Ghostbusters Ecto-1 by Polar Lights: Finished

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I started this one back in October of 2021 with the intent of it being my final build for the year. I thought, "Just a simple snap-together kit, should be no problem, right?". But I ended up jumping down the rabbit hole on this one. Not that it's a bad kit, it actually does what it does quite well. I just felt that the iconic Ecto-1 deserved more than Polar Lights gave it in this kit.

So I gave it more. For those who may be interested, there's a build thread. Here's a link.

There are a number of photos and I'm still working on writing the captions for them. So rather than wait and dump them on you all at once, I'll release them in blocks of four or five over the next couple of days.

Polar Lights Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Snap-Kit. This kit is a rather simplified version of the famous car from the movie. All the main features are there, just a less detailed version of them. I've made an effort to address most of these items in the hope of building it into a model that's more true to the one as seen in the movie.

 

One of the features I added are the louvered vents on the hood and rear door. I used Evergreen Styrene N-Scale clapboard siding.

 

Strangely enough, sanding the area to prep it for mounting the louvers revealed what seemed to be marks in the plastic where the louvers should be positioned. This was also true of the one on the rear door. That makes me wonder if there are allowances in the mold for the louvers to be cast into the body.

 

The antenna provided in the kit was between 2mm and 3mm thick making it almost 2" to 3" thick in scale. To me, that's just silly looking. So I replaced it with a bit of wire. 

 

That's all for now, I'll have more later.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[spencer1984]

Awesome work, I'm looking forward to the future pics!

[espo]

I like the extensive equipment detailing. 

[Captain Spaulding]

Great job on the build David.

[David G.]

23 hours ago, spencer1984 said:

Awesome work, I'm looking forward to the future pics!

Thank you Bill

15 hours ago, espo said:

I like the extensive equipment detailing. 

Thanks David, I wanted to get the equipment as correct as I could.

2 hours ago, Captain Spaulding said:

Great job on the build David.

Thanks Jason, I'm glad you like it.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Here's another quick set of Ecto-1 photos.

The clunky twin antennas on the red and white striped weather radar dome received bead wire replacements similar to the main whip.

 

Here's a shot of the louvered vent on the rear door, along with the fuel filler neck I fabricated and added.

 

More rear detail.

 

For as much trouble as I had with the chrome foil trim, I'm glad that it worked well on the tail fins and tail light spears.

 

That's all for this round, I should have some more tomorrow.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look.

David G.

 

 

[grodudulle77]

Clean work David !! ??

[David G.]

20 hours ago, grodudulle77 said:

Clean work David !! ??

Merci Philippe. 

(sorry, that's all the French I know)  

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

It's time for the next batch of photos.

Just a nice profile shot.

 

I fabricated some ghostbusting equipment for the mostly empty cargo area. A bit of that equipment can be seen in this photo.

 

The roof rack is a quintessential feature of this car. Polar Lights simplified much of the equipment and though it still provided a decent representation, I felt that more needed to be done.

 

I borrowed the transparent radar dome and heat sink on the back from the AMT kit as well as some of the warning label decals. Other decals I manufactured. I built a fan assembly for the HVAC unit. The thing that Polar Lights put there was... well, I couldn't actually tell what it was. Or what it was even supposed to be. I seriously had to research it to learn what was supposed to go there. I also wired the little silver box on the side and painted dials on the SCUBA tanks on the other side. I'll point those out later in another photo.

 

I'll have more soon. As always, thanks for looking and feel free to post any comments or questions you may have.

David G.

[carrucha]

Very impressive!  Well built and finished.  This is one of the best scale models I have seen of the Ecto-1.  Thanks for the build details and photos!

[David G.]

14 hours ago, carrucha said:

Very impressive!  Well built and finished.  This is one of the best scale models I have seen of the Ecto-1.  Thanks for the build details and photos!

Thank you for your kind words Hector, it's good to know that you like it.

Thanks,

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Here's the next installation for the Ecto-1.

This is my first lighted model. I thought it was a shame to put so much effort into the interior that would be essentially unviewable after final assembly so I decided to add some lights. I bought two Chip Nano Pico LEDs, a battery holder and battery from Evan Design at https://evandesigns.com/.

 

I was going for a "dome lights on" look and I think I got it right, It's nice to be able to see inside and get a view of all the parts I built. The window tint is actual automotive window tint. On the real Ecto-1 the gap between the top and bottom portions of the tint is only about 4".  I widened that gap to make more of the interior visible.

Also in this shot, the dials and hoses that I mentioned earlier can be seen on the on the SCUBA tanks.

As always, thanks for stopping to look and please feel free to post a comment or two.

David G.

[slusher]

Looks Fantastic!

[David G.]

22 hours ago, slusher said:

Looks Fantastic!

Thank you Carl.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

And finally, here is my traditional Display Case Shot. (please ignore the man in the hat)  

 

Thanks to all of you who offered your compliments and comments during this long, involved and sometimes frustration build.

Best Regards,

David G.

[TNT]

Very impressive. Your work shines throughout. 

[David G.]

21 hours ago, TNT said:

Very impressive. Your work shines throughout. 

Thank you Anthony, I appreciate your kind words.

David G.

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[spencer1984]

Excellent! Also, got to throw in here how much I like that Joker Merc.

[Sport Suburban]

That is just beautiful!

[David G.]

22 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Looks great!

Thanks Chris.

9 hours ago, spencer1984 said:

Excellent! Also, got to throw in here how much I like that Joker Merc.

Thank you Bill, on bot accounts.

5 hours ago, Sport Suburban said:

That is just beautiful!

Thanks Raoul, I appreciate that.

David G.

[ea0863]

David, it's obvious you've got many weeks of fabrication into this build, and it came out GREAT. The interior lighting was a stroke of genius! And besides that, what a wonderful blast from the past. Thank you for posting.

[David G.]

19 hours ago, ea0863 said:

David, it's obvious you've got many weeks of fabrication into this build, and it came out GREAT. The interior lighting was a stroke of genius! And besides that, what a wonderful blast from the past. Thank you for posting.

Thank you very much for your kind words Emre, it's a nice feeling to have one's efforts recognized.

David G.

[Madhatter]

Wow David! That came out beautifully!!! The effort that went into the detailing of this is more than admirable. There have been only a handful of builds lately that have had me in genuine awe of their work and this is one of them. I had been watching it come together in the shadows of your WIP and I am sorry I didn't comment more.

The interior lighting is perfect - its not too bright and in the right colour - 2 things a lot of people get wrong. Did you consider getting a lighting kit for the light bar? http://www.voodoofx.com/product/ghostbustersecto1lightingkit/

I know its a tad too late there but maybe if you ever decide to give it another go, there's an item of potential use - or for anyone else for that matter

Anyways David, I really love what you've done to this iconic movie-mobile. I'd be proud to have that on my shelf too

See you on the next subject

Simon

[David G.]

22 hours ago, Madhatter said:

Wow David! That came out beautifully!!! The effort that went into the detailing of this is more than admirable. There have been only a handful of builds lately that have had me in genuine awe of their work and this is one of them. I had been watching it come together in the shadows of your WIP and I am sorry I didn't comment more.

The interior lighting is perfect - its not too bright and in the right colour - 2 things a lot of people get wrong. Did you consider getting a lighting kit for the light bar? http://www.voodoofx.com/product/ghostbustersecto1lightingkit/

I know its a tad too late there but maybe if you ever decide to give it another go, there's an item of potential use - or for anyone else for that matter

Anyways David, I really love what you've done to this iconic movie-mobile. I'd be proud to have that on my shelf too

See you on the next subject

Simon

Thank you Simon. Knowing the precise nature and quality of the work that you do, your compliment means a lot to me. Thank you.

I did consider doing more lighting effects but as this was my first attempt at such a thing, I wanted to keep it simple and give myself a reasonable chance of completing the build in one lifetime. As it goes, this was a good experience for me so there will be more lighted models in the future. There' a Pegasus Nautilus kit in my stash and I've had an eye on VoodooFX's lighting kit for some time now. With my recent confidence-building success, I should just order one and get cracking. Thanks for the reminder.

Thanks again Simon, it's great to know that you're still out there plugging away.

David G.