WIP: Scratch Build Styrene Jet Pack

As it turns out I apparently have Fett A.D.D. (FADD? ) and I keep cycling around from project to project. Eventually something will get done, and it keeps things interesting, I guess. Since I have been stealing most of "my" ideas from all of the genius on TDH I haven't seen much reason to post up on progress, but I'm at a point where I'm happy with my jet pack progress, plus I found a decent item for the thruster fuel canisters and wanted to share.

A Star Wars Fan/costume/sign maker hooked me up with a 4'x8' sheet of .060" styrene a couple of weeks ago and I commenced with trying my hand at using Wizardofflight's templates for the pack. I also purchased a few small sheets of .020" styrene from a hobby shop to do some of the smaller parts and parts that require more flexibility. I'm also using some PVC pipe, but wasn't happy with the sizes available for the smaller tanks on the side. I was at CVS today and found a couple of cheap spun aluminum water bottles that looked to be about right. As it turns out they were just oversized by less than 1/8" (according to Alan's templates). This is going to be perfect for me! They are too short, but I will be able to cut each in half and make up the difference with PVC in the middle (this will be totally hidden).

Progress:

Very impressive!

PVC pipe works really well for the fuel tanks
Im working on something similar, just 3/4 scaled for the wife

I was about to do a WIP thread tonight but kinda tired, Im pretty far into it lots of bondo has been put into the body and wasted but its shaping up, alot harder on the scaled down version with huge hands :p
you look to be doing a really good job so far!

Thanks guys! I'd love to see what you have going, F4R. 3/4 scale? That would be tricky on some of these parts! I've been thinking about your stage of the process as I go. I am trying to work carefully so that I don't have to double the weight of the thing in filler! I'll use what I have to to make it nice, though.

Oh, a couple of things I forgot to mention. Despite using .020 styrene for a lot of the rocket parts it seems quite solid, but there are a couple of things that make that happen. First, I carefully cut and fit disks out of the .060 from Alan's template to fit either flush with or slightly inset (depending on my need) to the tops and bottoms of the cones. Some of these disks I turned into rings due to the second trick, which was to turn down a length of 1" pvc so that it would fit through the bottom of the upper cone and act as a spine through the assembly. Inside of the lower cone I used a reducer fitting to go from the 1.5" section to the 1" section.

Well in order to cast it I dont want anything being fragile...so weights not a huge issue

Gotcha

You my friend, have got skills.. sick skills.. I scratchbuild mostly just for scale models.. so I really know when I see talent!

Bout to upload a BUNCH of pics and start a thread....

Originally Posted by Luis

You my friend, have got skills.. sick skills.. I scratchbuild mostly just for scale models.. so I really know when I see talent!

Thanks for the compliment, but I am really just learning. I've adopted some techniques from other hobbies, but this is my first go on something like this. I wouldn't have considered it without seeing the great work others have done on here!

Originally Posted by Fett 4 Real

Bout to upload a BUNCH of pics and start a thread....

Looking good amigo! I'll be tackling the actual pack soon too!

It looks fine and well done. If the rest of the build will be as good as your first steps are then you will have an excellent Jetpack. Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the words of encouragement, RF. Work (real world work) is picking up for me, but I hope too keep steady progress. It's about this stage that it is going to start to look like something!

I don't have a huge update, but I did get the ribbed piece on and made progress on a screw insert for the rocket assembly using the cut off piece of one of the aluminum water bottles. It took a while to work that out, actually, and involved a bit of time on the lathe for some of the plastic bits to fit just right.

Excellent! I love watching these threads!

Looks great so far! Keep us posted

Thanks! I'm still looking for something that will replicate the rocket cone. Suggestions are welcome!

RKD-In the meantime I started working on the knee armor you sent. So far so good

Another "minor" update. It doesn't look like much, but it was a lot of work.

I keep working on different things, and sculpting the interior of the lower collar greeblie had me slowed way down on this. I went through a couple of different tries before a found a system that worked well for me to get everything to fit snugly and line up properly when I screwed the rocket assembly down. It seems nice an solid now.

I like how it looks! Very professional. Keep up the good work!

Sweet job. Wish I had your skills and could make my own.

Originally Posted by Bill

Sweet job. Wish I had your skills and could make my own.

Thanks Bill. The main skill is patience, my friend. Followed by being able to get yourself re-do the things that don't work out right That collar greeblie took a couple of different failed attempts and materials to find what would work for me.

making the thrusters removable also makes it easier to fit the jetpack into some sort of travel case. if the rocket and thrusters come off it can fit into most armor bins.

Thanks STG. You are, of course, correct and that is what I will do. I have a couple of ideas, one of which I am particularly fond of. I'll be sure to post up if it works. Or if it doesn't!

Finally--some progress photos that actually look like progress!

Wish I had these skills. Very nice!

Fantastic job!!!!

I love it! Amazing attention to details.

Originally Posted by clonecollector

Fantastic job!!!!

Originally Posted by RafalFett

I love it! Amazing attention to details.

That means a lot coming from you guys. Thank you. There are things that are not perfect and I would do differently next time, but I am working to keep it as close as I can. The construction is quite sturdy and so far not that heavy.

nice work looks sharp!

Nice work bruv...!
Which scale templates did you use? 15" ?

Yes, I used the 15" at 100%. I thought about scaling it down slightly to 98.5% or 99%, but decided against it. I hope that wasn't a mistake as I am 5'7" in my bare feet, but I think it is looking good in terms of scale. I did scale the armor I am making to 98.5%, and the pack still looks really good next to the back plate. I'm not scratch building my bucket (at least not right now) so I didn't want the bobble head effect you sometimes see. I'm trying to play a balancing act that way, scaling some things slightly to different degrees.

I've also thought about looking into making a mold from it, but really have no clue how to do this with such a complex shape.

Wow it has been a long time since I've been on task with this! I've started back to it, and I think I've solved one of the pieces that was giving me fits--the rocket cone.



Dollar Store to the rescue!


I still need to dress and fit it, but I think it will be nice when done.

Fantastic! Great idea for the cone. Looks like just the right size. What did you make the piano keys out of? They look really good. Actually everything looks awesome.

Thanks Matt. That cone took a while to find. I kept a close up from the gallery on my phone so I could compare angles

The piano keys are from sheet styrene. I cut two long strips to size for height and then laminated them together with zap-a-gap. I cleaned up the top edge, then used a block plane (woodworking tool) to cut the bevel. Smooth as butter. Then I just had to cut each key to width and sand the edges lightly.

So the back plate has been bugging me because the prop had significant thickness and curvature to it compared to what I had. After pondering for a while I finally tackled it, and am pretty happy with the result.

looks great to me, great build, awesome work!!!!

great build so far, looks awesome! can't wait to see it completed!!

amazing work, keep those wips coming

Awsome Buddy!

Thanks guys! I know someone who has molds for the canister caps. If he can find them he's going to make me some resin caps which should make that part of the build really clean. In the meantime I've mixed up some styrene sludge with the intention of cleaning up some seams and reinforcing some joints.