SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

Ghostbusters Ecto-1 conversion **finished**

2727 views
13 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Australia
Ghostbusters Ecto-1 conversion **finished**
Posted by OctaneOrange on Thursday, November 21, 2013 9:35 PM

I got the new release ecto-1a from Ghostbusters2, but i want to do the E1 from GB1. AMT's kit has the decals for E1, but none of the parts (cheapskates). conversion involves replacing most of the roof rack and all of the interior rear area.

i started by cutting out the plastic that is inside the framework of the roof rack. i (eventually) cut off the mounts for the flasher lights as well. I also decided to cut off the Freon tanks and replace them with aftermarket NOS tanks. i replaced the removed bars from the roof rack and also added missing ones from the rear part.

Here's some parts i made and the added missing struts.

After cutting off some of the boxes, i ended up replacing the entire floor section of the roof rack with flat styrene.

  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Australia
Posted by OctaneOrange on Thursday, November 21, 2013 9:40 PM

i built new side walls for the box. i also cut off the mounts visible below in the front section. i also removed the strobe and blank mounts.

I started attaching the various equipment shown here. in front you can see some of the parts. I used the restored Ecto-1 as a guide. Note cut off rear light mounts.

The dash i replaced the kit's square radar detector with a round one.

  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Australia
Posted by OctaneOrange on Thursday, November 21, 2013 9:45 PM

some of the gear installed on the roof rack. this includes the siren, strobe and red flasher. (on ecto-1a, the strobe is on the left-hand side).

Here is the tailights. i added foil to the left rear light, see the difference it makes.

Here's the near completed roof rack with decals.

  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Australia
Posted by OctaneOrange on Thursday, November 21, 2013 9:49 PM

Note that i bought a decal sheet of E1 from JT graphics, but this sheet is wrong. it appears they used a copy ecto from Barris or Ohrberg as their source. Most of the small decals are completely wrong (warning: trilobytes) wtf?

  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Australia
Posted by OctaneOrange on Thursday, November 21, 2013 9:52 PM

Here is the body after i removed all the unwanted mounting points (8 mounts and 7 holes)

  • Member since
    March 2006
Posted by TD4438 on Saturday, November 23, 2013 1:50 PM

I'll be watching this one.

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: California
Posted by SprueOne on Monday, November 25, 2013 3:16 PM

OO, You're really going all the way with this one 

Anyone with a good car don't need to be justified - Hazel Motes

 

Iron Rails 2015 by Wayne Cassell Weekend Madness sprueone

  • Member since
    February 2008
  • From: San Bernardino, CA
Posted by enemeink on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 11:27 AM

awesome. can't wait to see how this turns out

"The race for quality has no finish line, so technically it's more like a death march."
  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Australia
Posted by OctaneOrange on Thursday, November 28, 2013 6:10 PM

For ecto-1A, AMT used the full-width step rear bumper, which wasn't on the first movie version. i got a rear bumper from the sedan caddy and used it to correct the part. i didn't use all the bumper, as the convertible taillights are different. i cut it into pieces

and reassembled it with a small step under the license plate

I added the access ladder. scratchbuilt from styrene and added antennas from wire.

  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Australia
Posted by OctaneOrange on Thursday, December 5, 2013 6:19 PM

Final pictures now that i've finished it.

  • Member since
    August 2012
Posted by JimNTENN on Thursday, December 5, 2013 6:26 PM

I have that one but haven't started it yet. I'd love to go all out and do a superdetailed interior but from what I remember of the movies they showed very little from inside the car and I think that was just shots of the actors. I'm thinking about installing lights as well.

Current project(s): Hobby Boss: 1/72 F9F-2 Panther

                                  Midwest Products: Skiff(wood model)

                                  

  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Australia
Posted by OctaneOrange on Thursday, December 5, 2013 8:30 PM

If i was installing lights, i'd build it as Ecto-1A as the billboards really need illumination. I considered building an accurate interior, but you can't see much of it once built. If doing as GB2, the interior is fairly close, but would need to be completely redone to make it GB1. If you want to do a superdetailed interior, go to GBfans website to see photos of the actual movie cars. ("restoration project finished" is most useful)

www.gbfans.com/.../reference

  • Member since
    August 2012
Posted by JimNTENN on Thursday, December 5, 2013 8:39 PM

Thanks for the link. I just checked it out. I'll save it and refer to it when I build the Ecto. I'm sure I'll refer to this thread as well.

Current project(s): Hobby Boss: 1/72 F9F-2 Panther

                                  Midwest Products: Skiff(wood model)

                                  

  • Member since
    March 2006
Posted by TD4438 on Monday, December 16, 2013 2:47 AM

Well done.They look great together.

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.