Ecto Van

I have an event coming up with the Jersey Ghostbusters and thought I really should tidy up my Cosvan*.  I want it to be related to my Cosplays and decided to turn my van into an Ecto! 

Design

I first popped my van into photoshop and had a play with what was possible. Here are a few versions I can up with – 

I decided I loved the first version and after talking with the Jersey Ghostbusters, it was decided that adding the Ecto 1A hazard lines would definitely look cool. 

Preparation

When I bought the Van it was covered in blue vinyl. First I had to remove that!

I discovered that using a Heat gun helped and also turning the Van to point into the sun when working on a pannel really helped.

The four side panels and two rear only took a few days to remove. Heat it up, get your nails under it and pull.

The bonnet on the other hand… The Vinal had obviously cooked with the heat of the engine. Years of heat and cold nights and turned it into a welded mess.

 

But it came off!!!

Stage 3

Now it was time to remove all the trimming and spray it red! I wanted to give the representation of the red line and tail-flick. here is a reference picture of the Ecto 1A – 

I and another of the Jersey Ghostbuster took off the vans trim and sprayed it up red.

 

Once all the trim was red, it was put in the sun, then it was time for a break.

The rebuild

Now there were three. One person suck the vinal door ‘No Ghost’ logos on, another finished the spraying. I helped line up the hazard tape. All was looking good.

Then the nightmare of putting the van back together. Yes, taking it apart was definitely easier than putting it back together, but we did it!

• 8 Cans of spray.
• 5 Hours of work.
• 3 Guys
• 2 Twinkies
• 1 Dog
• And a bucket of sweat

Almost there

I will add the roof rack and text details to the Ecto-Van.  The Jersey ‘No Ghost’ logo is being created and will be placed in the rear window cavities.  Here is a look at what it looks like now! 

What’s next?

The roof rack will be added along with some lights (Unconnected in the public domain and for use on private land only). The text details with ‘Call Us’ and ‘We Believe You’ etc. will also be added.

If you see the Van out and about, please take a picture and sent it to me or tag it on my facebook page or the Jersy Ghostbusters page!

What do you think? “You don’t think it’s too subtle, do you?”

 

 

*Cosvan – A moble place to keep my building materials and move my Cosplays from convention to convention.