[danbuster365]

fantastic that looks amazing great job on this it has come a long way from the begining

[chibigear]

Thanks for the compliments!

This has really has been a long road indeed... I am anxious to get the resins and other stuff so I can get this forward, and possible supply others with a roof kit, but as said, the Hobby Store has been out of stock of casting material fir three weeks now, and if they do not get a stock soon, I WILL go and seek other suppliers.

In the mean time, I have been pushing my Proton Pack light systems onwards for the upcoming Sweden Scifi convention. They are ready, just got the lithium rechargable battery installed.. I got the parts for the sound system at ready, but I will not do much with them until after the trip to Stockholm. The animator of Mr Staypuft will be there, so I need to take my little Mr along for an autograph..

Afte I get the roof done, the bodywork can be finished on the caddy. The silver brims need to be smoothed out, and after that, the car gets an even shade of white... I cannot wait to get that done, so the roof rack can be done..

As for patient builder, thanks, but it is you guys who are patient... I am just busy with everything that I cannot do anything properly, hence the slow process... This weekend I am accompanying the local 501 for a charity event, with a Darth Vader costume on loan... Busy Busy Busy is the word....

Still... After the roof is done, the car will look a LOT like the one we love...

[darthbuster]

Keep up the great work. I am working on a fully lit and customized ecto-1a 1/25 scale kit on and off for over one year. So I know how real life can get in the way. I'll do a post when I have a bit more done. Take your time, I'm excited to hear that the roof conversion may be available. Hopefully you can offer the ectra set of doors too.

[dfak2009]

Ah man this has to be the most watched thread on the site "IMO"

It look's amazing so far and i wish you all the luck and hope it turns out awesome

[Egon Spengz]

This is REALLY amazing great job! I cant wait for the finished product. I found this forum and got really excited!

[chibigear]

Ok, long time without any progress.. My hobby store got restocked with resin, and so I got the project ahead a little.



I laid layer of plasticine over the buck that I made for the roof, and perforated it with holes to ensure that I get the support jacket and silicone back together after resin has been poured.
I also used thin pieces of styrene to act as divider between the two halves of the support jacket.



I then used plaster bandages to make each half of the support jacket. The plaster has worked for me in the past, and is cheaper and less toxic than fiberglass.



The buck was a bit damaged in the pullout, but nothing too radical, and can be fixed. Mostly, the parts of the buck that were made entirely of filler snapped out...



I brushed on some resin inside the mould, and this was the pleasant result. A roof, indetical, nearly, to the original. All of the detail bits that I made survived.



It fits the caddy chassis without much trouble, as was intended. There are some flashes of resin that need to be removed, and some filling and cutting, but this can be done after a fiberglass support has been added to the inside.



The rear of the mould was deformed due to thin walls of the mould. The silicone was using ran out on me at the moment, and I had to make do with what I had. In the end I filled the cavity with plaster to keep it at least somewhat in shape.

But, alas.... With my progress, there is a downside.....
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This, is the state of the mould after the first (and ONLY) pull....



I do not know what happened, this has not happened before. The silicone I use does not adhere to the plaster normally, but this time it dug like fleas to a dog. I can only guess that it was the fabric that was on the bandages that did this. As I was pulling the support jacket in two, the side broke, and tore away large chunks of the silicone as well. This happened with a snap on the rear too...

I did use lubricant on the plaster bandages before pouring in the silicone, but I guess I did not cover it well enough, or the holes I did on the plasticine were too many and too deep..

This was a major down for me! Not that I am not at least pleased that I got one pull out of it, but the amount of money that was spent on the moulding material was so much that I had hoped that this would, at the very least, give me few pulls more to ship out to those who have requested them..... Sorry for all of you, I cannot make any more with this mould.

Sheesh, I had hoped for a little more happier news to you all, but this is the state we are now. I can, ask a friend on the 501st who suggested that I made out a plaster cast of this, and made some vaccuum pulls of the roof.

Or, I can repair the original buck that I made from balsa, and ship it for free to someone who wants to make copies of it for the community.. I'll throw in the moulds on the doors as well for good measure..

PM me if anyone is interested on this idea. I know that there are at least two or three Maisto Cadillacs out there waiting for me to get roofs and doors to them.

I will not, however, go and get more silicone. It cost me over 100$ to get this far, and nah, can't afford to try again...

But, at least now I can start making the roof again, and make this project finished in some foreseeable future.

It has been costly to this point...

[06VenomGT]

That's too bad about the mould but what a phenomenal job you've done! I've been caught up with work and some family emergencies that I haven't been able to work on my project. That roof looks AWESOME! I'm definitely staying tuned for more updates.

[chibigear]

Yeah, I was upset about the mould ripping when the cast was pulled. I have pondered on the failure, and I think that the problem lies in the moulding material. It was low viscosity silicone, and I have not used that before. It dries semi hard, and that might be the reason that it dug deep in the support jacket. The allingment holes that I punched to the plasticine might also be in part of the problem, as I pushed deep with a shaft of metal file. The shaft was round, but straight in the end. So, I made many 90 degree angles on the mould...

How ever, I have thought the thing over night at work, and I think there might be possibility to repair the mould with cyanoacrylate for at least one additional pull.

If it works, I will make a full plaster cast of the roof, and then it might work as a vaccuum mould for more pulls.

There is also a reusable moulding material (Vinamold) that is not so good on the details, but will work without problems on plaster. Vinalmold is heated in the microwave, and then cast over the buck.

So. It might be possible to recover from this disaster....

Cap Cyan contacted me on the decals, and before I get on with the repair works on the mould, I will push the Ecto 1 forward. Who knows, after Chirstmas, even before New Year's Eve, there might be at least some familliar shots of it in white....

But, for now, thanks for watching, and have Merry Christmas everyone!

-Chibigear

[danbuster365]

merry christmas to you to and i hope that works out for you so sorry to see what happend good luck

[06VenomGT]

Merry Christmas to All...and to Chibigear, a good mould!

[danbuster365]

any new updates on this my friend

[egie]

Yes we need more! No just kidding, no rush. I cant wait for finished product though. Great build!

Sent from my SGH-T759 using Ghostbusters Fans on Android

[Spengler28]

Woah! speechless

[chibigear]

My, oh my, what a demanding audience... Well, ask and ye shall receive...

I am still waiting for the Cap'n Cyan's transfers, and whe I get my hands on them, I will make this pink. Wait, NO!, White...
There has been serious work done here, both on the roof and the chassis. Botsh are now at the stage that they need some little details, and then, white paint....

But, I know that you do not believe me without pictures;



Whti a full mcug of coffee (the text yealls 'OFF TO WORK' on the mug) I laid the resin roof on top of the chassis. There are some gaps that need to be filled.



And the rear, oh the rear!



Spot the faint, white line on the side of the roof rim, just next to my fingers? That is how thick the trim was when I pulled it out from the mold. Talk about thin...
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I superglued strips of styrene on the trim, this will allow me to pour more resin there, to make it stronger and thicker.



Not wanting to waste resin on the windows that I will cut open, I used plasticine to fill them out.
I then poured more resin in to the roof, makin the windows more sturdy. I also cut the windows open, but, alas, as I edited these photos, I accidentally deleted the pictures of this work.. Now, you need to take my word on this, or read further..



I officially HATE this! The original 'Caddy came in one full chassis, and my lenghtened version needs to do the same!



I attached bolts on the resin doors and casted more resin on the rear of the chassis, to make the bolts sink in, and form a solid wall, just next to the rear tyres. I did this with the chassis and floor together, so that the tires DO move afterwards... I also filled the plastic trims on the sides of the 'Caddy, to make the smooth lines on the Ecto..



Then, the whole chassis, togehter with the roof, went to have a sponge bath with gray primer..



The bondo fillings in the rear sides are ulgy, I know, but they will be off...



After sanding the sides smooth, I taped a piece of styrene strip, leftover from work before, to the sides.



To make the contour lines for the red paint...



The lines were then cut, so there is a groove on the edge of the red paint and the white. Here, you can almost see it..



I then taped the roof to the chassis. This was done so that I could accurately scribe the lines for the rear doors..



The doors were scribed on both sides. Note that these rear door do not open on the complete model. The front ones do, and I am hoping to make the rear openable too. But, that is work to be done AFTER the basic work is done.



I know that you want to see a glimpse of the engine on this model. The engine is fully painted, and detailed, I won't need to do anything on it.

Does this appease your appetite...?

I do need, however, some detail pictures of the new 1/18 model, namely on the roof rack, and the hood of the model. I have noticed that there are two rectangles on the hood. I need pictures of these so that I can add them to my canddy.

Thanks for watching, more to follow, hopefully soon!

[06VenomGT]

Okay Everyone, all togethet now, "Oooohhh....Hhhaaaaaaa"! THIS IS AWESOME!!!

[KCGhostbuster]

Just....


Wow.

[danbuster365]

you have done a fantastic job , i am really impressed with the details and the time you have put towrds this to make this perfect great job

[egie]

Amaaaaaazing!!!!!!!

Sent from my SGH-T759 using Ghostbusters Fans on Android

[CaptCyan]

I do need, however, some detail pictures of the new 1/18 model, namely on the roof rack, and the hood of the model. I have noticed that there are two rectangles on the hood. I need pictures of these so that I can add them to my canddy.

A better source is the Equiptment section on this very site. Plenty of real Ecto pictures to study. Those rectangles you mention are vents.

http://www.gbfans.com/image.php?url=/im ... 31/111.jpg

BTW, I'm mailing those decals out tomorrow...I added a few things to the package.

[darthbuster]

Awesome update!

[Dave McFly]

you, you earned it

[Daniel]

:0 No words but admiration!!

[Trip]

Epic. Brilliant. Amazing.

Truly good work

[nick-a-tron]

I love this kind of stuff! Simply amazing work.

[Agent Gibbs]

good lord! this is amazing!!!!

[Filandrius]

Okay I'm hooked. MORE PLEASE

[chibigear]

Heh, thanks for the kind words... Coming from the community, and masters of propbuilding, I really feel humbled.

you, you earned it

Thanks, my first crunch, ever.

Sorry for the lack of updates, the weather is so poor that I have not been able to pull out a white spray... That, and the 1:1 Containment Unit project, I am up to my elbows on work...

I intend to make some progress on this come next weekend, as my previous plans were cancelled due to friend's illness.

But, for all of you addicts, CaptCyan sent me a packet for this project....


Here is a teaser...



By the way, the local TV channel 4 is showing a good choise for Friday matiea... So, tomorrow every ghosthead in Finland is treated with, what else, Ghostbusters...

Stay tuned, more on the weekend...

[dfak2009]

Awesome progress man, take it slow coz either way were all eating up this thread piece by piece!!!!

Also hope your friend get's better soon

Keep up the good work

Ps this is the most awesome thread on GBFANS right now!!!

[chibigear]

Thanks!

The weather here in Finland has been playing tricks on me, an hindered this project a bit. For twoo weeks there has been snow, in every kind of form coming from the sky, and, as the sky cleared, in came the frost...

I started painting the caddy white, but as I have no access to spraybooth, I need to do it at home. So, the weather does matter.. I did a quick, even spray with white on the outside, but as the spray dried, the surface of the paint cracked.. I guess that the temperature did not work with the paint... Being below -15 at the celcius scale...

Now, there is a nice, frackled white paint on the whole surface of the Caddy... You can guess how happy I am with it, sanding it smooth again and painting it again... Well, that is what you get when trying to paint something in cold weathers....

I really need to get me a good place to work on the paint job. You deserve the best I can do..

Sorry, no pictures this time, they would be so ugly that you'd have bad dreams. Yes, the paint did react to the cold just THAT bad...

[darthbuster]

Awesome progress man, take it slow coz either way were all eating up this thread piece by piece!!!!

Also hope your friend get's better soon

Keep up the good work

Ps this is the most awesome thread on GBFANS right now!!!

Ditto!!!