Holtzmann's Workbench

Holtzmann and Proton Pack Cosplay Blog

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Pack Build Post #1: Dimensions and References

I’ve done quite a bit of research on the GB 2016 proton pack, which is sometimes called the “reboot”,  “answer the call”, “ATC”, or "Feig" pack (you know, if you use the google).  I’ve put together a thorough parts/shopping list for the things that don’t necessarily need to be custom built (which I will post later). For now, here are the most useful and helpful resources I relied on when building my pack:

Dimensions of the Pack, from Paul Feig:

Dimensions of the thrower, from Paul Feig: 

*Hint: Working from this photo is awkward since the top and side views are facing different directions. Before posting this up on my project board in the garage, I printed the picture, cut it in half, made the top and side views face the same way, then taped it back together. 

Some parts dimensions / How big do I make those circles in the middle / What about all the custom-sized boxes:

High-res photos of the pack on display at ComiCon 2015, from Collider.com... are posted as a photo set in the next post. These are super useful when you get stuck... just click on any photo and zoom in to see the full high-res detail. It’s like taking a magnifying glass to any component of the pack.

Insides of the pack / Version 1.0 / Heavy metal concert pack / What the heck do I put under that colander thingy:

GB Fans reboot proton pack forum discussions (it’s tedious to find things... but it’s a wealth of knowledge, nonetheless): 

http://www.gbfans.com/forum/search.php?keywords=reboot+proton+pack

Salty Parabolas: Holtzmann Builders FB group (I could not have done ANY of this without these wonderful people): 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/saltyparabolas

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Expandable high-res photos. Click and zoom in! 

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ClexaCon 2017

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Here's a few more highlights from ClexaCon. Pro shoot pics coming soon!

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My favorite character from the movie? The Proton Pack! I have a lot to say about the pack, about researching it, planning it, making it, failing at making it, and nevertheless persisting. Oh, and logistics, of course! Including *drumroll* a SA parts list (with links for shopping)!

Coming soon…

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Ghostbusters Uniform 1.0

I threw this uniform together in less than a week right before Halloween and haven’t updated it (yet). 

I planned to use a pre-made one for Halloween, but when it arrived I found out it was sized to a ½ toddler, ½ grown woman. In other words, it had inhuman proportions. So, I ordered the last khaki coverall I could find (it was Dickies Men’s size XL) and went to work. 

I tore the whole thing apart, cut half of it out every-which-way, and sewed it back together so that it fit. Seriously, I could have put 3 of me in the Mens XL. 

I also moved the chest pockets to the butt and set aside the butt pockets to make cargo pockets. I created a SAish chest pocket from some of the excess/removed material.

I’ve never sewn before. This is ridiculous.

Then I added orange stripes using 1.5″ 3M sewable reflective tape. I had to sew most of it by hand since my sewing machine doesn’t reach inside the arms and legs very well. This took F O R E V E R. (But I did get better at hand stitches...) 

Then I shortened the zipper and put it back in, and added a Holtzmann name tag and an SA GB patch (both purchased on Etsy). I used iron on patches because I was so sick of hand stitching that damn orange tape. 

The uniform turned out okay, but there’s a lot I want to change about it. I have plans for a uniform 2.0, of course.  Maybe that will happen someday if I ever manage to stop wasting all my time tinkering on the proton pack. HA! 

Anyway, here’s the suit in action:

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Screw U pendant: 

Circle is a 2" PVC pipe, cut and sanded 

U is from Michael’s, two pieces glued together with wood glue and serifs sanded off

Screw is from the pile of random screws in my garage. 

Once assembled, I painted it with metallic paint, then sanded everything, then repeated that process countless times until the PVC no longer looked like PVC, then I aged it with rubbed black paint. TA-DA!

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Holtzmann's Cescos

Finding Holtzy’s iconic Cesco safety glasses wasn’t easy. Besides setting up an eBay alert if someone posted them for sale, I also searched eBay nearly daily for more than a month using vague and obscure terms. I found a few close contenders that were similar brands, but never saw the Cescos. 

Then one day I stumbled across these pair, listed under a vague header, being sold for about $20 (waaayyyy less than most of the similar brands). SCORE!

Here are the before photos, as they arrived from the ebay seller: 

I refurbished the frames using Bartender’s Friend, buffed out (some) of the scratches with jewelery polisher and glass wax, and replaced the plastic side shields with stainless steel mesh from a colander. 

And here are the after shots:

To make them yellow, I tinted the glass with vinyl headlights tint (purchased on Amazon).

And here’s the Cesco’s debut at ClexaCon 2017!  WayHaught was impressed, and that’s enough for me.