Ghostbusters Proton Pack

This is a semi step-by-step guide of how my girlfriend Jess and I built our Ghostbusters proton packs for Halloween 2008! We ended up spending just under a month and just over $200 on each pack. Not including random tools here and there that we needed.

No expensive lightboards or sound packs here. This is 100% homemade and on the cheap.

Here is a couple stills of the final pack.

Step 1 Costumes

The costumes themselves were simple as hell and only took a night to do.

Flight suits off of Amazon.com
Paratrooper Belts off of Amazon.com
Boots off of Amazon.com

Then a couple custom patches off of Ebay to read 'Hogan' and 'Morrison' and of course the No Ghost symbols and we were pretty much good to go!

Just a few details needed adding like the gloves, circuit board (which were junked old sound cards) and some random tubing which can be found easily at Home Depot.

But in making a Ghostbusters costume remember...90% of the work in the pack.

Comments

[halo1011]

dear zombiedug some guy that works for placement says that is his proton pack so can you help me out from beleving him please thank you sincerely cody sucena who ya gonna call?

[ZombieDUG]

I'm sorry but your comment wasn't very clear. Who exactly is claiming that my proton pack is theirs? Because it most certainly is NOT.

Thanks,
Doug

[halo1011]

dear zombiedug i am also trying to build a proton pack as im just wanting you to know that i am inspierd to build one with your premisson could you please email me the instrutions for me to build one. thank you

[aliencatx]

humm...i would have never thought of that, good one :)

[klevien]

Quick question, where did you get the ribbon on the cyclotron? Did you just have it laying around? Thanks!

[The ironman]

stick a flame thrower on it

[KNEXFRANTIC]

i like how you roll

[belldandy4087]

what are the values of the capicitors. My friends and are trying to figure out how you did this.

[Nik842]

Which LED kit did you buy? And do you have a video of the lights, battery pack & cyclotron, so we see how yours ended up?

[luka1184]

Can you make one for me and send it? PM me ;D

[greatscottbttfride]

please tell me how big is the pack it self is it 3 feet or what i need to know and the middle is

[ZombieDUG]

Once again, please refer to the blueprints that I linked to over at GBFans.com . It's all right there, you just need to read them. Thanks!

[blahblah86]

how much is the final weight? you seemed to use a lot of wood, and in the ones my club and i have always made have as little wood is possible (mostly pvc - we make one or two wood packs then vacuu-form {did i spell that right?}), and they're still a good 10 or so pounds.

[ZombieDUG]

Since most of it is made out of insulation foam, the heaviest part is the motherboard and frame. The motherboard is made out of particleboard, so it's very dense but much lighter than your regular milling woods. In the end the final pack only weighs 5 or so pounds.

[greatscottbttfride]

what kind of window sliding ?

[ZombieDUG]

Just generic plastic window trim

[greatscottbttfride]

how big is the pack it self is it like 4 feet long im trying to build one to some day as well i love your version of the proton pack so awesome

[ZombieDUG]

check out the schematics over on GBFans.com for all scale questions. It's roughly 3 1/2 feet though.

[ZombieDUG]

2 years later and I'm still blown away by how much you all like the packs! I'm currently working on a "part 2" to this instructable on how to add arduino controlled lights and sound...and even a rumble pack for the gun! Schematics, code, the works. So keep your eyes open, because I should have it up just after Halloween with pictures and a new demo video!

[lysa613]

really cool

[lysa613]

that is the best proton pack ever i want one

[lesh_dude]

I'm trying to build a proton pack using your instructions, and I was wondering if you could think of any more "wallet-friendly" alternatives to the ALICE pack.

[Scatmanbrandt]

You could probably make a similar frame out of PVC fairly cheap and pick up a used backpack at your local goodwill-type store fairly cheap and find a way to attach the straps to the PVC frame, after you have painted the frame of course.

[ZombieDUG]

Sorry, not really. That's kind of the one thing that's an absolute necessity for this project. The best thing I could offer would be the check your local Army surplus store though. They might have it for cheaper than what you're finding online. Good luck!

[cook$]

A proton pack is not a toy.........

[dramaplay]

Hi, I have to make 30 proton packs for a special needs camp next summer. Can the mold make many wands can it make? Also, do you think they end up sturdy enough for kids to use the whole summer? Thank you.

[ZombieDUG]

If you follow the recommendation of the silicon grade I used to make the mold of the gun box, you can easily get 30 made. As for the question about the sturdiness of the packs, that really comes down to how much time and care you put into constructing it. Instead of using a glue gun, you could always use epoxy for example. But you still need to be careful or yes, the packs will break since it's made out of foam predominantly. Good luck on your build! Sounds like it's for a great cause.

[dramaplay]

Thanks, ZombieDUG! - dramaplay

[kerry63]

Were you at the Greenville Parade the year before last in costume? If so the costumes looked great.

[ZombieDUG]

Ha, no I was not. But I'm glad to see there are other Ghostbusters keeping the streets safe out there!

[flio191]

This is so brilliant! Wish I had seen this before Halloween.

[matheust]

What types of cans did you use for the N-Filter and HGA.

[ZombieDUG]

 They were just Pringles cans that we raided from the Dollar Store. There's a ton of great stuff at that store if you do a little digging.

[ZombieDUG]

They were both just Pringle's cans we got at the dollar store.

[schpadoinkle]

what did you use for the gun mount clip there in the first pic ? i am bulding my pack now and thats kind of a hang up...lol

[ZombieDUG]

It's an invisible picture hanger. Basically just a bracket that lays flat with another sister bracket. Pretty much every hardware store should have it, just ask an employee. Because when we were looking for one they were hidden in a weird corner of the store.

[solder_jointx]

What is the can of air for? Did you know that cooling the solder joint is a bad idea? You could be getting bad joints.

[jeff-o]

What is Jesso?

[bounty1012]

its your twin brother jeffo lol

[ninjapants]

Just for clarification, the "particle board" you refer to in step 2 looks like either MDF or masonite (more likely the latter). Rosco sells a couple of different foam treatment products which are both tintable and achieve the protection you were looking for. Maybe pricey compared to gesso, but maybe also worth it? The packs look absolutely great. Very well done.