In Special #1 of our 1:8 scale Ghostbusters Ecto-1,  we received the four Proton Packs. However, after assembling them, it was quickly obvious that they did not include any way to attach the Neutrona Wands to the packs themselves. This makes storing them and displaying them quite awkward:

I have seen other builders drill out the packs and add magnets, but I recently discovered a mod that provides a much simpler solution. This is the Ghostbuster Proton Pack – Stow Gun Upgrade from Partwork Upgrades! Included in this mod are six (6) 3D-printed Wand Clamps with matching screws. Two mounts and screws are provided as extras and are not pictured here:

Installation

Step 1

Retrieve one of your Proton Packs. Then, remove the HP screw holding the Particle Thrower Rear Plate to the bottom of the Particle Thrower, as seen here.

I found that Steps 1-3 are only necessary if you might need to remove the Wand Clamps later on. Otherwise, I recommend just skipping to Step 4 and gluing these Wand Clamps in place:

Step 2

Fit one of the Wand Clamps to the Particle Thrower Rear Plate and pass one of the supplied screws through them both, like this:

Step 3

Fit this Wand Clamp assembly back into the bottom of the Particle Thrower and press the screw/pin into the existing screw hole.

Pressing this assembly into place is the documented procedure from Partwork Upgrades, however it takes a LOT of force to seat the threaded screw into place. Since this screw is plastic, doing it that way felt like the screw would bend or break. Instead, I opted to actually use the threads on the supplied screw with a drop of 3-in-One oil and was able to use my screwdriver to secure the screw into place much easier:

Step 4

Repeat the previous steps with the remaining Wand Clamps to complete the mod of all four Proton Packs.

On my second Proton Pack, my ‘use oil and screw it in’ process did not work. The plastic head of the screw stripped out, and when I went to remove it and try another screw, it broke off. This resulted in me just using CA super glue to attach the rest of the Wand Clamps and this worked just fine:

Step 5

Slip the Wand Clamps onto the side of your Proton Packs.

It is worth mentioning here that I have a length of 22 gauge Craft Wire inside my wand cables from when I built the packs. This allows me to bend my wand cables into a shape I like and they will stay that way, as shown:

Once completed, this is all four of my Proton Packs now happily holding their own Neutrona Wands:

Thoughts

I knew someone in the modding community would come up with a solution to fix our loose, floppy Neutrona Wands. In short order, our needs were answered by this Ghostbuster Proton Pack – Stow Gun Upgrade! I am grateful to the team over at Partwork Upgrades and look forward to using some of their other products in the future. Thanks to you all!