ECTO 1A Construction and Completion (Picture Heavy)

[Guest]

So about three weeks ago, i started my AMT 1/25 scale 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor limo-style endloader combination car...also know as ECTO 1A from the film Ghostbusters 2. I then had to go to Ireland for a week, so on my return i started the build again [ATTACH]61355.vB[/ATTACH]. If you've seen any of my past work, i normally do Star Wars models or some WW2 figures. But this was the first car model that i have attempted.

The box contains the car body, interior shell, underbody, 3 sprues of white plastic pieces, 1 sprue of chrome, 1 clear, small bag of red pieces, 4 rubber tyres, 2 axles, assembly instructions and decal sheet.

Decal sheet has both ECTO 1 and ECTO 1A decals, so either car can be made. Although, the rear step runner board that is included with the kit, is only found on ECTO 1A (Ghostbusters 2). Also the information board fixings that are moulded to the roof of the car body, are only found on ECTO 1A. So these have to be cut/grinded away to build ECTO 1.

CONSTRUCTION:

I primed, white sprayed and then sprayed the red fin flash on the body [ATTACH]61356.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61357.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61358.vB[/ATTACH].

Next i painted the interior of the car. I used Humbrol maskol to mask the floor off, so i could spray the interior black [ATTACH]61359.vB[/ATTACH].

The underside of the car was painted and then weathered [ATTACH]61360.vB[/ATTACH].

Next i moved onto the wheels, rear runner and the various parts that make up the roof rack assembly [ATTACH]61361.vB[/ATTACH].

I again used the maskol on the wheels. ECTO 1A has white wheels with a chrome centre, whereas ECTO 1 has chrome wheels with whitewall tyres

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The sides of the rear step runner was also masked off with the maskol and the painted red [ATTACH]61365.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61366.vB[/ATTACH].

The kit does not come with any extra interior parts. There are no Proton Packs etc, so i decided to scratch build and paint a stretcher bed/rack and 4 Proton Packs from plasticard and some round and square plastic tubing i have [ATTACH]61367.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61368.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61369.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61370.vB[/ATTACH].

I used a rubber band to recreate the Proton wand hose (i'm sure there is a proper name for it) and i used some filler and superglue to hold this in place

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The rack with Proton Packs were placed into the interior and the dashboard unit was also completed [ATTACH]61373.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61374.vB[/ATTACH].

The roof rack was painted and assembled [ATTACH]61375.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61376.vB[/ATTACH].

Up until this point i haven't used my airbrush but i recently purchased a pot of Tamiya's Smoke (X-19) paint. So i used this paint in my airbrush to give the side and rear windows a light tint. I used a 50/50 mix with thinners and the smoke paint [ATTACH]61377.vB[/ATTACH].

Finally i applied the decals to the car [ATTACH]61378.vB[/ATTACH].

COMPLETION: I assembled the various parts and gave the car some slight weathering with some MIG Neutral Wash and i also used some Tamiya weathering dust. And a backdrop of the firehouse (8 Hook and Ladder at 14 North Moore Street, off West Broadway in the Tribeca area of New York)

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So there you have it folks. This was my first car model and i'm very happy with it and how it turned out. The only real problem i found, is that the clear window piece is a little hard to seperate from the sprue and as a result, there was a little chip on one side on the window. But apart from that all the pieces fit very well and it was a really enjoyable build. Hope you all enjoyed the post and the photos. Thanks for looking

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[Guest]

I love this, something a bit different, very well done and would look good an anyones display shelf...5s from me Andrew.

Danny

[mossiepilot]

Beautifully done Andrew. The scratch built proton packs look just the job.

Top work and 5 stars.

Tony.

[Guest]

Sweet. Now we got both cars :-P

Love what you did to the interior. Top work!

Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2

[papa 695]

Great result Andrew 5 stars from me

[Andy2035]

Hi Andrew,

This look's like a really nice kit, I do like what you have done with it, a good 5***** from me...

How did you do the weathering on the underbelly, and as already said, the scratch built back packs really top it off...

Andy...

[Guest]

Hi Andrew,This look's like a really nice kit, I do like what you have done with it, a good 5***** from me...

How did you do the weathering on the underbelly, and as already said, the scratch built back packs really top it off...

Andy...

Many thanks Andy

The weathering on the underside of the car was a process of sparying the underside black, then i painted the exhaust boxes and pipes with Tamiya Titan Silver (X-32). Once this was dry, i used a blusher brush to dry brush the whole underside with the follow paints: Tamiya Titan Silver (X-32), Tamiya Flat Brown (XF-10), Tamiya Red Brown (XF-64) and Tamiya Buff (XF-57)

[Guest]

Many thanks to you all. I've also noticed that as i have two of these kits (i've planned to do Ecto 1 as well), the rubber tires in the other set actually have Good Year moulded onto the tire. This seemed to be missing on the set i first opened. Strange but true!

[Guest]

Really love the weathering on this... how did you dull down the chrome parts? Just matte clear coat?

[Guest]

Really love the weathering on this... how did you dull down the chrome parts? Just matte clear coat?

Thanks Dopp.

No, i use MIG Neutral wash which is good for light coloured surfaces. If you shake the bottle and then leave it to rest for 5 minutes, then the wash liquid will be fairly transparent.This give a nice dulling effect but also gives that "i haven't washed the car in a week or two" look. If you shake the bottle and then use the wash right away, then the wash will be darker. There is also a MIG Dark wash but this works better on dark surfaces.

[Guest]

10out 0f 10 mate Amazing job you've done .

[Guest]

Holy cow that is GREAT! Awesome job and you, man, are extremely talented!! Fine job. I know a couple of Ghostbuster fanatics that, I'm guessing, would pay a ton for a model of that quality.

[Guest]

Holy cow that is GREAT! Awesome job and you, man, are extremely talented!! Fine job. I know a couple of Ghostbuster fanatics that, I'm guessing, would pay a ton for a model of that quality.

Many thanks Barry

[Guest]

Many thanks Barry

you're welcome, meant to put in my post that the weathering effects you put on the car a very cool and realistic. The way you rusted the chrome bumpers is simply killer! i need to learn how to do that. Are techniques like those found in the "Tutorials" section?

[Guest]

you're welcome, meant to put in my post that the weathering effects you put on the car a very cool and realistic. The way you rusted the chrome bumpers is simply killer! i need to learn how to do that. Are techniques like those found in the "Tutorials" section?

Yes, you'll normally find them there, or in the Hints and Tips section. I used MIG Neutral Wash to dull down the chrome.