- January 5th, 2020, 1:34 pm#4929787
Please forgive me if I butcher this post as I have never done a build thread before. I also did not have a build thread in mind when I was taking photos, so the photos provided are kind of random. And this is going to be an all in one post because the goggles are done, so no updates will be made to this post (unless I do something to the goggles later, at which point I guess I can post an update…). This all started many moons ago with a build I did using a real AN/PVS-5 night vision goggle frame. For the optics I used pieces of PVC pipe and conduit. They actually turned out really, really well. My head strap was pretty much screen accurate for a set of ‘84 goggles, and were the only piece salvageable from a really bad goggle kit I got from a now blacklisted seller off of eBay. This all happened, oh, 15 years or so ago. Right about the time I got those finished, several people started making metal optics for goggles, and I wanted a set of “real” goggles, so I purchased another AN/PVS-5 frame and sold my original pair to help fund this build. But first, I got a real job. Then I started dating a girl. Then I got a second real job. Then I moved. Then I lost my second job. Then I got another real second job. Then I married the girl, moved again, quit my second job, moved again, had a kid, bought a house and moved again, got another second job, quit the second job, had another kid, changed real jobs, remodeled the house, got a dog, and purchased a few cars in there somewhere. Then I started working on the goggles.
Going into this build I knew one thing, these were probably not going to be screen accurate. I mean, to a point, yes. But not completely. These goggles were never intended to be in a display case as a museum quality reproduction of a pair of Ecto Goggles. They were being built to be carried and used as a prop for my franchise. There are some subtle, and some not so subtle differences between the goggles used in the first and second films. The obvious difference being the optics used. I preferred the look of the optics in the first film, so that is what I wanted on mine. However, in the second film they used the surplus head strap and the face pad. For practicality, I wanted to use those. In my head canon, as well as other canon, the Ghostbusters regularly repurpose already existing tech to make their equipment. So, I believe that Egon and Ray fabricated the goggles with a pair of night vision goggles as the base and didn’t build them from scratch. With that in mind, its easy to assume that they could and would use other surplus parts in their builds. After not having the padding on my original build and knowing how “comfortable” that was, I decided to use the surplus face pad. I also preferred the ability to adjust my head strap as needed, so I purchased a surplus head strap as well.
Here are the only two pictures I took of the frame before I started the build. They were missing the large decal on the side, so that was going to have to be replaced. And the top button for the head strap was missing, so I made a jig to hold the goggles and hammered on a snap I had laying around because I was too cheap to go buy a single black snap and a snap attaching gun tool thing for this one project. Also, the rubber hange/fastener/anti-loosing strap for the battery cover was completely rotted away, so I used a hobby knife and scraped the remaining crud out from between the cap and the nub. Good enough for me.
23559655_10211281071286037_1779019134114724457_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
23517422_10211281070846026_3058857922165028196_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
My first purchase in 15 or so years for this build was the head strap and face pad. Strangely, despite the stiffener in the pad to help hold it’s shape, the pad seems like it has shrunk over the years. No matter how I install the thing, there is always one snap that can not reach it’s mate. Oh well. My only real complaint is the floppy ends on the head strap because they are, well, floppy. I will probably get off my butt some day and make 3 little elastic retention bands for it.
37214068_10212967475925099_8488964888738136064_o by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
37085255_10212967476725119_177884969736077312_o by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Then my Brother-In- Law decided to get married and have the ceremony in a state that no family from either side lives in, so I got to go on a little vacation. When I got back, these were stuffed in my mail box. Easily the best part of the whole trip. These optics were purchased from the GBFans store, and they are absolutely amazing. Whoever fabricates these for the store, two thumbs up!!
57882324_10214786011027340_2056578539171348480_o by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Test fitting the optics to the frame. *drool
57486254_10214787176816484_4173506157740032000_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
57568371_10214787176656480_6228787144341585920_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Then it came time to paint. For the face plate, I took my frame to Lowes and had them scan it with the paint matcher scanner machine thing, and purchased a tiny sample pot of paint that will last me a dozen lifetimes, or until the paint becomes solid. The only problem I ran into was that my airbrush would NOT shoot this paint unless I thinned it down to colored water, and that did me no good. So, I brushed it on. The pic shown is of the first coat and it looked like crap. After 3 coats the brush strokes were pretty much gone, and the color matched a lot more. It is now a 100% color match 50% of the time, just depends on what light they are under. As for painting the optics, I used some painters tape, a piece of cardboard, and a rattle can. For something that was so painfully sad to paint because they were so beautiful in their natural state, I really didn’t give them much love in hindsight…
60975645_10215011888234129_1131198242923479040_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61136374_10215011888034124_4241583038649073664_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61406263_10215017212647236_8913063325483401216_o by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Now they need decals. I remember that the first frame I had, the large side decal was a multi-part foil deal. So I opted for a metallic decal as I felt that gave the appearance just a little better than a plain vinyl decal. The metallic was also what was available to me at the time… That said, I really wish I kept track of who I got the decals from, as they are superb. I’m so sorry for forgetting who you are, because I would totally recommend your decals to anybody. Now for a couple of notes. First, the decal for the left optic had to be trimmed down just a bit to fit these optics. Not a big deal at all. Second, the decals came with a non-canon, completely fan made decal or the data plate. I loved it, and felt that it fit the build beautifully, so it’s on there. Oh, and I glued on a pair of side knobs that I also got from the GBFans Store.
61184942_10215036912459719_3458384645438046208_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61457186_10215036912219713_9015840677400936448_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61603897_10215036912739726_128081216166428672_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Then it was time to assemble everything and take some glamour shots. I am very happy with these and they will fit in with the other props used by my group very well. My only complaint is that, as hard as I tried not to, I managed to get a super glue finger print right in the middle of the right lens on the inside. I’m pretty sure that the fumes just adhered to some skin oil that I failed to get off before gluing. I’m not SUPER mad about it though, because these goggles are WAY heavier than the first pair I built, and will probably almost never be on my face.
61823436_10215058207032070_4271606547970260992_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61764145_10215058206672061_899518923769118720_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61559961_10215058206472056_7458492476538486784_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61891252_10215058206072046_6927639638353903616_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61673609_10215058205672036_1739986715847688192_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Going into this build I knew one thing, these were probably not going to be screen accurate. I mean, to a point, yes. But not completely. These goggles were never intended to be in a display case as a museum quality reproduction of a pair of Ecto Goggles. They were being built to be carried and used as a prop for my franchise. There are some subtle, and some not so subtle differences between the goggles used in the first and second films. The obvious difference being the optics used. I preferred the look of the optics in the first film, so that is what I wanted on mine. However, in the second film they used the surplus head strap and the face pad. For practicality, I wanted to use those. In my head canon, as well as other canon, the Ghostbusters regularly repurpose already existing tech to make their equipment. So, I believe that Egon and Ray fabricated the goggles with a pair of night vision goggles as the base and didn’t build them from scratch. With that in mind, its easy to assume that they could and would use other surplus parts in their builds. After not having the padding on my original build and knowing how “comfortable” that was, I decided to use the surplus face pad. I also preferred the ability to adjust my head strap as needed, so I purchased a surplus head strap as well.
Here are the only two pictures I took of the frame before I started the build. They were missing the large decal on the side, so that was going to have to be replaced. And the top button for the head strap was missing, so I made a jig to hold the goggles and hammered on a snap I had laying around because I was too cheap to go buy a single black snap and a snap attaching gun tool thing for this one project. Also, the rubber hange/fastener/anti-loosing strap for the battery cover was completely rotted away, so I used a hobby knife and scraped the remaining crud out from between the cap and the nub. Good enough for me.
23559655_10211281071286037_1779019134114724457_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
23517422_10211281070846026_3058857922165028196_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
My first purchase in 15 or so years for this build was the head strap and face pad. Strangely, despite the stiffener in the pad to help hold it’s shape, the pad seems like it has shrunk over the years. No matter how I install the thing, there is always one snap that can not reach it’s mate. Oh well. My only real complaint is the floppy ends on the head strap because they are, well, floppy. I will probably get off my butt some day and make 3 little elastic retention bands for it.
37214068_10212967475925099_8488964888738136064_o by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
37085255_10212967476725119_177884969736077312_o by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Then my Brother-In- Law decided to get married and have the ceremony in a state that no family from either side lives in, so I got to go on a little vacation. When I got back, these were stuffed in my mail box. Easily the best part of the whole trip. These optics were purchased from the GBFans store, and they are absolutely amazing. Whoever fabricates these for the store, two thumbs up!!
57882324_10214786011027340_2056578539171348480_o by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Test fitting the optics to the frame. *drool
57486254_10214787176816484_4173506157740032000_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
57568371_10214787176656480_6228787144341585920_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Then it came time to paint. For the face plate, I took my frame to Lowes and had them scan it with the paint matcher scanner machine thing, and purchased a tiny sample pot of paint that will last me a dozen lifetimes, or until the paint becomes solid. The only problem I ran into was that my airbrush would NOT shoot this paint unless I thinned it down to colored water, and that did me no good. So, I brushed it on. The pic shown is of the first coat and it looked like crap. After 3 coats the brush strokes were pretty much gone, and the color matched a lot more. It is now a 100% color match 50% of the time, just depends on what light they are under. As for painting the optics, I used some painters tape, a piece of cardboard, and a rattle can. For something that was so painfully sad to paint because they were so beautiful in their natural state, I really didn’t give them much love in hindsight…
60975645_10215011888234129_1131198242923479040_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61136374_10215011888034124_4241583038649073664_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61406263_10215017212647236_8913063325483401216_o by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Now they need decals. I remember that the first frame I had, the large side decal was a multi-part foil deal. So I opted for a metallic decal as I felt that gave the appearance just a little better than a plain vinyl decal. The metallic was also what was available to me at the time… That said, I really wish I kept track of who I got the decals from, as they are superb. I’m so sorry for forgetting who you are, because I would totally recommend your decals to anybody. Now for a couple of notes. First, the decal for the left optic had to be trimmed down just a bit to fit these optics. Not a big deal at all. Second, the decals came with a non-canon, completely fan made decal or the data plate. I loved it, and felt that it fit the build beautifully, so it’s on there. Oh, and I glued on a pair of side knobs that I also got from the GBFans Store.
61184942_10215036912459719_3458384645438046208_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61457186_10215036912219713_9015840677400936448_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61603897_10215036912739726_128081216166428672_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
Then it was time to assemble everything and take some glamour shots. I am very happy with these and they will fit in with the other props used by my group very well. My only complaint is that, as hard as I tried not to, I managed to get a super glue finger print right in the middle of the right lens on the inside. I’m pretty sure that the fumes just adhered to some skin oil that I failed to get off before gluing. I’m not SUPER mad about it though, because these goggles are WAY heavier than the first pair I built, and will probably almost never be on my face.
61823436_10215058207032070_4271606547970260992_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61764145_10215058206672061_899518923769118720_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61559961_10215058206472056_7458492476538486784_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61891252_10215058206072046_6927639638353903616_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr
61673609_10215058205672036_1739986715847688192_n by Dustin Snelgrove, on Flickr