Rocketeer

Making a rocketeer costume using aluminum takes time.

I have been told there is "work speed" and there is "hobby speed." I had to learn metal raising to accomplish what I wanted, at hobby speed. It took about three months of torturing sheets of metal to learn how I can hammer a flat piece of metal into a helmet/bowl.

And then I saw this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzDYorK8i38

and everything made sense.

Also, a HUGE thanks to JFCutom's foam files. Being able to create a pepakura version really helped me visualize and measure what I needed.

When I finish the aluminum version I and going to make a brass one. Brass is more expensive than aluminum. Better off screwing up 1-10 cents of paper before $2-5 of aluminum before $40-50 of brass.

Some pics are repeats.
I started with a snug fit pepakura file, then resinatificated it

I took measurements for left to right, front to back, and cut out the appropriate rectangle of aluminum. I made a 22 inch x 10 inch sheet for the front to back major bowl piece.

The two rear pieces were cut out using the pep templates Leave room on the top and bottom of the wavy top piece, leave room at the top of the portion of the bottom piece.

And then you pound metal. See the you tube movie above. I did not do this perfect, but enough to make me happy. I used a 6 inch hemisphere dolly with a metal raising hammer on 0.06 aluminum (1 1/2 mm) thick. About eight rounds/passes got me to where I was happy.Constantly comparing to the JFCustom pep I made, getting closer and closer, until acceptable.Then you can use the JF files to trim the aluminum down. Leave generous extra aluminum at the edges, better to overlap than gap.

Next I used the JFCustom files to figure out where the eyes and grill should be. My only gripe with the files is the mouth may be too big.

*WRITER's EMBELLISHMENT* The other day a child saw my Rocketeer helmet. He noticed the mouth size and cried. Still in a support group. -THIS NEVER HAPPENS!!!

Back to reality,

I ended up having to remake the rear pieces at 10% larger scale. This gave me great templates including a top and bottom overlap. Every inch of the side/rear pieces I drilled holes and clamped to the main front piece, threaded and screwed with #6-32 screws.

I just bent the rear/side pieces over a pipe until I had the curve I needed to fit..


more to come....EDIT Action pic of threading POW!
EDIT Action pic of metal cigar or ******* file creating mouth...BAM!

HAd used used the regular scale JFCutom file for the fin, and I realized, it was too small. Ugh! Remember what I said about wasting a few dollars of aluminum vs more expensive brass.

I roughed it out using reference photos. Also, the curve on my helmet was rounder towards the forehead, the helmet reference pics made the entire top rounded. I will correct this for the brass helmet, but I sorta liked the bullet forehead, so I needed to make a fin dat fit and looked more to my liking. WHOA! MUCH BIGGER!!!

And then I cut it out to a rough fit and the filed it down to a nice fit. Since the fin had tabs, I filed a groove in the front to keep everything in line.

Until SUNGFITTEDNESS!!!

Next...da PipeBendah

Great job so far, one of my favourite movies. Will watch with interest

While I applaud your effort to make that bucket out of steel, I find the fin too big for the scale of the helmet. Top of the fin should be closer to the curve of the head (1" max. from the top of the curve) with an overall length of 16". I got these measurements from my resin helmet

joberg said:

While I applaud your effort to make that bucket out of steel, I find the fin too big for the scale of the helmet. Top of the fin should be closer to the curve of the head (1" max. from the top of the curve) with an overall length of 16". I got these measurements from my resin helmet

Click to expand...

Um, I am making it out of aluminum. Not steel.

The resin helmets do look great, but there *ARE* variations in Rocketeer helmets. I also mentioned having to change scale.

If the only thing you find acceptable for a Rocketeer helmet is an exact recreation of the resin helmet you own, then this isn't the thread for you. which one is correct?

I made hand controls out of aluminum strips. I used the reference pic



Since aluminum will start to tear and fall apart if you bend it to open and close too much, I made a little hole and screw to anchor.

I have some radioshack black and red button mounts to attach when I get the time and figure how I am gonna sneak them in the cramped area

Great work looking forward to seeing it finished

I know that there's a few variations of The Rocketeer helmet; I was merely pointing the overall size of the fin...a little too big, even for the size of your helmet.:rolleyes

sooo, bought a pipe bender at harbor freight. it bends pipe for the vents, unfortunately the top flattens out

After getting the 1 1/4" pipe bent close to my liking, I used a band saw to cut it open.

then used a ball peen hammer's rounded tip to unflatten what flattened during the pipe-bending process.
Still working on it. Also got a Mountain Dew bottle for the lenses

If you fill the pipe with sand, it will keep it's shape better. Alternatively, you can fill the pipe with soapy water that you freeze, this will be better because the sand will not be compacted inside, but you will need a freezer to accommodate the length of your pipe provided it's not cold enough outside to freeze it. The dish soap is important so the ice doesn't crack. This is how brass instruments like trumpets and trombones are made.


Or there is the option that you might be using the pipe bender with the wrong sized die for the size of pipe.

Hope that helps.

Sabs

Sabs,
Thanks for the advice!

No problem. I think there are some Youtube / how it's made videos on making brass instruments that can probably give you a step by step
sabs

So, my reference for the harness
Making the clips that will go in the ringsI will place some epoxy in the threads and shave down the harness bolts.

This project has been on hold for my golden age Flash helmet. I posted in DC

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=255703

found the center of my 8 inch mixing bowl by stacking books next to it, resting a pencil on the book, then tracing a line
Next, made a nice square hole for a carriage bolt
Now it has the little bump I hallucinate on the drawingProlly add some JB weld to acentuate

- - - Updated - - -

grind down the letters on the carriage bolt

Skinned!Next step, aligning where wings are and that center red thingyUsing a hole sawNOTE : THe bottom end of the rocket will be higher than what you see. But next I dremeled out channels for the fins

Then hammer the fin in. The fins are cut half way down where they will interlock with the skin. So, a 6.5 inch fin is cut 3.25 inches down from the top and interlocks with the skin which has a channel cut 3.25 from the bottom up.

Then I used a stove grease catcher, and cut it to hold the rocket nozzle.then glued

The story so far...

Great progress! I am really enjoying your work.

- J

So, how do you align a round top with a flat bottom?

and now the screw-on top is pretty well aligned

Dremeled and trimmed the stove catcher thingy to fit snugly

Time for some alumiwelding, or soldering or JB welding, or...

Okay,

So,

When making a prop, everything you see becomes a potential contribution. I needed some lights and VILOA! 3 " glass hemisphere in an assembled light. I can use the light for herb garden and the hemisphere is POIFECT!

JPH said:

When making a prop, everything you see becomes a potential contribution.

Click to expand...

It plagues us all, brother.