Post pics of work in progress or to your fan art here on Ghostbusters Fans.
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By midmanc82
#4847790
Hi all, my name is Ant from Manchester UK. I am no stranger to visiting this site however I have only just signed up to be a member so I'd like to say a big Hi to all, the posts I have read on here over the years (yes years!) have led me to believe there are for the most part really nice people on here always offering help when people have asked for it and some of the talents of you prop builders out there and others who build their dioramas and custom stuff have been amazing to look at :)

Now I have a great many hobbies, I'm a tattoo artist by profession so generally I love drawing, painting and generally getting creative in my spare time which brings me to the other reason i wanted to post this topic.

I love collecting figures e.g the mattel 6" ghostbuster figures, also stuff like necas movie line figures, ninja turtles stuff etc i could go on as my collection is huge and spans 2 display cases and 3 dioramas i have built along with a 4th on the way.
Sorry if this seems long winded, I will try and get to the point! Ok as youve prob guessed with collecting figs and what I've just mentioned i love building display sets/dioramas for them. I'm not sure if i can upload pics of my prev dio's here as i think i need to pay a membership fee?
Anyway I've seen a couple of guys post links here to certain albums on facebook so if you'd like to see some of the ones Ive done so far plz feel free to check them out here and please let me know if you have trouble getting a look at the album, I'm not sure if I've got a privacy setting on it. the link is https://www.facebook.com/ant.odonnell.7 ... 512&type=3

Ok so ill try and cut the rambling now lol. I want to make a ghostbusters firehouse, interior and exterior and i am confident i can do it reasonably well to display my mattel line, I've seen some fantastic pieces on here of the gozer temple and one of the outside firestation and credit to you guys, they really are amazing!

Anyway because i want to do interior and exterior i wanted to try something a little different to the kind of dios I've made before, i intend to make this based on the same principle as a dolls house, so the roof will be hinged to open from the top and also on wall too, prob the right hand side one that doesn't look like it has much in the line of furniture or obstacles stacked against it i.e the stairs, the lockers etc.

I will be using the ghostbusters video game for reference as its basically an interactive guide as to everything i need to include plus there are some cool additions like slimers "tank" which i think would be worth adding etc. One of my main questions id like to ask would be what ecto 1 model would look the best sat inside the firehouse without looking silly next to the figures?

I believe mattel were due to bring a 1/12 scale model out for the actual figures but due to poor pre order numbers they dropped it so ive been looking at the 1/25 scale that you have to build up yourself from a kit, would anybody be able to shed some light on this? im terrible with the scale refs lol so would this size look ok or stupid with my figures?

Haha ok i think ive rambled on enough so if anyone can give me the heads up on this that would be great, also im going to look at paying the membership so i can upload pics and get your opinions, i do welcome constructive criticism and I'm pretty new to this type of hobby so please do feel free to say if you think there's something i can do better :) thanks to all of you who took the time to read this and hope to hear from one of you guys soon
Ant
Last edited by Kingpin on November 9th, 2015, 4:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.Reason: Added paragraph breaks to break up the block of text
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By Kingpin
#4847803
Ant, welcome aboard! :) It's always good to see more British Ghostheads here. :)

Regarding uploading images, you don't need to buy a Supporting Membership to do so. What you'll need is an online host, like Photo Bucket, where you can upload the images, and then link to them when you create a post, using the IMG tags.

You diorama idea sounds very promising, and there are people who've had similar ideas in the past (someone build a scale Firehouse replica about 15 years or so ago (sadly I don't think there are any photos of that here, but I'll check).

As memory serves, the Real Ghostbusters Ecto-1 is roughly around the right scale for the Mattel figures, however obviously it would need customisation to make it look more like the car from the movie.
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By midmanc82
#4847821
thanks for the reply kingpin and its great to be aboard :) yes i have been looking at the old style ones, i think ebay is rapidly becoming my friend of late which is dangerous this side of xmas ;p Thanks for the heads up though, surely some loving family member will give me a few quid for xmas! :) and i will be sure to look into photobucket too, thanks again :)
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By midmanc82
#4848029
okie doke ive just finished (pretty much) my ninja turtles rooftop diorama, im just waiting on the last coat of primer to dry before i give it the proper coat and then i can stick it on and that ones put to bed so now im getting my planning head on for my firehouse dio, im trying my utmost to get this right and its going to be a mahoosive project as im essentially using the same principal as a dolly house (not very bad ass for a tattooist i know but its ghostbusters, surely we can let it slide just this once), anyway, because this is just a basic hobby of mine ive never really bothered with too much on the planning side other than a few crude scribbles and using my figures as a height guide but i think this is gonna require a bit more forward thinking so it does'nt end up looking daft if im ever lucky enough to build/own a 1/12 scale ecto 1 and its massive.anyway, i sorted out a photobucket account so i have a few pics of prev builds to have a nosey at Image
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By midmanc82
#4848163
Thank you very muchly Farah, I've just finished my latest build so I'm pretty much ready to make a start on the GB HQ, here's a pic of the latest dio for anyone out there interested :)

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Ok so I've gotten most of the bits I need to make the base structure, floor, back, sides etc and a good few dowels at diff sizes to make the columns which will be holding up the first floor and also will be using a couple for the 2 poles they slide down.

Todays job will be marking the areas of the floor plan so I know what I'm putting where and getting it all to fit and position comfortably. I aim to make this as accurate as possible but the likelihood is that it isn't going to be bang on, probably far from it but I'm fairly confident I can make it look decent enough to display my mattel collection.

During the build of my stepsons ninja turtles lair I attempted making the furniture out of foam board, some things worked out really well buuuuuut sadly foam breaks easily especially when making tables and chairs with thin legs so with this one I will be buying some doll house furniture, as best a match as I can find just to make this look that little bit more authentic looking. Anything I do have a crack at making myself I'll make from whatever wood I can get my mitts on from hobbycraft.

Was debating on including the basement as I think the ecto containment unit that came with my walter peck would look really good against that sort of backdrop but decided against including it with this particular dio purely on the basis that sometimes I might like to display my figures (or at least some of them) outside the building in front of the fire house doors, maybe with ecto-1 parked halfway through the doors and to have a basement level it just wouldn't look right... but im certainly not against making another dio in the future, solely for re creating the scene where peck shuts the grid down and blows the top of the fire house roof off ;)

Anyway, I'll post a couple of pics by the end of the day to show all where I get up to :)
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By midmanc82
#4848339
Thank you again farah, here are some pics of my GB firehouse up to now :)

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By Kingpin
#4848356
As a note, although they turned it into a set of support pillars holding up the staircase, in the movie the wall that separate the stairs to the Basement from the rest of the engine bay was solid, and decorated with the same tile work adorning the rest of the room.
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By midmanc82
#4848358
Hi again kingpin, funny you should mention that, i have been comparing the film version to the video game one and i did notice that as i am about to start marking out the back wall to make the staircase, what I intend to do is to save a little space in the firehouse by putting the little ecto containment tank that houses slimer in the game version mostly under the stairs to semi prop the stairs up as they kind go up diagonal, then they have an extended horizontal bit before resuming up so hopefully i can get that tank to sit flush and act as an extra support etc.

Its not going to be the most accurate build in the world, some other notable diffs between the game version and the movie version is the little kitchenette, in the movie (the first one at least) there is no noticeable kitchen area however in the game version there is one on the left hand side of the doorway to the sleeping area, the other side are the 2 arcade machines and the pinball machine. Now when marking out the upper floor i was struggling to fit the kitchen as it looks in the game and found myself imagining cutting the built in dishwasher out, putting the fridge freezer elsewhere etc however the back wall of the upper level has nothing but junky looking items like metal shelving with tons of film reels and whatnot. I have decided I would rather have a full kitchenette than cut bits off so I've decided to house that against the back wall instead of the film reels.

One thing i did think of in terms of actually finding somewhere to house this display (it is huge!), I have a black plastic shelving unit that I can split into 2 parts, I'll be doing that so my firehouse can sit on the top which also leaves me with 2 empty spaces underneath the firehouse so I'm thinking.... taddaaaaaa! instant basement and more storage space for my now almost complete mattel collection.

In other news from Antworld, I have pre ordered my diamond select wave 1 and from what I've seen and read online there is an amazing looking gozer temple dio that comes piece by piece with each figure, it really does look good and I'm pretty sure most ppl reading this has already seen it, however some of the actual figures.... I don't dislike but I think the mattel ones are a better likeness. Well some of them I meant, winston isnt as good as the matty one, I think the ray looks pretty good and I think the louis tully is shockingly bad, at least in my opinion anyway. But I simply have to have them and I'm hoping the gozer temple when built fits on top of my firehouse, again not even close to film accuracy but as far as a general ghostbusters display area goes I think it would look cool in my man cave ;p

In fact kingpin, whats your honest opinion, mattel havent made a janine (yet, not sure where they stand now with the DS line coming out) but the janine from the upcoming DS line looks pretty damn good, she is however an inch bigger than my matty ones, I'd really like to include her in this dio, do you think she will look daft?
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By redfive1973
#4848363
Sweet!
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By midmanc82
#4848383
Thanks Red, soon as my son goes to bed I'll be making a start on marking out the staircase :) Im very near to completing my mattel figures and couldnt resist getting them out of my display cabinet for a play with them, also snapped a few pics just for fun, am awaiting 3 deliveries next week, my slime blower ray, ready to believe you ray and my courtroom egon which im super excited about :)

Actually getting the new egon has worked out saving me money as it happens, thought it would be worth a mention, he comes with all sorts of bits n bobs that will come in handy, he comes with a toaster, radio, gb2 mug, magnifying glass, slime ladle and another 2 biuts, i think giger meter and some other bit of handheld tech which will look good in the firehouse, it saves me buying a 1/12 scale doll house toaster, radio etc :)

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haha just for fun, couldnt resist!
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By midmanc82
#4848435
Hi folks, I've just found something I think will look pretty damn swish for the top of my GB fire house dio, they are battery operated so no need to go drilling unnecessary holes in my model and can just sit on the top of where i plan to have an opening on the roof top, let me know what you guys think!

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Also big thanks joe, truth be told you are actually my main inspiration for making this build, your firehouse front looks amazing!
By redfive1973
#4848439
They are cheap enough to get several packs for various uses. Have a few packs myself for various projects. Always want the smallest battery pack can find. I started off with a D cell pack and that was really hard to blend into the costume. Had used a pack for my belt gizmo.
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By joeghostbuster
#4848476
midmanc82 wrote:Also big thanks joe, truth be told you are actually my main inspiration for making this build, your firehouse front looks amazing!
think you have me confused with someone else, the only firehouse I ever made was for the minimates, and that was like 5 years ago - I have tossed around the idea of making a scale firehouse for the 6" matty figures but it never happened. plus living in a trailer, something like that would take up a huge amount of space and my living room is already small as it is :D
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By midmanc82
#4848480
aaaah shit sorry mate lol, i saw a false front dio somewhere made out of foam and i always wanted to have a crack at that sort of thing ever since, im going to be uploading some more pics of my progress in a mo, we now have fire poles!!! :)))
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By midmanc82
#4848482
Okie doke, some new pics for you guys, we now have holes made for fire poles, have glued some support beams for the underside of second floor and stairs and slimer tank are fully marked out

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ok i need advice on the above pic, i have 2 sizes of craft sticks for the upper floor floorboards, which do you think is best, this one?....

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... or this one? obviously i will be squaring each end off so they look right, in honesty looking at them both i think im swaying to the smaller ones and maybe staining them slightly darker with some sort of laquer or varnish

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ok so while i wait for my second floor support beams to stick properly im browsing 1/12 scale staircase spindles, on the game, films and even the comics they are metal with a couple of swirls. I am going to be super lazy and buy some from ebay but i cant find anything even remotely close so im going with some centurion style ones which do resemble the upper floor stairwell surround. I may start cutting the bits out for the stairs today too but my son is complaining about my noise making so i may start cutting out the interior foam core to size instead :)
By redfive1973
#4848517
Really coming together.
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By joeghostbuster
#4848519
midmanc82 wrote:aaaah shit sorry mate lol, i saw a false front dio somewhere made out of foam and i always wanted to have a crack at that sort of thing ever since, im going to be uploading some more pics of my progress in a mo, we now have fire poles!!! :)))
now that you mention it, I do remember taking a picture of a quick firehouse facade I drew on foamcore, I forgot I posted it here, and no idea where that picture exists now (the foamcore is long gone, it never went further then the sketch)
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By midmanc82
#4848526
hey there red & joe, aye its def coming along nicely, i could'nt sleep last night so ended up working on it til around 3am, sadly at that time i cant do much on the practical side other than foam carving but i ended up marking the whole front of the fire house onto the actual wood so i knew where and what i was cutting out of it today, have cut the doorway out and am now filing the edges neat so i should be able to throw up a couple more pics later on along with a mock up of it all together with all the cut outs and firepoles etc, I always find it enthusing when i can see how its all looking built up :)

Hows the WW2 build coming along?

Yeah Joe, I found something on here actually and it said you had posted it, it was a firehouse facade but was for the matty 6" figures but maybe you just found the pic somewhere and posted it? It did look really good though, i knew as soon as i saw it i needed to make something like that for mine :)
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By midmanc82
#4848528
okie doke, heres last nights and this mornings progress

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By Kingpin
#4848541
Coming along nicely, even reminds me of the foam mock-up in Making Ghostbusters. :)

If I may make a suggestion? If you haven't already got it, it might be worth getting some brass tubing for the Firepoles, that'd look much more authentic than painting those dowels. :)
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By midmanc82
#4848634
Absolutely kingpin, an awesome suggestion and as a matter of fact i was actually pricing up paint the other day and its gonna cost me £15 minimum for brass spray paint yet its like a fiver for a couple of the brass tubing you mentioned, its a no brainer really lol

I think i know the foam mock up you mean, I saved it as a reference on my firehouse project folder, although I've been following the video game as closely as I can I have been checking on some of the film stills to see what i think i can get away with mixing and matching the two interior layouts. I have managed to work in a space to cut out for the eventual basement level, as long as i remember to cut the hole in the base then I am free to add the basement as soon as I get the display unit sorted for it :)

My plans with this build today will probably be cutting the stairs out and poss gluing them all together, the staircase spindles I have seen have square bases so i will have no need to drill small holes in each step beforehand, they aren't metal ones like in the film but they will at least match the barrier that runs around the top level of the staircase.

What I might do later is fire up a few pics of the bits and bobs I intend to buy in for this project, stuff like 1/12 arcade machines, dollhouse bits n bobs etc just to give an idea of how authentic (or not lol) I can get this interior actually looking, all thoughts are welcome, if something looks a bit crappy by all means let me know and I will look for other bits instead :)
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By midmanc82
#4848651
start of staircase, once this is done ill prob finish cutting the windows out of the front of the station :) obvs stairs are going to be painted

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haha excuse the background mess my son made with his toys
By redfive1973
#4848681
Coming along really nice. Giving me ideas on making my own dios.
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By midmanc82
#4848686
hey there red and thanks for the nice comm' :)
I've just been on a mini spend spree on ebay actually, I have just ordered 1000 lolly/craft sticks to do the upstairs flooring and a walnut wood stain to give them a darker tone, I am going to be looking forward to squaring off each end of all those haha :p

also ordered my staircase spindles today so I will be finishing off my stairway steps today, painting them and hopefully gluing them all together so its more or less all ready for the painting and sticking of said spindles. all that will be left for that side of things will be some bannister rails and a balsa wood cover for the outside steps to give it that neat and finished look which i will also stain walnut.

once staircase is completely cut, stuck together and painted i will be making the interior partition wall to the sleeping area before the long lollipop stick task of flooring, boo hoooooooooo.... actually i could do with drilling out and filing the windows on the front of the 'station, might do that while waiting for the stair paint to dry.

Also finally, as per kingpins suggestion i now have 2 brass rods at the desired size in my basket on ebay, will need to wait to wait a couple of weeks for that purchase so any mock ups i make of this build will feature the dowels i have used prev'

heres a few pics anyway just to whet anyones appetite till i can get the finished staircase up on here

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also found these which i think will be great for venkmans office :) gonna be a bit before i order these though

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By midmanc82
#4848714
staircase all stuck together pre paint and obvs waiting now for spindles to arrive :) in the meantime im going to make the ecto containment tank for resident ghost slimer

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By Kingpin
#4848727
Are you going to use static, non-functional lights for the room, or have you considered using some appropriate wired dolls house fittings?

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