There’s cosplay, and then there’s cosplay. This Ghostbusters Proton Pack replica built by Printrbot employees is a 3D printed labor of love.

Printrbot CEO Brook Drumm has shared a funny and heartwarming story about two young employees who broke an industrial machine worth over $200,000 — all because they were building a Ghostbusters proton pack replica.

Thankfully, he didn’t fire them.

Tucker and Alex (last names not given) are a pair of talented high school students that Drumm hired to build sub-assemblies for Printrbot production printers and troubleshoot printers for refurbishment.

In their spare time the pair have been pursuing their own personal passion, building a replica Ghostbusters proton pack based on the hallowed 1980s action comedy.

Here’s a video demo of the finished item:

Ghostbusters Proton Pack is Perfect for Cosplay

3D printing parts for the replica only got them so far, however, and they sought permission to use the company’s water jet cutter.

A water jet cutter is an industrial tool capable of cutting a wide variety of materials using a very high-pressure jet of water, or a mixture of water and an abrasive substance.

To quote Drumm, this machine is “the life-blood of Printrbot’s R&D”. Unfortunately, Tucker and Alex broke the tip of the water jet after a little mishap when preparing parts for cutting.

But the problem was easily fixed with some spare parts, and Tucker and Alex were soon able to finish their project. As Drumm explains:

“I wanted to share this story for a couple of reasons. First, these guys are cool and they are the real deal. They not only did something cool, they completed a complicated project and went on to learn new skills and iterate on their designs to improve them. THIS is the culture of our company. One thing I have always been honest about in our growth as a company is: I have made tons of mistakes… and I have learned incredible lessons from my failures. Granted, the lesson that these teenagers learned, specifically, was a small one. But the value of that lesson is huge… Don’t let failures stop you!”

You can see a detailed build log of the Ghostbusters Proton Pack replica by Tucker on Imgur. You should pay close attention in the pictures to his ventilation solution for stinky fused filaments, which is pretty much MacGyver levels of genius.

Interested in buying one for yourself? Tucker and Alex are occasionally selling the replicas on eBay. Keep an eye on their seller page for when the next one becomes available.

(Source: Printrbot)