Talk about the your favorite Ghostbusters Collectibles from Mattel, Kenner, and more.
#4896336
I've got some ideas in mind for tweaks to the DST rooftop temple dio.

First up... adding the temple doors.

Down the road, I may actually revisit this with a 3D scanned and printed version, but for now it is just a trompe l'oeil effect.

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I took a photo of my recast Venky temple doors and had it printed smaller so it would fit into the DST opening.

The doors were 15.5" by 20.5", and needed to fit to a space in the DST dio that is 295mm by 304mm. In other words, a large rectangle needed to fit into a space that was almost a perfect square.

I took three approaches to this. I stretched it horizontally, but didn't like the squashed look it gave. I did a second version where I kept the center portion the correct ratio, and stretched just the sides.

This version is simply cropped at the top and bottom to remove some of the stairs and lines radiating at the top. Though this meant the loss of a quarter of the full image, it keeps the image true to the original.

I had all three images printed onto a thin plastic material at Office Depot for a total of of $4.33 and then spray-mounted them to foamcore.

I'm on the fence about cutting it down the centerline so the doors can 'open'.

Alex
Last edited by Alex Newborn on July 30th, 2017, 10:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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#4896339
I've also finally taken my first foray into 3D printing because of this diorama.

Zak and I took a class at the library over the summer and I was introduced to Tinkercad, which I am still learning.

I actually own most of a second DST diorama, and was trying to find a cheaper alternative to the missing pieces.

The obelisk seen here was a test. I have since refined the file to get the details more correct and eliminate the need for support materials, and will be printing the revised version soon.

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This obelisk only cost $4.20 to print. A lot thriftier than buying duplicate action figures at $25 a pop.

Also, notice that the original model from the movie had two larger obelisks, which DST eliminated from their design.

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I'm working on those in Tinkercad now.

Alex
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#4896497
Going back a few years, there were apparently plans at one time to have interlocking bases for the NECA Ghostbusters figures...

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... but that plan never materialized and they only produced four figures, none of whom were Ghostbusters.

So when the DST figures came out and I had a chance to buy someone's dio pieces for a pretty decent price, I decided to get them to showcase my NECA figures and my Venky door.

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But actually, that set of dio pieces had a couple of extra parts... they just had no mirror image.

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So I bit the bullet and bought another Select Walter Peck, just to have the other missing front part.

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It still needed two more obelisks, so that was why I investigated the 3D printing idea.

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Both my dios assembled (the staircase pieces were omitted for space here).

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But I think I've decided against using that front portion of the dio after all.

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At least for displaying the Venky pieces and the NECA figures.

I guess a case of 'less is more'.

Alex
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#4896676
Reviewing the movie carefully, I noticed for the first real time that the temple door splits into SIX vertical segments when it opens. Right after Gozer says "Then die!" you get a quick glimpse of how the three-on-a-side door panels have retracted into the inner temple.

These further appear to be broken horizontally into twelve segments when we see the aftermath of the stream-crossing solution. And from the way they are lying, they seem to have a triangular cross-section. I'm contemplating the best way to make those.

For the time being, I took the plunge and cut apart one of my foamcore-and-photo mockups into six more-or-less equidistant segments.

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Now to add some dollops of marshmallow innards everywhere.

Alex
Last edited by Alex Newborn on August 9th, 2017, 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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#4896679
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This was my first time using some U-mold pellets that I bought when my Radio Shack was going out of business a couple of years ago. I wasn't too impressed with it, but for organic gloppy shapes, I guess it works.

Alex
Kingpin liked this
#4897197
Wade alerted me that our local comic shop had gotten in the Marshmallow Winston figures, so I kept the sucrose-covered diorama out a bit longer.

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I've been customizing several DST figures lately, too, also inspired by Wade's examples (to the chagrin of my wallet, though several of these were available under ten dollars each, loose on eBay).

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Some of the figures had such high opening bids that it was actually more cost effective to spend a few extra dollars on those and get the deluxe versions for extra diorama pieces.

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Kinda makes me wish that their attachment methods allowed for more modular design options.

Also, for lack of a better thread to post this in, check out the delicate surgery I performed on Egon's closed fist, separating the thumb so he could hold the PKE Meter. (Yet another needed modification Wade brought to my attention.)

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I had to use an X-acto knife to resculpt, and give the illusion that the forefinger and middle finger were separate underneath the thumb, though it was solid flat plastic after the initial thumb cut.

Alex
CaptCyan liked this
#4897796
I wound up with two large prints of a photo of my Temple door by accident, as detailed here...



... so I bought some inexpensive poster frames at Wal-Mart.

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But the 24x36 was eleven inches too tall for the nearly square large print.

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Likewise the 18x24 frame was too big for the small one.

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I've used these frames for several projects in the past, and have always wondered how hard it would be to cut them down to perfect custom sizes.

Turns out, not that hard at all.

I cut the cardboard first. I had drawn my lines of where to cut when I realized the placement would leave the attached hanger off-center, so I repositioned the art atop it and re-drew the lines. That meant making two cuts instead of one, but it retains functionality.

I was dreading cutting the plexiglass, as a plexi-cutter that I bought for a different project several years ago (the blue-handled blade in the below pic) has never given me the results I wanted. Turns out, this Wal-Mart frame plexiglass is so thin you can cut it with a pair of scissors.

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Cutting the black plastic frames down at that 45-degree angle was a minor learning curve, but I did better on the larger one after experimenting on the little one first. In hindsight, a miter box that is under my kitchen sink probably would have been much more precise than freehanding the cuts.

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The end results:

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The reflective plexi makes a perfect photo angle tricky, but you get the idea.

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I'm curious now to translate this process to crafting a larger custom frame. I have a GB one-sheet signed by Aykroyd which is a quarter-inch too large for the biggest Wal-Mart frame.

Alex
#4903227
Hi!

I didn't see this until just now.

The pic links are all dead, one of my Pet Peeves, but if you want to check out the album of pics on my Facebook which were used in this thread, here's the link.

https://www.facebook.com/alex.newborn/m ... 804&type=3

Not sure if they show up if we're not friends, so let me know.

Alex
#4905379
I bought the Diamond Select Gotham Bruce Wayne figure just for the bookcase accessory to go with the Librarian Ghost.

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If you're reading this after the links inevitably die, scroll up for the link to my FB album in which they can all be found.

Alex
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