Hot Wheels 1:64 Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Customization

I know what's going to happen first off.  I'm going to get yelled at by all the collectors out there for cutting open the card and removing the Ecto-1.  Then they'll get over that and really become irate when they see that *spoiler* I'd taken the whole car apart!

Well, breathe. It will be ok. I understand the feeling of panic though. These cars are getting harder and harder to find.  They were made in 2009 and I think that's the last time HW made an Ecto. I'm probably wrong.  I think they are coming out with one this year, but I have yet to see it. Hopefully they'll make more because I want to customize more.  For now, this is my first attempt.  Here she is still on the card:

And here is the car, set free from it's confines! It's a pretty detailed car. Just very one color when it comes to the roof rack and interior. 

You'll see here that the ladder on the side is also molded with plastic between each rung. Upon further inspection I think it will be easier to paint the negative space white than to try to carve it out.  We shall see.

Notice the missing "No Ghost" logo on the back door. I'm going to have to find a way to fix that. I'm confident in my painting skills, but not on something this small.  Why would HW leave off the rear logo!

Here we go. The good stuff. After separating the chassis from the body some more interesting things about this car start to make themselves known. It's far more detailed than I anticipated.  Good for you HWs. However why would you go through all this trouble and just paint everything black?

The first thing that really jumps out at me is that the chassis is silver. completely silver. I supposed this is because the bumpers, which were big chrome monstrosities in the 50's, are a part of it. Easier to make it all silver/chrome I suppose than to try to paint it 2 different colors.  I'll definitely be repainting the chassis a flat black after taping out the chrome bumpers.

Looking closer at the inside of the care, you'd never guess what was there.  Four tiny Proton packs. All lined up on the rack ready to go. Seriously, so much detail wasted.  This project is going to take a little longer than the Delorean because of all the detail that's molded into these pieces.  But it's a good thing. There is SO much to play with in this little car.

That's where we I am for now.  This week if I can manage I'll try to start work on this. Probably with the chassis and body first.  Those will be the easiest.  Headed into the holidays it feels like free time vanishes.

...more to come! 

Proton Pack 9 Final!

Ladies and Gentlemen.  Here it is. At long last. Technically I started this in March of 2010.  But in reality, didn't truly begin in earnest until December of 2011.  I basically had the idea way back in the before time.  But finally sat down and created this little guy. What follows are the final images of the pack.  Some of it's fore mentioned glamour shots.

First up...a little video of the images and some live video of the pack.  Currently set to appropriate music but I can see this being muted soon by the youtube gods. 


Also a disclaimer. The pack does not run off of the external batter pack you see pictured.  It actually runs off of 4 watch batteries that fit inside so that the whole thing is self contained.  I just killed the ones I had by testing it so much throughout the build...and playing with it.  So for your benefit I used the external battery pack.

Hooray for video!

Here is some close up detail of the wand as I'm preparing the final pieces.

It's a little dark. Forgive me. But you get a good sense of the final piece.  The hardest parts to make were the tiny pieces fixed to the tip of the blaster.

And here are some photos of it lit up in various "poses."

The stand that you can see is just a simple 2 piece stand I made out of left over parts and painted gray to help the pack stand out from it.I didn't want it to just fade into the rest of the black of the pack. This might be the best shot that gives you a good idea of the whole thing and the detail.

10 points to anyone who can name this ship in the back ground.

And here we have it folks.  My child hood dreams have come true.  Some what.  Sure as a kid I wanted a full sized one. But this will have to suffice.  You try living in an NYC apartment and then fit a full sized Proton Pack in there.  Not to mention a workspace to create it.  I'm sure my neighbors are pretty high from all the pain fumes.  To you I say...you're welcome.

Proton Pack 8

We're getting down to the end my friends!  Here are some pics..blurry, I'm working on it...of the pack as it nears it's final finishing touches. A few dabs of paint for buttons and the rest of the wand is still to be attached.

Pack prior to ribbon cable

And here is the ribbon cable. I could not find anything that looked realistic enough and was a rainbow pattern.  So mine is just grey cable ripped from the innards of an old computer.

Cable attached...and drying...

And some side views

Quite literally getting down to the end.  I'm going to fashion a really basic and simple stand for it and display proudly on one of my book cases.  Coming soon some glamour shots* (cause to be honest who doesn't love a good glamour shot) of the pack in all it's lit up glory.  Something like this has me faced with the never ending question of...when do you know it's done? When is that enough sanding? I have no idea.  I just go until it looks good.

8 year old me would be proud.  

*No glamour shots will be taken

Proton Pack 7

This post is FULL of pictures and updates.  Progress has been moving along. It does go in spurts though.  I feel like I get a lot of big work done, but when the detail work comes into play it takes so much longer.  Anyway...Here is a nice array of pics from the particular week's progress.

Grips being made for the wand.  

The ion arm.  A gold paper clip.  I was pretty proud of this idea and it works perfect.

Here is the base of the wand itself.  Attached you can see the clippard piece with decal glued on.

The pack slowly being assembled.  I've started using electrical tape as a way to hold piece together while they dry. Electrical tape appears to be leaving the least amount of residue and not pulling the paint off of the pieces when removed.

wand with the front piece on and the LED's leads sticking up from inside.  The tip of the wand is a clear plastic rod which rests up against the LED inside.  It acts as a giant fiber optic able in a way.

The wand attached to the pack, along with some of the detail wires.  The crank case which serves as the battery housing is also attached.

Side view showing off some of the decal detail.

Proton Pack 6

The pack is coming along.  Here were the updates as of a few...updates ago.  The pieces are slowly being assembled and the lighting wired in correctly.  I tell ya, with such little space to work with there has been a lot of cursing.

My only real concern is that the switch only stays on when you hold the button down.  You can't turn it on and leave it on.  Unless you put a piece of tape over it...hmm...

Basic Pack Lighting

Battery housing and switch

Proton Pack 5

So I've got some updating to do for you all.  Here are some of the pieces wired and lit up. Specifically the power cell and the cyclotron.  The wiring isn't the cleanest in the world, but it gets the job done.  Thinking back, perhaps 1:7 wasn't the best idea when trying to wire in resistors....oh well.

Power Cell reverse

Cyclotron Reverse

And the front of both pieces

The front of the powercell has a thin piece of plastic i procured from a 3 ring binder.  The binder is cloudy clear plastic and perfect to diffuse light.  I've used it on my Millennium Falcon model (which sadly is still in production)  It helps give the power cell a nice glow as opposed to the harsh blue light of the LED embedded within the piece.

Not Lit...

Let there be light!

Same...not lit...

BLUE!

And the two side by side.  These two pieces are essentially ready to be put onto the mother board once i secure the wires within and make sure nothing is going to touch.  I'm also on the look out for a power source holder.  I was going to use the crank case as a place to put the switch and the batteries, but I'm starting to think it's a bit too small.  So I might fashion a small external box on the back that wont be too noticeable.  Any ideas?  

So this is my progress so far.  It's coming along really nicely.  For those wondering it'll run on 6v, 4x 1.5 v batteries.  It should be enough to power the thrower, and the pack lights and not burn out the LEDs too quickly.