Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I'M BUILDING A PROTON PACK!

Every summer, as a newly made tradition, I ask my daughter what she wants to be for Halloween. This way I can get a head start on any props or costumes that need to be made. This year she wants to be a Ghostbuster which means that I get to build a friggin' Proton Pack! I am thrilled at the challenge to say the least!

At the moment I know of two different challenges to this build; the first is the weight of the pack. It has to be as lightweight as possible and secondly I am going to try to add something that glows for the laser on the Proton's laser which will be attached to a ghost. Wish me luck!

2 comments:

FickleFrank said...

Good luck Tim!

Me and my family have the same tradition, and funny as it is, my kids also want to be ghostbusters this coming halloween. So I am also going to be building some proton packs 5 to be precise, and I can't wait for to start. 4 for the kids and of course 1 for myself. HAHA!

So along with your challenges, I also have to attempt to make mine as inexpensively as possible. It would be great to share notes. I'm going to be tracking my progress on my blog as well. I'm bookmarking your site so I can check in now and again and see how you're comin on yours. My blogs in my link if you wanna stop by mine and share ideas!

I'm thinking of using Foam insulation board for my primary construction material. How bout you?

Tim Shrum said...

Fickle Frank,

It's great to see that I am not the only one thinking ahead for Halloween. My wife and I like making costumes and props for my daughter every year as opposed to spending an arm and a leg for a store bought costume.

The best part of building costumes and props is that everything you make is one of a kind and while everyone else will be wearing something they got from Wal-Mart or Target, my kid will have something that stands out.

I will be posting updates on the proton pack and costumes over at my prop building and indie filmmaking site lostinschlock.blogspot.com.

So far at the moment I have done some research as to how the originals were made and have a few ideas kicking around in my head. Also since the release of the new game I'm thinking that I may stray from the original design a bit and try to add some LED lights and moving parts on it.

The overall construction may be bits of junk and styrofoam containers glued together on a backpack frame. I'm still working out some ideas. But yes, I would like to trade notes and I will be posting updates as well.

Take care,
Tim