Halloween | November 08, 2007 | 26 comments

I am a Ghostbuster!

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Dustball
I've wanted to do this for many years and for some reason I decided now was the time. After a l lot of web research (there are entire sites devoted to the recreation of Ghostbusters props!) I spent about 3.5 weeks straight (nights and weekends) making the so-called proton pack and gun.

It's no exact replica by any means, but for being made mostly of thrift store junk and stuff I had, it's pretty darn close. (Ok, and many trips to Home Depot and Radioshack) It even has many working lights and switches!
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26 comments // I am a Ghostbuster!

  • Dustball
  • jennatar
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      jennatar  
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    • In my experience, a quick raid of my favorite science surplus store nicely augments crafts like these.

      Gorgeous proton pack!

    • 4 years ago
  • jmathew
  • Justin_Gunn
  • Super_Josh
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • I'm ready to bust ghosts! I found the exact flight suit and arm pack/frame at a surplus store online. And I was even able to get my name badge custom embroidered! I dyed the elbow pads and pistol belt gray. And those are $1 rubber chemical gloves.

      I think I'll be wearing this costume for many Halloweens to come. And maybe sometimes just out and about for fun.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
  • Dustball
  • Dustball
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      Dustball  
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    • Radioshack was out of white LEDs so I had to go with those incandescent bulbs. These all run of the same batteries as the pack, and have a separate on/off switch.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • Then I moved on to the gun/wand. I was running out of time until my first Halloween party so I was much less exact with the design of this.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • I used vinyl tubing and just painted them the correct colors. This works but I would've loved to find a place that sold the colored tubing.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • This was tricky. I ended up making this out of wires I stripped out of a much smaller ribbon cable, and a few phone wires. I was trying to match it to a photo taken of the actual movie prop (like everything else, but I was especially particular about this part.)

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • Here's my work area. I basically sat in this position for weeks on end. It was getting quite uncomfortable. If only I had a garage...

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • This is where the "cyclotron" will sit. You can see the bundle of 8 LEDs in the center. (I cut that rectangular hole much earlier when I had no idea what sort of lights would be going in.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • This tomato sauce can was great! I tried to make every part very secure, like on this one you can see there is a giant bolt going through the can and that elbow is screwed onto it. And this can (and all parts) and bolted to the backboard. I only used glue when I had no other way.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • I was happy with how I was able to modify this file card box. Those gray strips are window insulation. I thought it was clever until I realized that the foam didn't react well with the spray paint later. They are still sticky to this day.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • Here's the batteries. It's a lot of power for a handfull of LEDs but it was an easy way to get 12 volts ready to go. I made brackets so that you could easily pop the batteries in and out but still be secure while attached.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • This is the inside of the "cyclotron". I lined it with foil so the LEDs would light up well and shine through the red reflectors evenly.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • Misc stuff. Part of packing egg-crate type stuff, bits of broom handle, an index card box. I made that black piece in the upper left out of plastic from a silverware tray thingy.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
  • Dustball
  • Dustball
    • 0
      Dustball  
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    • So here's where it all started. A bucket of junk, used laser-printer parts, some sort of pie tin (with removal base!) and some little chalk board thingies that are pretty sturdy particle board.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dustball
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