ECTO 1A Construction and Completion (Picture Heavy)

Waffen Bucks · Apr 8, 2013

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 View attachment 61355. 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 View attachment 61356 View attachment 61357 View attachment 61358.

Next i painted the interior of the car. I used Humbrol maskol to mask the floor off, so i could spray the interior black View attachment 61359.

The underside of the car was painted and then weathered View attachment 61360.

Next i moved onto the wheels, rear runner and the various parts that make up the roof rack assembly View attachment 61361.

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

View attachment 61362 View attachment 61363 View attachment 61364.

The sides of the rear step runner was also masked off with the maskol and the painted red View attachment 61365 View attachment 61366.

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 View attachment 61367 View attachment 61368 View attachment 61369 View attachment 61370.

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

View attachment 61371 View attachment 61372.

The rack with Proton Packs were placed into the interior and the dashboard unit was also completed View attachment 61373 View attachment 61374.

The roof rack was painted and assembled View attachment 61375 View attachment 61376.

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 View attachment 61377.

Finally i applied the decals to the car View attachment 61378.

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)

View attachment 61379 View attachment 61380 View attachment 61381 View attachment 61382 View attachment 61383 View attachment 61384 View attachment 61385 View attachment 61386 View attachment 61387 View attachment 61388 View attachment 61389 View attachment 61390 View attachment 61354.

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 :smiling3:

Danny · Apr 8, 2013

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

Danny

mossiepilot · Apr 8, 2013

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

Top work and 5 stars.

Tony.

DOPP3LGANG3R666 · Apr 8, 2013

Sweet. Now we got both cars :tongue-out:

Love what you did to the interior. Top work!

Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2

papa 695 · Apr 8, 2013

Great result Andrew 5 stars from me

Andy2035 · Apr 8, 2013

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...

Waffen Bucks · Apr 8, 2013

\ said:
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)

Waffen Bucks · Apr 8, 2013

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!

DOPP3LGANG3R666 · Apr 9, 2013

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

Waffen Bucks · Apr 9, 2013

\ said:
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.

RallyCarFan · Apr 11, 2013

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

barryf1fan · Apr 13, 2013

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.

Waffen Bucks · Apr 13, 2013

\ said:
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

barryf1fan · Apr 13, 2013

\ said:
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?

Waffen Bucks · Apr 14, 2013

\ said:
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.

ECTO 1A Construction and Completion (Picture Heavy)

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