NEW UPDATE 03/03/2013 WIP. And another scratchbuilt styrene jetpack... Pic Heavy!!

[archtk]

Hi guys,

I posted this today at TDH forum, but I am a big fan of this site and always lurking here so I thought some peeps here might find interesting my build progress.

yepp this fett thing is an expensive project so like many here needed to save some funds an make my own jetpack.

so let start by thanking wizardofflight's at TDH forum for awsome templates, you are the man!!.. and many other scratch build threads at the TDH a must read if you are planning to make your own fett jetpack as they provide great pics and advice to understand how to put this think together.

ok so the first step was to print this baby and start cutting out the parts. I used styrene plastic sheets about $ 20.00 work of plastic. 1.5mm thick and .5mm.

I had bougt some PVC plubing tubes but realized they would be too big so I decided to look for some alternatives, which came out to be cheaper and more rewarding. potato chips

, yes the chip tube was the perfect diameter and I could stuff myself while working on this.

I warped the canisters with thin 0.5mm styrene which made them stronger and perfect fuel tanks. I found that using brown shoe/leather glue though a bit messy was perfect as it allowed me to stick quickly and unstick if i made a mistake and once dried completely was very strong.

I was worried that the angles around the back would not work but I found out that if you test fit these with sticky tape and made a few adjustments the whole thing stated to come together nicely

.

Ok so after I test fitted with tape and was happy with the parts I needed to start gluing, again the pvc plumbing tube was not going to work so I just made a circle template and with 2 layers of the 0.5mm styrene I made the main body cylinder, this cylinder was essential to give my jet pack the correct shape of the body. The main cylider must hit perpendicular at the top and at the bottom gives you the slanted angle of 10 degrees were it meets with the base of the jetpack, then once you glue the side pannels that go over the fuel tanks you get the concave shape of the Backrest of the jetpack. I was amazed how the templates worked and how gluing these pieces the jetpack started to get the proper shape, compared to my reference pictures of the real prop I felt that this thing was really going to work. very cool!!

Next step I glued the fuel tanks in place, then the pieces that wrap around the fuel tanks.

I don't know why the pictures show the edges a bit wobbly maybe its the glue stains but I handling the jetpack it looks more strait in person but I will have to use car putty later on to touch up some parts.

so I hope you guys like this post and for those thinking of making there own I recommend it its a lot of fun and I bet once finished you will be very proud of what you can accomplish I know I am. and besides it a lot cheaper too for those budget fetts.

I'll work on it a bit more this weekend and post some more progress pics.

Cheers.​

 

[JasonCash]

Re: WIP. And another scratchbuilt styrene jetpack... Pic Heavy!!

very cool... I might have to try this myself

 

[Snow Builder]

Re: WIP. And another scratchbuilt styrene jetpack... Pic Heavy!!

Very nice.

 

[Auram]

Re: WIP. And another scratchbuilt styrene jetpack... Pic Heavy!!

Looking good

 

[Dave Porter]

Re: WIP. And another scratchbuilt styrene jetpack... Pic Heavy!!

Nice job!

I've been thinking about a jet pack for my steampunk outfit.....

You've got me thinking.

 

[skyconlb]

Re: WIP. And another scratchbuilt styrene jetpack... Pic Heavy!!

Haha! So simple! Its gonna look great when it's done, though!

 

[archtk]

Update 06/01/2013 WIP. another scratchbuilt styrene fett jetpack... Pic Heavy!!

OK guys its been a while but with xmas and everything its been a bit hard to continue but here is my progress:

The next step was to start building the main rocket or missile.
Step 1 one can of good old milo to make the base cylinder and perfect fit.

I had to cut it down and wrap it in two layers of 0.5mm styrene, but it fits great, the shoe glue is quite strong

the tip of the rocket is a direct cutout of the templates and thin 0.5mm styrene.

I filled the inside of the tip with car filler (bondo) so I can give it firmness and I can sand it down to make it a smooth cone shape with a blunt end as per reference fotos.

Sanding the tip and a piece of PVC pipe fitting to make a strong firm mid section.

next up are the 2 cone sections, this I made of various layers of thin styrene I left them taped up for 2 or 3 nights to get the correct curve to the sheets then I glued layer by layer over different size circle templates to get the desired shape and dimensions.

Its starting to look better than I thought I used a threaded rod to align all the sections and parts.

at this stage I also started to make the toothed shaped collar part. patience and cutting each piece bit by bit along with a good series time flies watching Game of Thrones as I make the parts awsome series. lucky I have good experience with the hobby blade so no cuts when the good bits come up on the screen.

Now here I nearly killed myself, the collar took me about 3 hours to complete and I had glued it with super glue, Then I thought that I could fill it with shoe glue to reinforce it on the inside but when I checked it the following day disaster it had started to melt the plastic, no wonder it worked great with the other parts, It melts them together and when using too much it make the plastic very soft.

Must remember not to use too much shoe glue, and always test glues, solvents and paint before making the final parts just in case

ok but no worry, the good thing the part is as strong and firm as a solid thick piece of plastic, maybe a bit of car filler (bondo) sanding and a few more episodes of game of thrones can restore this piece.

so I have a smile on my face again after the previous disaster, all looking good.

Now this following piece was very tricky its not on the templates, this is the curved sloped top back piece behind the rocket that is attached to the top back part of the pack if it makes sense.
many test pieces and picture research (thanks to the gallery at TDH) I came up with this piece.

I think it looks good it need a bit of sanding and a bit more putty (bondo) here and there.

Anyway below is a recent pic of how its coming together, now I just need to sand a bit more, the fuel caps and the rocket thrusters (I'll have to start thinking on how I'll make those later)
But for now I am very happy, its looking better than I thought and it is very lightweight but with the glue used it is a firm as a rock.

very happy, a lot of fun especially for these xmas holidays and a lot easier than I thought, cheap as chops, don't think I have spent more than 30 dollars on this thing yet.

cheers.

Pablo.

 

[Hammer3246]

Re: UPDATE 06/02/2013 WIP. And another scratchbuilt styrene jetpack... Pic Heavy!!

Great work.

 

[archtk]

Re: UPDATE 06/02/2013 WIP. And another scratchbuilt styrene jetpack... Pic Heavy!!

New update guys the build continues....

well now I started making the thrusters and boy thanks to all those reference picture on TDH and the great templates I was able to scratchbuild these pieces.

Ingredients:

- Templates (thanks again wizardofflight)
- 2 x Christmas decoration balls (funny this made me think, maybe the originals were made of these xmas balls as the diameter is spot on with those on the templates)
- Plastic Styrene sheets
- scrap PVC pipes
- Super glue + sticky tape
- Bondo (car putty)
- Sandpaper
- A lot of patience

Recipe

1) Sticking the templates on styrene plastic sheets

2) Making the thruster cones. a bit rough but this was just a test fit after making 3 cones and placing them one inside the other the cones became more rigid and sturdy as you will see later.

3) to make the thruster buttons and details all I did was to layer various rings one on top of the other cutout of the templates. this took a bit of time but it was worth it as it let me get the desired size and curves as you will see later.

4) OK now things are getting to take shape, as you can see on the right the details from the previous picture are taking shape. also I sanded the xmas balls to get them ready to stick the cones and cut out the details.

5) cutting out the details with my dremmel A must have tool if you wish to do you own scratch builds.

6) looking good I love how things start to take the desired shape this pays of the hours of drilling sanding cutting well you get the idea

7) well after putting the bondo or car filler and a bit of sanding things look at lot better.

As you can see from the pictures I also have made the end caps of the jetpack fuel tanks. unfortunately I lost the pictures but I made them again with plastic styrene by making cylinders for the body and making cones with the sheets, then I used again the bondo or car filler to detail the rough spots.

I also found that a milk bottle cap makes a great ribbed section of the rocket (blue plastic in the picture) , Anyway this still has a bit more to go next weekend I sand a bit more before I can start priming and painting the pack (more next time)

Thanks for following my build

cheers guys.

 

[tuskentrooper]

Re: NEW UPDATE 03/03/2013 WIP. And another scratchbuilt styrene jetpack... Pic Heavy!

This is great. Keep going!