G.I.Joe Jet pack trooper: Starduster W.I.P.

Eopie Herder

Sr Member
So, I was rushing my butt off trying to get this done before the movie premiered in June, but after the date was pushed back I slowed down quite a bit to make sure I get it done right. It's getting fairly close.


For those who may not know, Starduster is a rare G.I.Joe figure from 1987 and was offered as a mail-a-way from G.I.Joe Action Stars Cereal. The figure was a dedicated Jet Pack trooper using the J.U.M.P. jet pack that was originally offered in 1982. He looked like this:

DSCF2002.jpg


Last year, I did a modern interpretation of him to fit in with the rest of the "Pursuit of Cobra" and 30th Anniversary toys. Which looked like this (with the original)...

comp.jpg


I'm basing my costume on that figure as it fits with the newer movie style.

I started with an airsoft vest that was made to look like the NEST guys in Transformers 3, which you can find here. I bought the DE version so I could paint it easier.

I also went with the M-79 grenade launcher instead of the GLM-6 as I just have a fondness for it. I've been using Rub n Buff on it, but I'm not happy with it, it leaves silver on my gloves and doesn't take well to the wood areas. I'm likely to mold the gun and make a cold cast version. I also plan on adding a leather sling like The Comedian had in The Watchmen.

For the helmet I bought an airsoft Kevlar helmet that has a face shield and painted it to match the figure's color.

helmet001.jpg


Then using a template I added the star and started clear coating. Unfortunately the clear coat ended up turning the color so i may repaint the helmet. If I do, I'm moving the star down some as well.

helmet002.jpg


helmet003.jpg


For the visor, I used the taillight tinting spray, Night Shades. 3 coats and it worked great. Does impair my vision, but not enough that I can't see.

visor.jpg


I painted the vest with the same color I mixed up for the helmet and then added some weathering. I also decided to add his code name on the breast, partly inspired by the big "R" on Roadblock's armor from Retaliation.

photo3.jpg


And so with some Blackhawk kneepads, Oakley tactical gloves, a molle blast belt with pouches for my 40mm grenades, a molle holster on my chest with an extremely cheap Barretta 92, a 511 tactical combat shirt an some cotton cargo pants from Wal-Mart, this is where I'm at....

WIP001.jpg


wip002.jpg


I need to color the shirt and pants, which is a slight problem as the shirt has a good amount of polyester involved making it difficult to remove the existing color and dye. I purchased some cotton fabrics to have the shirt re-made so that I can dye it, but we'll see if that turns out.

I've made good progress on the J.U.M.P. jet pack too, but just realized I don't have any good pics. I'll post some of those soon.
 
I always loved the Jump Pack and the launching pad that came with it when I was little and I can't wait to see your take on it.
 
looking great. maybe they should add a jet pack option to BlackOps... =) My heart is always with GiJoe.. Maybe they should do a game like Call of Duty.. GIJOE themed.
 
Yeah, the JUMP was always a favorite of mine too. It was the first thing I got along with Flash in '82. In '83 they re-released it with Grand Slam included, but I always thought of Flash as the man using that thing since he was pictured on the back of the original box with it.

So, the pics I do have are a little outdated, as I started to change it up some already. But here's how I first went with it...

Using the 1:18th Jet Pack I took some measurements and loosely scaled it up.

photo8.jpg


I then took a swimming pool noodle thing and rammed a PVC pipe up the center for the fuel tanks. I wrapped it in two layers of foam and used a floral arrangement half sphere as the top of the fuel tank.

photo7.jpg


I then started to bondo the hell out of those floral spheres to strengthen them. I used PVC pipe to build a frame that would be inside as support. The PVC connected to the tanks using a coupler that I think is for sprinkler systems.

photo6.jpg


I decided the floral spheres were too large and bulbous for the tops of the tanks, so I've removed them and am working on something different for now. I may end up sculpting and casting the tops.

But for the frame, I added nylon straps with clips on the end that ended up coming off of my vest. And the hose is from an old beat up shopvac.

photo5.jpg


One of the selling points to me on the vest was not only did it look cool, but it already had clips attached on the back for adding backpacks or something. So, it worked perfectly in that it could also be a harness for the JUMP pack similar to what I'm using for my Jango.

photo4.jpg


The main body will be foam, like the wrapping on the tanks and will have holes in the back to allow the nylon straps to come through and attach to the vest. I'm likely going to plastic coat the foam to keep it rigid.
 
Nice to see so much progress man! You aren't on Cobra's Finest, are you?

No, what's the link?

edit: found it....looks like it's all Cobra costumes. I don't think I'd fit! Though, i do plan on doing a modern interpretation of the Viper soon. But, I was going to use the Crye Precision Air Frame helmet with chops...thought it be cool for a cobra viper with this airsoft face shield behind it.

Mask_MTX_Gen4Strike_BK_lg.jpg



Then, a few weeks ago I saw on the Cobra Retaliation page that the Cobra troops are wearing the Air Frame & chops in the film. Kinda funny.
 
Last edited:
Whoa! Dude that freaking rocks!

Bit of a Joe fan myself- I've done a Recondo impression.


Looking forward to seeing this done!


Kevin
 
Someone's doing Sideshow's version of the Cobra Viper, it's pretty snazzy!:cool

That mesh mask sounds pretty good for a Cobra Viper. You should also check out this if you haven't heard about it already!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/GI-JOE-Initiate-Fanfilm/292189547509356

I had seen that...I just hope it's better than that last fan film that everyone hyped up. I'd love to see a great Joe fan film.

Post pics of the Sideshow Viper version the guy is making, I'd love to see it. That's a figure I plan on picking up soon. I'm just not a big fan of the current Viper helmet that's available, the shape just seems little off, not sure if I can place what is bothring me with it though.

Whoa! Dude that freaking rocks!

Bit of a Joe fan myself- I've done a Recondo impression.


Looking forward to seeing this done!


Kevin

Thanks! Post pics of Recondo! (as you can see, the first version of Starduster's chest and waist were from Recondo!)
 
Oh, I did a little paying around in Photoshop to see how the color will look. I have to say, as I am a little color blind, I got the color on the vest pretty close! The color on the shirt and pants is the RGB for Duck Egg Blue, which is what I tried to mix up to paint with.

WIP001a.jpg
 
Post pics of Recondo! (as you can see, the first version of Starduster's chest and waist were from Recondo!)

Thanks! I didn't really want to post pics of my stuff as it is your thread and would be impolite without your approval.

I don't have too many decent pics though- did this for Dragon Con back in 2008:


attachment.php


attachment.php


Since I'm from Canada and had to cross the US/Canadian border, I left my weapons at home. The machete is made of cardboard. ;)



Kevin
 
That Viper looks great, but I'm still not digging the helmet that much. Not that I can do better, no organic things are not my sculpting forte. I love his Airsoft ACR, but I'm holding out for the gas blowback version coming out soon...at least I think it's soon. I have a GBB SCAR-L that I'm going to use until then.
 
Back
Top