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:
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)...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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....
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.
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:
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)...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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....
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.
