movie, there is a small orange light above the main tail lights. I am debating whether or not I should forgo that and instead outfit the rear lights with little protective cages. As of now, they'll stay as-is simply because they look so good.
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Back at home after a rather interesting 3-mile night drive. The bolts on the hood are temporary until I get around to painting them flat black.
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Handsome stripes.
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Tomorrow looks like it will be spent wetsanding and prepping the inside of the jeep for rhino coating. I may also drop off the vector art for the logos at the shop where I got my Ghostbuster graphics.

Thoughts?
By Boomerjinks
#25672
Rhino coating of the interior of the jeep is done, with flat black that will contrast very very handsomely with the gray seats. My day off tomorrow will be spent buffing down the gloss, ordering logos and graphics, shopping for replacement rubber stripping, turn signal bulbs, fender flares, and possibly similar wheels. I've gots a lots to dos!
By Boomerjinks
#25676
AJ Quick wrote: How much to Rhino line? Any special precoating prep for that?


How you mean?

I bought 5 spray cans and just coated everything, the floor, the walls, the transmission hump. With one or two coats it comes out fairly smooth, but with a definite texture. It looks great. For prepping I did minor, MINOR (like, 5 minutes worth) of degreasing the corners and stuff, didn't really get any of it off. The coating just goes on light spray paint and hardens in about 5 minutes. The stuff costs about $6 a can, for a really big can. I have one can left after doing the whole thing.
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