User avatar
By Naptime
#4873243
So a few years ago I got it into my head that I wanted a proton pack. Maybe it had to do with the 30th Anniversary of Ghostbusters, maybe it was because I was on the road away from my family and I was feeling nostalgic, maybe it was because I was entering mid-life crisis, I dunno. In any case after creeping the boards and reading about a lot of fantastic pack builds (none of which I thought I could ever afford) I went and scratch built a pack made out of foam core. You can follow the link in my signature if you wish. I was proud of what I had accomplished: it was semi-accurate, I had built it with my own two hands, AND it was a smash hit on Halloween. That being said, there were certain limitations to my pack. Yes, it was lightweight, but that came at the expense of durability. I knew it would never stand up to the demands of a Con, or party - I also knew I REALLY wanted it to light up and make noise (oh to have that steady thrumming sound of a powered up unlicensed nuclear accelerator on my back) but I was (and remain) incompetent at any sort of electronic wizardry. Despite this, I was still pretty chuffed with what I had done. I had also scratch built a ghost trap and a couple of pairs of ecto-goggles (you can follow the link for the goggles in my signature too!). But what next?

Over the course of the last few weeks, I've been slowly procuring parts for a more accurate GB1 hero pack! I was lucky enough to snag one of Pchrisbosh1's most excellent fiberglass shells which arrived in the mail a few days ago, as did a beautiful GB1 ribbon cable from Sephiroth. Based on the advice of PssdffJay and Pchrisbosh1, I've gone to Freeky Geeky (the inimitable Umoribawar) for all the aluminum parts (booster tube, ppd, hga, ion arm, etc. etc.) and I've placed an order with the gbfans shop for a bunch of the greebles. I'm also planning on using Nick-a-tron's new hero bumper and booster frame. The plan is to hunt/gather parts over the summer and start my build in the fall. Once I figure out how to post pics, I will, so bear with me as I try to figure out how not to ruin this beautiful shell.
Last edited by Naptime on July 22nd, 2016, 8:34 am, edited 2 times in total.
Sephiroth, Willbuster83, alphabeta001 and 2 others liked this
#4873244
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The shell & ribbon cable are the first components of my build!

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Here's a sneak peek of the pchrisbosh1 fibreglass shell. Under there is also an aluminum mobo!

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Sweet GB1 ribbon cable from Sephiroth!
#4873461
Thanks, VS! I've always appreciated your support! Hope you're doing well!
#4873462
Subscribed! Looking forward to this!
Naptime liked this
#4873463
bishopdonmiguel wrote:Subscribed! Looking forward to this!
Haha! You have no idea how many times I've gone over your pack build! I'm also using your magnet system for my leg hose. I can only hope I do half as well as your builds!
#4873468
Naptime wrote:Haha! You have no idea how many times I've gone over your pack build! I'm also using your magnet system for my leg hose. I can only hope I do half as well as your builds!
That's very nice of you to say but as the guy who already built a kick-ass scratch foam pack, I think you'll do just fine and I'll be taking notes on you're awesome build here.
Naptime liked this
#4873902
GohstTarp wrote:I've always thought the pchrisbosh1 fibreglass shells looked beautiful... nice choice! Looking forward to more updates... and I have to say... that Sephiroth GB1 ribbon cable looks great!
Thanks for the kind words! The shell is a beauty! Can't wait to get started. The hardest part is waiting as all these lovely pieces arrive a package at a time! I got wind of Sephiroth's sweet sweet GB1 ribbon cable via PssdffJay and it's really awesome. Looking forward to putting a twist in it and mounting it on my pack!

I also have to say how great it is to get encouragement from members of this forum such as yourself, bishopdonmiguel, Venkman's Swagger, Grimmy et. al! I've spent countless hours pouring over your respective builds and have learned so much from you all - it's been an invaluable resource. I'm looking forward to hearing what you all think of my build and will no doubt be leaning on all of you for advice in the weeks to come!
#4874102
Hammer wrote:This will be a great build! Anxious to see it come together.
Thanks! Me too. Those parts can't come fast enough, even though I won't have time to start building until the fall!
#4874103
OCP_Model-001 wrote:Your off to a great start already, good luck man ;)
Thank you! I'm in AWE of your aluminum scratch pack build! Those are serious skills you have!!!
OCP_Model-001 liked this
User avatar
By Naptime
#4876943
Small update: a few items have been arriving over the last couple of weeks:

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Dale RH25 resistors via eBay.

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Dale RH50 resistors. I'm going to have to dremel off the white bits.

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Vintage Dale PH-25 "no ring" variant resistors & vintage Raytheon crank knob via westies14.

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A couple of blue brick DC 12V 9800mAh super rechargeable portable Li-on batteries via eBay.

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Bar Graph Bezel, Wand Tip Expansion, Strobe Light, Vent Relay board & a Motorola MT-500, all from the amazing Spongeface.

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A full set of GB1 screen accurate key fobs from Tyger Cheex. They're so pretty I wanted to include them in this thread.
alphabeta001 liked this
User avatar
By Naptime
#4876975
Thanks, Brother! It's been fun having the packages arrive with the little goodies over the last few weeks. I've ordered a bunch of stuff through the GBfans shop but they keep pushing back the shipping date! At least 3 times my order has been marked as "shipping soon" only to be pushed back to a later date. I'm glad I placed my order as early as I did - looks like they're putting together all my orders into one massive one to ship out :)

I'm also looking forward to getting a bunch of sweet aluminum parts from Freeky Geeky (aka Umoribawar) including his full thrower with pop mech, Nickatron's newly sculpted hero bumper, JoeLuna33's metal labels and a light kit from Crix for my trap.

Can't wait to start my build next month!
User avatar
By Naptime
#4877161
GohstTarp wrote:Ohhhh! Some nice parts! Looks like a vent relay is in there. Does that mean there will be a Vent Mech in your future? Looking forward to seeing these parts come together.
You betcha! Which reminds me - I have to order an e-cig device from Fincher technologies! Thanks!
User avatar
By Naptime
#4878564
More parts keep arriving, but I have yet to receive anything from the GBfans shop. It's been more than a month since I placed my orders & the shipping dates keep getting pushed. I'm getting anxious because I'm almost finished my work for the summer and I only have a small window of opportunity to work on my build. That's one thing I keep forgetting when I read about everyone else's build: how much time it takes from ordering, receiving, fitting, and installing the various parts! Patience is indeed a large part of pack building!!!
In the meantime, here's some other items that have come in:

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Was lucky enough to snag a couple of authentic ITT RM833212 with sockets!

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And because I loved his key fobs so much, I ordered Tyger Cheex's gizmo holder & PKE holster. I can't say enough about how excellent Rich's work is - and he's FAST! I've placed two orders from him and gotten them within a week of ordering. Amazing.

The only problem with his gizmo holder is that it's so nice, I am seriously thinking about picking up Spongeface's gizmo kit to go with it. It's a slippery slope!

I placed an order for nstevic's Deluxe Spengler plates with the aux audio jack & blue brick wiring set. Man, I thought Tyger Cheex was fast! By the time I finished corresponding with him, I received a tracking # for my order! Damn, I LOVE excellent communication skills and processing times. So professional! I'm expecting his plate to arrive today or tomorrow. Thank you, Nathan!

I'm expecting Nickatron's booster frame, gun grips, resin crank knob (for my foam core pack) & new hero bumper to arrive next week too.

Things I've ordered that I'm still waiting for:

Metal labels from JoeLuna33
Trap Light kit from Crix
Greeblies, hoses, cables, couplers, lenses, stickers, clippards, etc. From the shop.
Aluminum parts & thrower from Freeky Geeky.
By PssdffJay
#4879610
Sorry for being late to the party! Just found your thread going back through some threads and now subscribed!

Yes, definitely get Doug's gizmo kit, it's what got me into the prop side of my Ghostbuster addiction and how I found Gbfans. I saw a picture of one online or on a YouTube video, I can't remember, and immediately had to search for one and the rest is history.
Naptime, canpara liked this
User avatar
By Naptime
#4879637
Hey Jay! Thanks for swinging by and thanks again for the awesome hockey puck spacers! This is what I love about this community: so many members willing to help each other out - with parts, advice and support! The generosity is outstanding.

I've gone ahead and ordered the full gizmo kit from Spongeface (there really was no choice :)) and I've also ordered a trap pedal kit from Charlesworth Dynamics on Etsy and an MK2 trap kit from Nickatron. Sigh. Waiting for parts to arrive is a dangerous thing for me...

The great news is I got my first two shipments from the shop! Aaannnd I finally received Crix's trap light kit. Pics to follow because I have to use my phone!
User avatar
By Naptime
#4879678
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Awesome hockey puck spacers from Jay! I also picked up a stubby antenna for my MT-500.

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Used my credit card points to pick these speakers up for free. They're only 4 Ohms so they might not work with the GBfans sound board. I've ordered some 8 Ohm speakers just in case.

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Speaking of which (get it? Huh? Huh?! I'm here all week folks, try the veal) here's the GBfans sound board!

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I was happy this finally came in! It's not everything I need, but it's got a lot: most importantly, the light kits for the pack & wand.

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Here's what was inside!

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And now the obligatory "parts I've accumulated so far" picture.

Things I'm still waiting for:
Aluminum parts & thrower from Freeky Geeky
Aluminum labels from JoeLuna33
Assorted greeblies & hoses from GBfans shop
canpara liked this
#4879695
You can wire the 4 ohm speakers in series for 8 ohms or the 8 ohm speakers in parallel for 4 ohms.
canpara liked this
User avatar
By Naptime
#4879696
PssdffJay wrote:That's exciting! Did you get a mother board with your shell?
Yes. The edges were still a little sharp, so I left it in the shipping box.
User avatar
By Naptime
#4879697
Venkman's Swagger wrote:Man i love the "parts" shot
Thanks, brother! I'm excited to get started!
User avatar
By Naptime
#4879698
bishopdonmiguel wrote:You can wire the 4 ohm speakers in series for 8 ohms or the 8 ohm speakers in parallel for 4 ohms.
Really? I must look this up. It's all witchcraft to me!

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