I put up my build on TDH a year and 2 weeks ago, thought you guys might appreciate it.
Here it is!
So since I was until recently a broke high school student (now a broke college student) who really wanted to make a Fett kit I decided I had to build my jetpack.
There are a lot of things missing that will probably never be added on, but I'm happy with it. Except for it's enormous weight...
Here it is on me, finished:
Admittedly, not very good shots of the back, but not many pictures get taken of the back.
Here's the construction:
I started with @wizardofflight 's schematics. Without those I woulda been dead in the water.
I used plastic from school folders for the main and side tank covers. PVC for the side tanks, a Lismore whiskey box for the main tank. Worked out pretty well!
I turned the rocket on the lathe. I used a standard 4x4, so not the best wood for turning. In addition to dull tools from the shop, the wood came out pretty choppy, but I was able to correct most of it with filler and Bondo.
When I asked my shop teacher how I could strengthen the plastic, he just said "Why not use metal?" So I did. I was extremely happy with the results.
The second picture is an early idea for the backplate. The plan was to secure a bunch of L-brackets to the frame then rivet the backplate to the brackets. This was suggested by an "expert" classmate. My shop teacher was quick to point out the weakness of MDF and suggested I not go this route. Plus, that would have been a TON of unnecessary work.
Ultimately I ended up screwing the backplate into the MDF with some extremely coarse screws. This has worked very well so far.
First test fitting on my buddy:
As you can see, very early still. No tank caps, lots of gaps to fill, no thrusters. I still felt very far from the finish line.
I ended up making the thrusters by turning 2 balls on the lathe, drilling a 1" hole for the pipe fitting, then drilling a larger hole on the bottom for the cone. I made the cone my rolling a sheet of metal and riveting the sides together. The rivets are on the inside, so they're not really visible. The greeblies were just sloppily glued on the outside. I feel bad about those... I had a friend print them for me.
Here it is just prior to painting the side tanks:
I sanded the metal down so I could weather it, and I got it looking like this. I wanted to badly to leave it as it was, it was beautiful!
Some finished pics I just took:
Oh, and one more thing.
The strapping.
I used an old baby carrier I picked up from a thrift store. So far it's worked pretty well, but after around 5-6 hours of wearing it I get a strange and unsettling pain in my right shoulder..
Also, in the top caps I put in small computer fans. The initial idea was to put dry ice in the side tanks and have the fans on real low to just kinda have the vapor seep out, but I have yet to put the idea into practice at an event. I have a proof of concept video of it working, though. I can post it if you guys would like to see it. Otherwise, I won't, it's not particularly impressive.
Apologies for the potato quality images!
Still nothing to write home about, but I'm happy with how it ultimately turned out. Plus, I can say I made it!
So, what do you guys think?
