[Tyler Martin]

Yes, the accident prone St. Paul, MN crew is coming back! More episodes of GHOSTBUSTIN' 911 are on the way. Principal photography is getting ready to pick up for episodes 7 and 8, and we'd like to give the fans of our show a little treat and give you a glimpse of what's in store. I'd say "Spoiler alert", but the title of this post already gave it away...

The ECTO-1C will meet an unfortunate demise and leave the crew in desperate need of a replacement. The new ECTO will make it's debut in one of the next episodes, so we are keeping the specifics under wraps...but there are certain parts of ECTOs that everyone knows, so we will be posting photos from the build process as director and prop master, Jason (AKA: Vincent Gehin) completes the new Twin Cities Ghostbusters' ECTO.

The roof rack frame...foundation of every good ECTO replica. These pics are already a bit older, and the frame is closer to being completed at this point, but you get the idea. Once Jason finishes welding everything for it, we plan to have it powder coated. Keep checking back for more pics as we get closer to revealing our new ride.

Also, if you have an ECTO and/or would like you and your crew to appear in an episode of GB911, drop us a line. We are very interested in putting more GB fan branches in GB911.

More to come! Watch our youtube page for more video blogs coming soon, too. http://www.youtube.com/user/iceparkcity

[Ghostbuster J]

Yes, the accident prone St. Paul, MN crew is coming back! More episodes of GHOSTBUSTIN' 911 are on the way.

Thank goodness, I was worried lol. Glad to hear you guys are still making new episodes! Can't wait.

[RichLather]

More roof rack build photos, please. These will prove to be quite educational and informative for those of us who want to build their own.

[Tyler Martin]

More roof rack build photos, please. These will prove to be quite educational and informative for those of us who want to build their own.

You got it. We're all about helping out ECTO builders as much as we can. Feel free to ask us any questions you might have...and we may have some of our own for the other ECTO builders out there as we keep this project rolling along. Speaking of, here are some pics of the next piece...

In order to make the red light on the front of the roof rack (shown here)

Here's what we are starting with...

It's not very pretty to look at right now, I'll admit. It's a vintage headlight housing that came off of a rat rod (hence the beat up/rusted look) we acquired from eBay. Jason's plan is to sandblast it and paint it silver once it's smooth again. You may notice it's not as extended as the original, but Jason has a rather ambitious plan to elongate it and get it to resemble the original bucket light housing. More details on that as it comes along.

He also plans to pop out the mounting bolt on the bottom (which you can see is shot) and replace it with a new one.

More to come soon!

[Tyler Martin]

More progress on the red roof rack light...

Here's a good profile shot that shows how much shorter the old bucket headlight housing we're using is compared to...

---the real thing---

---OURS---

In my last post, I mentioned Jason had a plan to get it to look more like the original. Here are a couple of mid-progress shots.

He used a two part rigid foam on the bezel and sanded and shaped it by hand to the approximate shape of the original Federal Signal Propello light.

I'll post more pics of this and other parts as I get them.

[Boomerjinks]

Don't forget, the real thing in that photo is missing its outer lens!

[Tyler Martin]

Here's another part (this one's completed and ready to go); the checkered half bubble dome and red arrow...uh...thingy. Anyone know if this thing ever been given a more official title?

Here's what we started with for this part. We bought a ceiling tile with a 14" clear acrylic security camera dome off of eBay...

Jason cut it out and cut it in half (which is nice in case it ever breaks...we'll have a spare!). Then he cut a half circle base out of stainless steel (to prevent corrosion). He lined the bottom with the yellow and black checkered tape that everyone is familiar with at this point. The red arrow was made with 1" square steel tubing (same stuff he used to make the roof rack frame).

To attach the dome to the base, he used a simple tub and tile silicone sealant.

---Here's a close up of the seam---

One part down! More parts, pics, and info coming soon!

[FunkPunkTwang]

wow man great work! Would you mind sending me the ebay link so I could fins one for myself?

keep it up!

[AJ Quick]

I'm really interested in seeing what kind of a car you guys are getting!

[Tyler Martin]

wow man great work! Would you mind sending me the ebay link so I could fins one for myself?

Gladly. In fact, I think I found an even better eBay auction than the original one we found.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-10-12-14-ACRY ... 61cbb10bb4

It's an auction selling ACRYLIC HEMISPHERES. They come in 4 colors, and thankfully the all important 'clear' is one of them. It says 'More than 10 available'. They come in 8" 10" 12" 14" sizes, so you could find big ones for your 50's or 60's caddy...or lil' ones for your VW bug or Smartcar ectos.

Any other parts on ebay that anyone would like links to? We search almost every day, and we've acquired quite a watch list. I'm happy to share the knowledge.

[Boomerjinks]

In return for your offer, are you familiar with how to obtain the A6 oxygen tanks for the side? If you're still looking (doubtful), lemme know as there are a few sources out there.

[GhostbusterRayStantz]

Unfortunately, Im probably gonna be selling my ecto also. Need the money, and dont have money to fix it up. Gonna find a good home for her and redo with different car down the road. Its a hard decision cuz she's my baby but gotta make sacrifices. Im sad 8...(

[Tyler Martin]

Thanks for the offer, Boomerjinks. Jason found a pretty good source who came through for us at http://www.warbirdparts.com

Here's what we got from them. 2 tanks + 2 regulators = $110

Just a heads up for anyone that goes there...their website is a little wonky and unfinished. I can put you in touch with our contact over there. He's pretty helpful and shipped our tanks fast. He knew exactly what we needed by scoping a photo we sent him of the movie ecto.

[Tyler Martin]

More pics of the red light in progress...

[Boomerjinks]

Warbird. That's the one. Big props go out to the Palm Coast folks who dug that one up!

[Tyler Martin]

Indeed. They're awesome.

I asked how many they have left and they said there are about 50 of the A-6 bottles available in “used cond”. They said they are mainly in need of painting.

[Tyler Martin]

Unfortunately, Im probably gonna be selling my ecto also. Need the money, and dont have money to fix it up. Gonna find a good home for her and redo with different car down the road. Its a hard decision cuz she's my baby but gotta make sacrifices. Im sad 8...(

That sucks, man...but just means that the next one will be twice as bad ass!

[GhostbusterRayStantz]

True and who knows, if the other person takes care of her i might buy her back and have 2!!

[Tyler Martin]

More progress pics of the red light...now with new mounting bolt!...and less rust.

[Tyler Martin]

Here's another piece of the new...uh... ECTO-911, I guess? The cannon thingy. Again, is there an official name?

Here are the key pieces Jason is using to put this together...

A 4"x5" section of steel tube channel for the base of the cannon barrels. A 1/4" aluminum plate below that on 1 1/4" aluminum pipes for the spacers.


6" PVC pipe for the main body and 4" PVC pipe for the secondary body.


...and 1 1/4" PVC pipe for the cannon barrels. All held together by a 1/2" thick threaded rod.



He drilled out 2 holes on the cannon base for the barrels to be inserted, then he screwed PVC pipe caps to the back on the inside of the barrel base to hold the barrels in place. I'm told it was quite the painstaking process, but worth it.




Then he painted the base tubes with plastic primer followed by a white gloss. This pic also shows more of the threaded rod he used.


When he put it all together, he got this...

Next steps for it are the sides of the cannon base and painting the rest of it.

More soon!

[SlimeGuy]

That's one nice lookin' Sniffer!

You going with the RGB theory that it's the Ecto's PKE meter extension or are you turning it into more of a proton "Cannon"?

[Boomerjinks]

I've never seen that thing as any kind of weapon, due the fact that it can only move on the X-axis, no bearings or visible means of it moving up or down. It's always been a sensor of some kind to me.

I used to call them "binocs" but I think it was Bryan Fear who started calling it the "scope," which I f****g LOVE.

[Tyler Martin]

That's one nice lookin' Sniffer!

You going with the RGB theory that it's the Ecto's PKE meter extension or are you turning it into more of a proton "Cannon"?

Well, as a filmmaker/storyteller...I hope to stay as true to the source material as possible. In this case, I follow the same mantra that the design team of the recent Ghostbusters video game had, which was: These guys are scientists, not soldiers. The GBs don't design and build weapons, they build scientific equipment that serves a specific purpose
...it just so happens that most of that equipment can be quite destructive.

In the RGB episode I Am the City, Egon is working on this roof rack part and says "the Di-variable Universal is jammed, but I can fix it". Don't know if that was supposed to be the name of the whole device or just the name of one of it's working parts, but they use the cannon to track Marduk, a Babylonian god (which must be what you're referring to?) So the 'Sniffer'/ECTO's PKE extension fits better with the source material than making it a giant proton gun. In an upcoming episode, you'll see the roof rack equipment be used in at least one or two planned scenes...along with the Super Slammer Muon trap that the ECTO-1C was upgraded with in our last episode.
You will get to see it in action.

[Foom Man]

You will get to see it in action.

[Tyler Martin]

There is one step done...as in already bolted to the vehicle, rigged up and working. The front and back blue scoop lights.

We bought four chrome headlight housings and four 4" blue Ambulance emergency vehicle lights off of eBay.

Then Jason measured and drilled 4 holes in the roof, mounted them, and wired them up. We still need to get a WigWag for them, but that's the first official completed part of the new ecto!

[RichLather]

Most sexy. I'm very happy to continue living vicariously through this thread if you continue with the photos.

[Tyler Martin]

Ordered in May and just came today...stupid government shut-down!

[Tyler Martin]

Oh yeah...another all important piece of the puzzle...

Thanks to Boomerjinks for his thread http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... 13&t=25796 that helped point me to the accurate no-ghost vector file. Thanks to Fast Signs for the vinyl. I believe we had these printed out at 18" from fingertip to fingertip. Still need the rear door logo, but there are complications with that...more on that issue later.

[Tyler Martin]

The finished and fully painted cannon 'sniffer'...

...also, the fully painted Propello light. It just needs a red lens and it's ready to go...

By the way...Anyone know where I can find files of all the roof rack labels? Vector files preferred. Thanks!

[Boomerjinks]

By the way...Anyone know where I can find files of all the roof rack labels? Vector files preferred. Thanks!

Looks like I need to make ANOTHER stickied thread!

Also, what are the mesh sides of your tower head box made from? Those look neat!