I need to build 15 jetpacks....

[Mojo_Turbo]

out of 2-Liter soda bottles. For a 2 year old birthday party.

For those of you still reading...Here are the instructions my wife found:

1. 2 two-liter soda bottles filled with “styrophome peanuts”
2. Attached bottles together with several different colors of tape
3. Straps are made with duct tape.
4. Cut an X at the bottom of each red pastic cup (need 2 per pack)and attach to the spout of the bottle upside down. (I used hot glue.)
5. Tape red and orange tissue paper (inside the cup) and cut ends to look like flames.

and they are cute...but I want to make em cool....

I am cool with using the soda bottles and the red cups, maybe even the tissue paper, but what else can we put in them beside foam? pop corn? Glitter?

But the thing I hate the most is the straps. Silver tape is strong, but it's so utilitarian. I was hoping some creative RPFers can throw out some

"good" and "cheap" alternatives.[SPECIAL][/SPECIAL]

 

[deck5]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

Duct tape comes in a lot of different colours.

 

[themanwoaname]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

silver spray paint. dont even worry about putting crap in the 2 liter bottles. dont be afraid of cutting the bottles and doing different looks with them, single boosters, double boosters, triple even. use shampoo bottles for side greebles, or any other plastic stuff.

 

[epilepticsquirl]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

you connect the two soda bottles at the top with a tube, so that the fluids can mingle with each other savvy?


Then you put vinegar in one bottle, baking soda in the other. Then you tell them to go and run, bounce, jump, fly around, whatever kids do these days.

Extra points if you have a bounce house. :thumbsup

Enjoy the show!


on a side-note, I really do like that idea. Might have to steal it for one of these kids b-day parties.

 

[cheech9898]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

I'd maybe hit a Goodwill store or yard sales and see if you could come up with cheap leather trench coat to cut strips from to make the harnesses. You might get lucky on a cheap hide at a Tandy Leather or a sale on 1 inch nylon webbing at Joanne's or similar too that could be used.

Can slots be cut in the 2 liter bottles so you can get bigger stuff inside and then taped shut (even use the tape to detail/decorate the bottles)? If so make the packs take-home party favors for the kids..... put candy and other little dollar store toys inside.

 

[Amish Trooper]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

Voila...this could be cool in a few. Just figure out a way to attach a light to some.Could be messy. So do some tests and see how long they last.

How to Make a Lava Lamp with Household Ingredients - wikiHow

 

[themanwoaname]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

you could even venture outside of soda bottles. use milk jugs, coffee containers, bowls pipes, pipes that go to your leaf blower.

 

[Mojo_Turbo]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

greeblies would be cool, but you know how kids are...

"Why does HIS have more?"..... byahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

 

[tubachris85x]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

Just came up with a simple and neat idea for a one time use. You can get those confetti popper things, you know the kinds where you pull the strings and it shoots out the conffetti. You can put them on the "thruster nozzles" and have that as a little "extra" feature to the packs. IDK, just came to mind

 

[division 6]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

As someone else mentioned, webbing for the strapping.
What about adding fins made of foam and using cheap dollar store bowls or cups to the tops of the pack to give them a more Rocketeer look.

Cheech9898's idea of filling with candy and cheap toys is a great idea especially with Halloween candy going on clearance.

 

[AlHazred]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

If you have a variety of sizes of soda bottles, you could spray paint the larger ones an opaque color, then cut out a "window" and put the smaller ones inside. Gives them more the appearance of movie-style jetpack rockets. Could probably even put some sort of light in there to simulate flame.

 

[theyrenotdolls]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

For a 2 year old birthday party.

I say use colorful duct tape for the straps...then fill em with something yummy...popcorn sounds better than candy or jelly beans for 2 year olds. maybe one with dogfood for the pooch, but i'd avoid too many greeblies or too much realism for jetpacks for 2 year olds. great idea. I'll have to remember this for when my boy is two.

 

[Mojo_Turbo]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

First off, this was not my idea. My wife found these rocket jet packs on the internet when searching for party favors for our son's rocket birthday party. I am merely documenting it, since I have to build like 14 or 15 of these bad boys. We decided to make them in advance as "favors" and not as day-of party craft items merely because of the amount of "adult-construction" involved. If they were easier for little hands to create - they might have been cool craft builds.

Step one: assemble empty plastic bottles. Remove the caps as the bottles tend to maintain their air tight environment with the caps on. After I washed them off, I left them out in the sun so that they would completely dry out. I also made sure I had a bottle "mate" for each bottle. A bottle that held the same style shape and size.

Then I ran a simple bead of hot glue down the portion of the bottle that still had the label residue on it. I am not using the hot glue as my only support, but merely as a "place holder" so that the bottles don't roll or move during the next process. You will see what I mean.

Now I am off to party city to buy red plastic cups...

* I saved all the soda bottle caps and put them in a box labeled "greeblies"

 

[Wes R]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

These remind me of the bottled water jetpacks on mythbusters.

 

[Mojo_Turbo]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

We probably will not go with the silver tape straps, only because it's so time consuming to line up two sides together and lay them flat without wrinkles and folds. So this was just a test run for reference.

Yes, my son's pre-viz prototype has a third exhaust (water bottle) and the insides are packing peanuts

 

[vt357]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

These remind me of the bottled water jetpacks on mythbusters.

Since you're already in construction mode it's probably too late for any extra suggestions, but you could always add a smaller bottle (20 oz coke bottles have a nice shape) to the top like the missile on the Fett jetpack.

 

[themanwoaname]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

looking at the plans and pics, i still dont understand the purpose of the packing peanuts. if you want it to look solid, why not just paint them? get a few gloss dollar paints at walmart and you're set.

 

[Capn_Jack_Savvy]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

Can I recommend a some good thruster propellant?

YouTube - MythBusters - Diet Coke & Mentos

 

[IronCostumer]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

When I was a kid the way I would make jetpacks was to take a cereal box and cover it in tinfoil, then use string for the straps. The exhausts were two plastic cups with little triangles of red and orange paper glued on. Worked well for me, just thought maybe you'd like another idea just incase.

 

[Mojo_Turbo]

Re: I need to build 17 jetpacks....

the packing peanuts I believe are "eye candy" when the kids run - they bounce up and down inside the pack.

So change of plans, the sun wasn't working fast enough so decided to go with gravity to empty out the bottles:

Went to the fabric store and got 1.5 yards of black vinyl for the straps and to a party store and got plastic silver cups for the thruster bells.