By bromie
#4843467
I never know what to say at the start of a new thread, so I'll just get straight to it.

I'd always wanted to build a second trap to go with my first build, and after a bit of 'research' (watching GB2 on a loop for a few days) I had a good idea of what look I was going for. This also had the side-effect of making me appreciate GB2 a lot more, but...anyway...


So, obviously I was going to use Nick-a-Tron's kit again:

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One of the things I like about his kit, other than the fact that the casts are virtually perfect, is that everything fits like a jigsaw. I did do some sanding and filling anyway, but that was more for me than anything else.


I'd decided that I was going to do a proper rail like the GB1 hero, but in order to do that I had to modify the trap body. The GB2 hero seems to be a new build rather than a refit of the previous film's stuff, so it had some small differences to the GB1 version.

Firstly, I had to widen the trap body to accommodate the cassette, because straight from the box it's a fairly tight fit against the sides. To do this i used a couple of pieces of styrene (1 mm thick), cut to fit the back wall and base of the trap body:

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On the second pic you can just about see the screw holes I'd put through the side wall of the trap.


This time around I used countersunk screws (4-40), screwed straight into the resin without inserts. I'd found the inserts less secure than I'd liked on the last build, and as I knew these screws weren't coming out again they were very secure.

I didn't take any pictures of this part of the assembly, but I just screwed the side pieces to the base with long countersunk screws, and attached the back part of the trap in the same way.


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(You can kind of see the styrene pieces between the side walls of the trap)


Due to the lack of reference pics for the GB2 hero I had to assume the cartridge track was the same as the GB1 hero, so based my build off those reference photos.

I looked at noslliT's build for reference (http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... 819#p92558) to see what thickness of metal was used for the track. I can't remember the exact size without looking, but in order to get the clean look I wanted I compromised and used 2 mm plates.

I did plenty of measuring, and in the end settled for these widths:

75 mm (base)
15 mm (lower rail piece)
20 mm (upper rail piece)
25 mm and 35 mm (bottom of cartridge)

These were all 180 mm long, and when fitted up against the back wall gave me the look I wanted similar to the reference photos. The reason I went for these sizes is that I don't have the tools to cut a length of metal with a completely straight edge. Even with filing, etc., I'd never have been completely happy, so I picked these sizes as they were easily found at an online metal shop (may have been eBay).

As you can see I used slightly bigger countersunk screws ('CNTRSK HEAD SLOTTED, ZINC PLATED, 4 mm - two different lengths, from B&Q) as I wanted extra strength.


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Here I'd started work on the cartridge. You can see the track is partially finished, and is attached from the inside with nuts and washers (well, I didn't have any 4-40 nuts, so used the last of the inserts I had left).

As I was going for full hero looks I needed to attach the 15 pin connector, so I dremelled out the rear of that plate so that the connecter was flush with the outside face of the cartridge. It's not pretty, but the outside is perfect.

Those screw holes are for strength. I epoxied the rear plate to the cartridge, so the more surface area an adhesive has to bond to the stronger the bond. It's the same method I used on my hero thrower's rear handle. Probably overkill but I like to know that everything is SOLID.

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And the matching connector in the trap body. This required a bit more work - I had to dremel out a section of the back panel so that the connector could fit flush, yet still line up with the cartridge properly.

I cut the side 'wings' off this part of the connector, as they would have affected the way I was attaching it. I used Apoxie Sculpt and pressed the connector in place. After lining the cartridge's connector up properly I made sure that that everything was perfect, and left it to set. When cured, I sat the trap upright and poured two part epoxy into the remaining holes. As it was fairly liquid it flowed into the irregular shape and settled smoothly.

Again this was also for strength - as the epoxy was able to run in and around irregular shapes it gave it an increased strength over something like a perfect square, for example. It gave it resistance to being dislodged along its axis as well rotationally (again, similar to my repair of the front handle of my hero thrower).

Once this was dry I used more Apoxie Sculpt and smoothed off this section, as well as all the seams and front section of the trap (followed by plenty of sanding).


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This next bit was a NIGHTMARE! I spent so much time looked at the court room scene and the jogger scene (I believe these are the same trap) to decide on the correct stripe placement. So, after plenty of masking tape and shouting, I finally got everything the way I wanted.

My preferred method is to paint the doors in black first, then mask up and spray the yellow. I make sure the masking tape is secure along the edges and haven't had a problem yet with paint bleeding through.

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There's nothing I love more than seeing the yellow and black stripes finally painted :D They're a little bit untidy here but I always go over them anyway. I just use a craft knife and a Sharpie to touch up any edges that need 'sharpening.' Also, I'm eventually going to weather the trap, so there's no need for absolute perfection.

Oh, you can also see the brass rod I used again to attach the doors. This is simply cut into a couple of small pieces and placed into drilled holes (my drill was slightly off so you can see the slight bulge where the rod is a bit too close to the surface of the resin).


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And here is everything finally painted. I'll show some more pics in a sec but you can see what I did to the cartridge here. Like the GB2 trap, I rounded the top edges, and used some Apoxie Sculpt on the rear posts to give a welded look. Not perfect, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out.


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The reference pics showed black-looking wheels on the courtroom trap, so I sourced some black skate bearings rather than the usual stainless steel. I really like the look of them, and think it gives the trap a meaner look.

I used (#6-32 I think) countersunk screws and black painted washer to attach the wheels. As there was a bit of 'give,' I used some left over thrower tubing and masking tape to fill the gap. The inside diameter of the tubing is a perfect fit for the screw, so it's all nice and secure.

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The only downside with Nick's kit, I think, is with the wheels. It's impossible to get the wheels sat at the right height without digging into the resin like you see here. Otherwise the wheels are sat too high and don't look right. It's nothing major, and it can always be filled if required. It's going to spend it's life on a shelf anyway, so as long as the side profile's OK I'm not too bothered about it at the minute.

Also I seem to have messed up the countersinking - there's a little bit of 'chatter' on the holes underneath. Again, could maybe be hidden with weathering but it's on the bottom anyway.


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The finished pics. Here the track has been fitted for it's final time, so everything has been lined up and worn in. The bare metal track was as smooth as butter, but once it's painted everything gets a little tight for space. A bit of 'use' gets everything worn in, although I wonder if a bit of Fullers Earth or talc would smooth things out?

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Sorry for the quality of some of these pics but it was a bit bright through the window.

The battery box is secured with the two screws in the base and two screws by the 15-pin connector. Once I source some metal plating I'll use a dab of epoxy on the screw threads inside the battery box to permanently attach it. The top handle has a (#10-24) screw, screwed straight into the handle post. The top hole is drilled to allow the screw to sink part-way into the handle, and some epoxy inside the screw hole before tightening secures everything.

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See what I mean about the wheels sitting 'right'? I just like this look a lot more for some reason. You can also see where I've smoothed out the seams at the front, as the courtroom trap seemed to have a 'one-piece' construction.

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I'm quite pleased with how this turned out. My sanding before painting gave the connector a weathered look I quite like, and for painting I just masked a straight line before touching up the back panel. Came out nice and neat.

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And the cartridge. This shows the 'weld' a bit better, and although it's not perfect I'm happy with how it came out.

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Like the trap rails, I tried to emulate the screw locations seen on the GB1 hero. It's not perfect, but it looks the part, and is nice and secure.

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Just waiting for plating! The holes are drilled for the ear screws but I haven't fitted them yet. The front indicator is attached with a screw, inserted at an angle and secured through a thick part of resin at the front of the cartridge. The ears themselves are each secured with two screws into the indicator.

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The final picture for now...

It doesn't show much detail due to the light, but you can just make out the height of the cartridge in comparison to the trap body. The 2 mm plating I used for the rails gives it the raised look the courtroom trap has, so I'm kind of glad I decided to compromise!


All I'm waiting for now is some proper-sized GB2 plating, and once I have that I can finish attaching all the final bits. For now I have painted the front knobs black, but will finish them off when I attach the plates. Then I'll hopefully take some better pictures! :roll:

Thanks again for reading! :wink:

Dan.
By damster117
#4843476
Great stuff it's amazing how close both our builds are! you've used the same thickness plating for the track as me too! :) As I'm going for a gb1 hero with mine I had to chop the base piece down to 14mm depth in order to a accommodate the thickness of the track. I'm looking at widening the trap body also as I'm going to be adding the side detailing to the cartridge at some point.
By bromie
#4845196
They were just machine screws, from B&Q. This is exactly what it says on the packet:

MACHINE SCREW, CNTRSK HEAD SLOTTED, ZINC PLATED, 4 mm

(If it helps the 20mm length ones had this code on the front: AVF-853388)

I bought two different lengths for where the extra layers of metal were. The holes I drilled were just bigger than the screws themselves, so they had a strong 'grab' on the resin. I might have also used a tiny dab of two-part epoxy, I can't remember.

You can tell the strength of the fixing by the loudness of the scream it makes on the way in to the resin! :wink:
By damster117
#4845239
That's the ones I'll use then :) - I came out of B&Q with quite a selection of sizes and types to try to get the best ones appearance and fit wise! I got them in 5mm too as they had more lengths in stock but they looked a little large. That's where I got my aluminium track from too incidentally.

I know what you mean by the scream! Even when you tap the thread it's noisy towards the end of screwing the bolts in tight- just finished putting the sides and back of the trap body together and after 16 holes drilled and tapped i'm done with tapping threads for the moment!

Still on the subject of bolts, on your last build what size bolts did you use for the large side plates? I ordered #6 as that's what the general consensus seems to be is the correct size, but they look too small compared with the nick-a-tron moulded in ones. I've put a comparison photo in my build thread to show the difference.
By bromie
#4845316
I used #6-32 button head screws for the side plates. Unfortunately I can't compare them to Nick's kit as I never used the included side plates!

These are the screws as seen on my trap:

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It's very hard to tell proper sizes from reference photos as the perspective can throw things off. For example, here are a couple of pics I used for reference for both of my trap builds:

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The perspective of the photograph can make things look different depending on the angle. Also, differences in reference points like plating size and labels can throw you off.

I think on my build at the top the screws look huge, compared to the lower two pics where the lighting makes them look smaller! You can kind of see the screw size on my trap in comparison to the #4 socket cap screws in the smaller side plates.

I'd say check that you've definitely been sent #6 screws (try using a #6 Allen key and see if it fits - sounds stupid but it'll be a different size to the #4 and #8 screw heads!).

Let me know how you get on!
Kingpin liked this
By gold333
#4845317
I think those are two different traps in the last two pics. The cartridge sits higher than the trap sides in the first picture yet is at the same height in the second picture.
By bromie
#4845318
Yeah, sorry didn't clarify.

The GB2 trap (the 'Courtroom trap') is on top, and the GB1 trap (the 'Sedgwick trap') is below.


The Sedgwick trap was not the GB1 'hero,' which was actually the Propbay trap (and was used in the containment unit scene with the removable cartridge).

This trap's only purpose was to roll out and open and close the doors (with animated lights), so it sits much lower as there is most likely no removable cartridge and, therefore, track to sit high up on.

Like you said the GB2 trap appears to to be a different build, as everything seems to fit differently and the cartridge at least looks to be a brand new fabrication. The cartridge is definitely different as it has rounded edges (folded into a cuboid from one piece of metal?) and the door tabs are a lot higher. There's some...thing...under the front of the cartridge which appears to hold it in place (could be connected to the handle release mechanism). I also noticed in the Blu-Ray that there appears to be a green wire trailing back from this spot at the front of the trap, but I haven't got a clue what that could be for... :?: The front plating is also a different size and shape, and the wheels appear to be black.

My GB1 build in the two pics above was based on the appearance of the Sedgwick trap, and my GB2 trap was based on the Courtroom trap. I included the differences into this build, so my second trap sits high like the GB2 trap, has black wheels, etc.


The best comparison would be between the Courtroom trap and the Propbay trap, as these are the two heroes.
By damster117
#4845382
I think you might be right in that the lighting/perspective is making the bolt heads look larger than they actually are, especially given how small the bolts look in the second set of pictures. I've just tried the 2mm allen key listed for #6 bolts and they do indeed seem to be the correct size bolts. I think i'll go with the #6 bolts and see how it looks.

Thanks for the advice on the track screws. Just took about five bags of different size screws back to B&Q! I had the same size screws as you're using already as it turns out, but where i've cut down my base I had to buy shorter 16mm ones instead. I've tried a test hole in a resin off cut and have found a 3.5mm drill bit allows the screws to self tap perfectly :) Lesson learned there as I spent a small fortune buying thread taps for the imperial screws and it seems i could have got away without them! doh!
By bromie
#4845410
Haha I know what you mean!

On my first build I used brass inserts everywhere, but hated them as they never seemed very secure. This time around I thought if certain parts are never going to come apart again (like the body), then why don't I just screw straight into the resin?

I'm not sure why Nick's kit screws are bigger, because if anything I'd expect the resin to shrink on curing. You may get an answer - he loves a good build so I'm sure he'll be around your thread at some point!
By gold333
#4851453
So much respect for this build.

It's threads like these that make me want to see clear comparison pictures between a GB1 trap and GB2 trap. As in top view side by side, side view side by side, front, rear, etc. I don't think I've ever seen a 2 up pic like that.

Going by what I hear the GB1 trap was oversized, almost a third bigger than the GB2 trap?

If so, I kinda like the Gb2 trap size myself.
By bromie
#4851651
VS, goldie - thanks so much for the love! And VS, you don't know how many times I've been through your semi-hero thread! It's been one of my 'go-to' threads for the latest project obsession, being my own GB2 semi-hero pack.

I've just reminded myself to start posting photos, so I'll hopefully sort out the semi-hero thrower thread after this...

Goldie, the trap size depends on which trap you're talking about. The GB1 and GB2 heroes were technically the same size, as they were both (I assume, as there's not much info about the GB2 hero) full metal, 'working' builds.

From what I know, I don't think there were any full-on GB1 stunt traps like there were in GB2; they still seemed to be based off the full size trap (I could be completely wrong).

Following complaints from the actors (read: Bill Murray :roll: ), for GB2 some props were streamlined, and the stunt traps were created. The picture below shows one of those traps:

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You can see that it's has a shorter length than the hero traps (look at the front plating), and the whole trap was moulded, I think from fibreglass, as one piece (look behind the front ears - you can see that everything is moulded as one solid lump, with no separate cartridge).

These were used as background props as a lighter alternative when holstered on the belt, and as 'smokers' (that strange dotted line along the top of the right side wall is where the chemical smoke strips were applied to produce the effect).

The picture below is one of Jackdoud's. It shows (from left to right) a Matty trap, a scratch build and a screen used stunt trap. Unfortunately there's no hero to compare them with, but you can see the more compact size of the stunt traps, and that that's what Mattel used as a basis for their trap.

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So technically, the GB2 trap was undersized, but I kinda prefer the big chunky look of the full size trap... :wink:
By bromie
#4890993
Hey Damster, sorry for not replying but I wasn't on the forum for a while because I was having trouble getting hold of parts and kind of gave up!

Although I didn't stop building completely...

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(Points to the first person to recognise this...) :wink:

Anyway, you're build's coming along a treat! We started off similarly but you're definitely inching ahead!

I've started on this trap again, and have just finished sanding the newly-added cartridge details (I used your tip and went to Wickes!). I'll start to add some pics as soon as I'm happy with it.

I also managed to speak to Umori and may possibly have some plating on the way. This was the biggest holdup for me as it's difficult to find someone to do them, and I wouldn't be happy with the finish if I did them by hand.

The only other part I'm having trouble getting hold of is the red lens (and a thrower barrel, but I'm not moving back to the semi-hero pack until I've finished these traps). Even if you live in the US it seems like you have to buy 1000 of anything to get hold of one part! :-?

I did manage to get some real trap knobs, so I now have GB1 hero knobs, GB2 round knobs plus Raytheon knobs with accurate stripe! I'm renovating my GB1 trap (ordered some new parts from Nick) and have a Mk3 kit ready to go (for a GB2 stunt), so luckily found places in the US who ship over here. If you want I can dig out the sites where I bought each type; they were straightforward to order.

I might actually have a metal GB1 knob spare if you need it?
Conqueror_Worm liked this
By damster117
#4891064
Wow that's quite a build! I'll confess I have no idea what it is though!

Great to hear you're heading back to your trap build! I'm glad you found my diy tip useful :) I stumbled across the solution when I looked out my window and saw my own house vents!

Thanks :) I'm sure you'll catch me up I've hit plenty of snags in my build and I'm a bit weary of it at the moment!

If you could give me the links to the knobs I'd appreciate it, if you have one spare even better! I have the Raytheon side knob and skirt but none of the front cartridge knobs mine are all resin.

I think I might actually have a spare red lens- I have a feeling they came in a pack of two but I'll have to check my parts box in the shed tomo to be sure.
By bromie
#4917430
YES!!! 1 point to AndFisher! Finally, another Nightmare on Elm Street fan!

I now use the house as a stand for my NOES 1 replica glove from Jameson Knapp at Dark Dream Design. I suggest you check out his site Dark Dream Design if you're a fan of the movie props; his work is amazing.

Back to Ghostbusters, I'll be updating my build threads soon as I've finished the GB2 traps, and the GB1 trap just needs its front indicator.

I also want to continue my GB2 pack build but I've just found out that Nick-a-Tron props isn't selling parts any more. He made a fantastic GB2 semi-hero shell with a genuine-looking 'hand-made' feel so I'm not sure what I'm going to do now...

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