This is for other Ghostbusters Props that don't fit into the categories above.
#4838772
monolith21 wrote:This is amazing.
Thanks! I will have a small update coming in the next couple of days. At this point, there is one final step we need to do before we can paint it and put it all together. I'll have more soon.
#4839029
Update time!

It certainly has been a while. We got back from our trip and discovered all of these packages on our doorstep. The next mail day has finally come. Now it's time to open everything, reveal some of the new goodies and get back to work.

To start things off, I have been looking for an appropriate jack dish for the door handle. There are specific measurements to the original that is proving to be very difficult to finding a generic one in the wild. Here is a picture of the closest one I could find.

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It's slightly smaller than what we need. The picture below shows that it will work but it's going to be a tight fit.

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But if we've come this far, why settle for something that isn't right? Well, the good news is that we aren't going to be using this jack dish. Instead we are having one fabricated to the original specifications. That's going to have to wait until another mail day.

Mail day also brought us these:

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The black bundle of foam is for the door bellow. We need to be able to make 17 ribs in various lengths with this stuff so we ordered 50 feet. The orange tubing is for the wiring on the sides of the trap housing. This was the smallest amount I could find for a decent price. The end result will be something like this:

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The terminal attached to the tubing you're seeing is slightly too big. I ended up ordering the wrong size so I returned them. Got the new ones and those were also the wrong size. Damn! When I can get my hands on the right ones, I will be able to start on the housing wiring.

Now, let's move on to find out what's been holding this build back. Something else finally arrived. Let's get some measurements first.

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Now, let's go ahead and temporarily mount these so we can get a working mock-up.

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Let's see if all of this waiting has paid off. Please, work the way you should. (x3)

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Well, it's all taped down. Let's see if it will work. (Sorry in advanced for the poor quality video.)



:cool:

YES!!! It even sounds the way it should!

Last but not least:

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While Onlyalad19 was fussing with measurements on the door, I took some foam and glued together a mock-up to see if I could get 17 rows to fit in the space we allowed for it. Note: the first row is supposed to overhang like that.

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Success!!

We are approaching the final steps before we can finally paint this beast and put it all together. We are waiting for one more mail day to come. Obviously, inside that box will be a new jack dish alongside an aluminum door. The door needs some weight to it in order to properly accommodate the handle. Someone very talented from our fine community will be fabricating these for us. The plan is to have the visual details finished in the next few months. Meaning it will look like its finished, but won't have any of the lights and electronics working yet. However, there will be a few more updates in store before that happens.

In the beginning we tried to have this done for the C4 convention back in September '14. While that didn't happen, we had Robin Shelby with us and we all had a great time (minus the heat). The thing was we started discovering more details, parts, made revisions, etc. We decided that if we we're going to do this, we were going to go all out and get it as close to accurate as we possibly could. That made this build slow down terribly. It's kinda like a pregnancy where the baby refuses to come out. You get all excited because in 9 months you get a baby. Then the doctor comes in at 9 months and says the roost isn't quite ready yet. "It's gonna be another 6 months." The jerk keeps doing that around the due date over and over again. Then finally after a thousand years the baby is finally born and you just lose it... I think that's going to happen.

Anyways, we have high hopes that we will get to unveil this in a highly public place come October/November. However, nothing is set in stone yet and could quite possibly even be sooner. I'll keep the updates coming when possible.

Stay Tuned!
Dougger, Smeghead, barison82 liked this
By ectotwinkie
#4846241
Got the Ultimate Visual History today...

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It's a really good book but I can't find a single image of the Containment Unit.
(I mean the red bit - there is one picture with Aykroyd, Moranis and Reitman in the basement with the wall to the right of the stairs in the background and a RGB Fire Station Playset pic)


(Also the pack used to illustrate a GB1 pack, is this one...

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from New York Planet Hollywood)


Stephen Dane - "When I was working on Blade Runner, I went out to the Tucson airplane wrecking area and came back with two forty-foot flatbeds full of aircraft junk, and that sensibility showed up in Ghostbusters."
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By 910dohead
#4846266
ectotwinkie wrote:Got the Ultimate Visual History today...

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It's a really good book but I can't find a single image of the Containment Unit.
(I mean the red bit - there is one picture with Aykroyd, Moranis and Reitman in the basement with the wall to the right of the stairs in the background and a RGB Fire Station Playset pic)


(Also the pack used to illustrate a GB1 pack, is this one...

Image

from New York Planet Hollywood)


Stephen Dane - "When I was working on Blade Runner, I went out to the Tucson airplane wrecking area and came back with two forty-foot flatbeds full of aircraft junk, and that sensibility showed up in Ghostbusters."
I haven't picked up a copy of the book yet, but have been meaning to. Well, I contacted the author of the book a few months ago on Facebook and asked him if the book had any rare pictures of the containment unit. Unfortunately, he said it features more production photos than anything and none of the ECU. That's great to know about the Tucson scrap yard. That's only a few hours where I am from. However, I don't even know if its still there or even open to the public for that matter.

Small update - the aluminum door will be coming soon. Work will resume once we have that in hand.
#4846363
Something I've always wondered about with the ECU is whether or not there is one small trapezoid on the side, or two of them, one on each side. As far as I know, there are absolutely no pictures of it that show that spot on the left hand side of the real unit, but I may be wrong.

Back on track, this build is amazing. The things you've been able to track down made me so happy seeing them as this is one of my favorite props/set pieces from the whole GB Universe.
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By 910dohead
#4846366
Not sure what is really on the left side as there is currently nothing out there which reveals just what. The great thing about doing conventions and related events is occasionally you'll bump into someone that was either in or worked on Ghostbusters. The only problem is I haven't come across anyone who can answer that question. When asking about a minut detail in a 30+ year old film, memories get a little fuzzy. Met Bill Bryan once at an event and he had trouble naming the Ghostbusters characters first and last names. He eventually named them but it was a struggle for him.

I would just love to run into someone that's like, "Hey, I worked on the film and built that prop. I've got tons of photos you guys should see." One can dream. I'm guessing that once the ECU is finished and we start taking it to events and displaying it, someone may come forward and shed some light on the mystery of the left side. Doing an event with Ernie Hudson in December. Let's see what he can remember.

Thanks for the kind words. I only wish the build was coming along faster. However, this is a labour of love and we got to do it right, even if it means slowing down until we can move forward. The hardest part of discovering each piece is past us now and we couldn't have done it without the help of certain members of this community. Without their aid and assistance, this wouldn't have been possible.
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By 910dohead
#4851041
We've been getting asked here and there about progress on the ECU. The sad truth is that life has been getting in the way and regrettably no progress has been made. However, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. A glimpse, if you like, into the future of what will be. Thankfully, we almost have the next piece of our puzzle. The wonderful thing is that it now exists and looks amazing!

We sent this over to someone very skilled with aluminum. A true master of the craft!

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It took a little while, but we were recently sent this!

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Once this baby is in our hands, we will finally be able to move forward and complete the unit. We also discovered a perfect mount for it which would also aid us in transporting everything to events. However, we'll go over that in a later update.
ectotwinkie, barison82 liked this
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By Mr.Spider
#4852169
what are the names of the door hinges ? I have been looking all over for these.
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By Mr.Spider
#4852245
hmm ok, so the hinges were a built item, not a found item?
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By 910dohead
#4852994
Correct! The hinges appear to be weld-on hinges. So that's a found part. However, we ended up having ours fabricated since we couldn't find an exact match. Probably a very old part and I don't have the energy in me to seek it out. Now on the other hand, it is highly likely that the containment unit was a completely fabricated prop and not a found part. The research that we've done and the details that we've uncovered point to this. However, we can't confirm it. I think someday it will become known.
#4854967
the work you guys are doing is absolutely amazing. This is probably the best ECU that I have ever seen. Is there any chance that you will let us know where you got some of the parts? Like the guide rails for the door? Or the attachment for the ribbon cable?I'm getting ready to start building one of these myself based on your plans. I understand that some of the parts are authentic and would be incredibly hard to find, but if I could at least get modern equivalences I would be happy with that. Any help would be great thanks.
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By 910dohead
#4854990
Creepdownthehall wrote:the work you guys are doing is absolutely amazing. This is probably the best ECU that I have ever seen. Is there any chance that you will let us know where you got some of the parts? Like the guide rails for the door? Or the attachment for the ribbon cable?I'm getting ready to start building one of these myself based on your plans. I understand that some of the parts are authentic and would be incredibly hard to find, but if I could at least get modern equivalences I would be happy with that. Any help would be great thanks.
Thank you for the kind words. We are just trying to do the best job in making it as screen accurate as we possibly can. It's one of the reasons why the project is taking so long. Regarding a parts list, when the unit is nearing completion I will do a large post detailing every individual part including our sources of where we purchased them. What I will say is that a lot of parts were purchased from either eBay or by doing a quick google search. However, parts like the door handle and the guide rails (we will call them that for now) had to be located by calling several businesses that the manufacturers have previously sold to.

If you're planning to build one based on our project, I would advise you to wait until we post our final plans. Currently our measurements on the backboard appear to be off. We will not be going back to fix these in our build since we deemed them to be minimal. However, the final plans will have these measurements corrected so that future builds wont make these mistakes. It was very hard in determining an accurate scale when not all of the pieces were in hand. We had to constantly go back and amend our progress. I advise you to wait until we can provide everyone with that information if you're looking to get similar results with your build.

I will tell you now is that the ribbon cable connector is called a Card Edge Connector and we're pretty sure the correct size is an 18 pin. They can easily be found on eBay. Hope this is able to help you in the meantime.
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By IDDQD
#4855011
Wow 910dohead.. This build.. Astonishingly beautiful! I must say I'm jealous of the dedicated group you have out there in Cali. An epic ECU and Flexto-1 build at the same time? You all must have some very understanding spouses :love:

Can't wait to see the finished product! How is the group planning on displaying her when not attending Cons? 1 week visitation privileges?
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By 910dohead
#4855013
IDDQD wrote:Wow 910dohead.. This build.. Astonishingly beautiful! I must say I'm jealous of the dedicated group you have out there in Cali. An epic ECU and Flexto-1 build at the same time? You all must have some very understanding spouses :love:

Can't wait to see the finished product! How is the group planning on displaying her when not attending Cons? 1 week visitation privileges?
Thank you for the kind words. Dedication is something you need to hold on to. These builds can get frustrating and make you go broke. Luckily we're almost past the financial part. The Flex is going into the shop next weekend. We probably won't see it for a while. It's getting some major body work done to it. The weird grooves in the doors are being filled in and the roof is getting additional support added as well as some other work. That's CharlesBaby2001's baby and he's been the one that's been throwing money at it. The ECU is shared between OnlyALad19, ZuulTheGateKeeper and myself. We've been sharing the financial responsibility.

We will unveil the ECU at a convention at some point in the future. Don't know where or when but sometime after it's completed.
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By 910dohead
#4855567
TENIME_art wrote:Is it 2029 yet?
(Nope, but another update means we're getting closer. )

The 9 second update was great but it didn't really detail our progress so far. Therefore a recap is in order.

We received the aluminum door and couldn't believe how precise and exact the measurements are on it. She sure is a beauty!

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Just look at the craftsmanship on that!

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Let's see how it looks on the unit.

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Now we need to dry mount the guide rails and get them to the right spot and take measurements.

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The scary thing about all of this is you really don't know for sure if its going to fit just right. You can make measurements and go over them many times and still manage to find a way to screw up somewhere. So, let's cross our fingers and make sure we got this right.

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Alright, so we took our time and got all of the measurements that we needed and then pieced everything together and ended up with this sight.

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Now is the moment of truth. Is everything going to fit and will it all perfectly line up just where we need it to be?

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What you are looking at here is the front of the inside of the ECU door where the ball bearing will attach to the frame. This has to be very precise in order for it to function properly. Luckily we are right were we need to be. There will probably be a little more tightening to do since this is just a dry mount and not permanent.

The bottom of the housing frame also matches up just where we need it to be.

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Here is a backside look of everything with the door closed.

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Our next steps are to going to be mounting everything on the inside/outside of the door and getting it ready for primer. We will spending a considerable amount of time on it. Once that's done we will just need to build the small box that the hoses attach to and drill some more holes so that parts can be attached. Then everything comes off and then its time for paint. Once the paint dries then its time for its first assembly! We're getting there.

Now, we get asked a lot of questions about how we will be transporting and displaying the prop. The ECU itself will be crated and transported as one piece, but there will be other parts to go along with it and i'll explain shortly. At first we were going to weld a frame out of steel that we could mount the ECU onto and figured we would tackle that task last. Then a brilliant idea popped into our heads and we knew this was our answer. So, let me just illustrate what we have planned.

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The ECU will be mounted on the side of an industrial rolling wire shelving unit but will have spacing to allow for foam walls to rest inbetween. The foam walls are going to be carved to replicate a cinderblock wall and will be in several pieces which will all connect together. The other great part about doing this is we can use the backside of the shelving as storage for our proton packs and other props. It will also serve as a rolling cart when we are loading/unloading at events. We feel this is a perfect way of minimizing the workload and maximizing our space at events. The great thing is the ECU will probably take less than an hour to assemble which means more time to sleep in.

On a side note, we also discovered some more details regarding the trap box. Inside there are two rectangular brackets (one on each side) that are mounted from the outside through the lug terminals, which supports a small rod going from side to side. We discovered that the purpose of this rod is to hold the internal trap in place when the outer half is pulled away from the housing. There has also got to be an additional piece mounted on the bottom that guides the trap upward to lock into place. Notice how the inner part of the trap floats. We will be doing this exact same thing on our unit as well. So look forward to that, I guess?

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Finally, (in our prop building downtime) we got to play around and shoot some B-roll footage for a film. We managed to do it in a fairly recognizable place too.

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Anyone here see a ghost?
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By 910dohead
#4859218
We have learned that we have misidentified one of the parts, but luckily a new discovery has been made. Originally, we thought there were vacuum relays mounted to the heat sinks on the trap housing. However, they are not. They're something similar but once you see the picture and the reference you'll also be convinced. While doing an event, we were examining another well-known prop and our eyes went wide.

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Here's the reference:

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Yay! Accuracy über alles!!
barison82 liked this
#4859259
Ooh, man... I am truly sorry that you bought those because I know they weren't cheap. Send me a PM and i'll tell you what the right ones are called. Plus, the diode in the middle might be something else too.
#4859440
ectotwinkie wrote:Haha, that's cool, these dead ends lead to hidden treasures.
Great spot by you guys!

Did find one of these...(yay!)

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- I'll try and crack it open and scan it.
Nooo... I found a 23-210 though. Almost identical but not. Haha. Where in the hell did you find that? If you say eBay I am not going to believe you. Please, fill me in because I would like to use the right model number if at all possible. Also, if you want it accurate to the film, you're going to need to remove that left screw and needle stop. :cool:

Just lift up the acrylic face plate and everything else is easily removable including the needle. Just use caution of course.
Last edited by 910dohead on April 2nd, 2016, 6:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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