Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club
Mandalorian Armor => Equipment & Accessories => Jetpacks/Backpacks => Topic started by: Antares Typhus on Oct 08, 2011, 05:12 AM
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Well I havent actually gotten my armor together yet, but I'm in the planning stages and have ordered most of my soft parts and bucket so far. I was toying with the idea of what to do for a jet pack when I remembered I found this odd little contraption on the crawl space of my garage. Apparently its some type of ab workout device called an abflex.
http://i.imgur.com/d3kzc.png
http://i.imgur.com/jBCml.png
http://i.imgur.com/Yp5AJ.png
http://i.imgur.com/M505a.png
Any ideas on how to turn this doodad into a sweet jetpack?
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Go for it!
The first thing would be to give it a solid body. As is, it is too "open".
Reminds me of Captain Power... Ahh, the 80's. ;D
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Go for it!
The first thing would be to give it a solid body. As is, it is too "open".
Reminds me of Captain Power... Ahh, the 80's. ;D
I was thnking 'The Centurions, "POWER EXTREME!!" :D
Seriously, this has a great shape, if you can 'Wars' it up, all the better, hoses, tubes, cannisters.
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It even looks like it's go ports for jets or places to hold fuel/weapons built into it.
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Captain Power! Holy cow that brings back some memories! Good find! Should make a good pack with a few tweaks.
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Ha! I remember the infomercials for that thing!
It looks like a good base. If it was me, I'd probably chop it down to the centre core, ditch the ab pusher bit and build from there. The middle section looks like it's got a good shape. If you're really handy, you could chop the "wings" off and maybe make them pop-out (presuming it's not against the rules here.)
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I wouldn't, I see a lot of potential for damaging it, other people, and there property when at conventions.
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Cool, thanks for the feedback gents
I'm definitely thinking I will have to cut off part of the "wings" as I wouldn't really want it to stick out further than my shoulders, making it difficult to traverse a crowded area or doorway with. There are these rounded parts though that look perfect for fitting some PVC pipe into and then enclosing the top with sintra sheeting to make some gnarly boosters. I'm looking forward to fiddling with this contraption
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Well, made a bit of progress today! Cut the wings that extended the farthest out off and found some perfect propulsion rockets in the form of cup dispensers at Lowes. Just taking a long time to sand the logos off as they were very raised and the plastic is quite durable.
Here are a few WIP pics
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/Hot_Dawg2/Mando/IMG_20111017_220707.jpg)
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/Hot_Dawg2/Mando/IMG_20111017_220323.jpg)
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/Hot_Dawg2/Mando/IMG_20111017_220310.jpg)
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/Hot_Dawg2/Mando/IMG_20111017_220300.jpg)
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Nice progress!
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I like it. Looking forward to seeing it finnished. ;)
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I saw one of these the other Day and Almost Did the Same thing ....... hahahah
Nice Vision Vod ...... Looks like your Heading in the Right Direction ...... * Thumbs up * 8)
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Nice Vision Vod ...... Looks like your Heading in the Right Direction ...... * Thumbs up * 8)
Up?
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Up?
:D Well played sir, well played...
Pack's looking really good! I love how those cup dispensers look.
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Thanks for the feedback guys :)
Small update:
Did some bondoing, sanding and shot it with a coat of primer. Didnt take the primaer all too well so there will be more sanding to come
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/Hot_Dawg2/Mando/IMG_20111018_154037.jpg)
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Nice pack! Looks like those cup dispensers could be good gauntlet bases too... hmmmmmmmmmm....
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Nice pack! Looks like those cup dispensers could be good gauntlet bases too... hmmmmmmmmmm....
Yeah, I may actually try to make some gaunts out of the pieces I cut off the tops of the cup holders. The plastic is fairly sturdy and can be bent a bit without issue.
Small update: I shot it with another coat of primer but it still doesnt seem to be taking the primer very well due to the textures of the plastic. I may end up having to just bondo the whole thing to get a workable surface texture.
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Wash the pack in warm soap and water, it mat still have release agent from the molding process. Often times this will inhibit paint adhesion.
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Wash the pack in warm soap and water, it mat still have release agent from the molding process. Often times this will inhibit paint adhesion.
Well the paint seems to be sticking to the surface well, it's just the surface itself isnt really smooth even after tons of sandingwith up to 600 grit sand paper. it has these little...fibers or something on the surface
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Maybe try Krylon Fusion since it is for plastic? I have had great success with it numerous times.
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You might need to go a bit lower with your sandpaper. Try 220 grit and really give it a good once over with an orbital sander and then go back to the higher grit. Also, you might try wiping everything down with a good cleaner (I prefer 99% isopropyl alcohol).
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Fibers? You say there are fibers IN the plastic? I know a while back several manufacturers played around with a fiber impregnated polymer, sort of like plasic fiberglass. It was supposed to give more strength to the plastic. It worked but was prohibitively expensive to produce. Find a hidden spot on the part and hit it with a heat gun, see if the fibers will melt back into the surface.
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Yeah, I'm not really sure what to call the little imperfections that popped up on the surface. Fibers may not be a proper description and its hard to get a decent pic. I was going to shelf it for a bit to work on my gun, but I was restless last night so I wandered out to my garage and made some progress. At this point I've hit it with 3 coats of paint, 1 silver primer, 1 gray primer and a satin black coat. I just sanded it down because it was still rough in some places and it doesnt look as bad as I thought. Hooray for weathering. Also, found some nice greeblies. Here's a few more crappy phone cam shots of progress so far
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/Hot_Dawg2/Mando/IMG_20111021_141626.jpg)
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/Hot_Dawg2/Mando/IMG_20111021_141634.jpg)
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/Hot_Dawg2/Mando/IMG_20111021_141640.jpg)
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/Hot_Dawg2/Mando/IMG_20111021_141645.jpg)
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Looking good! :)
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I like it Vod ..... Nice job of Modding .... ;)
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Thanks for the feedback ;D
I'm surprised by how well its coming along. I have some pretty cool ideas for what direction I'll be taking this project as well. I may even try to make a Rocket for the top of it, so it would look like a super beefy JT-12 of sorts. Lot of directions you can go with a Jetpack hehe
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Sorry made a little progress but I have been working on my gun lately. In the meantime I've been reconsidering the direction I want to take this jetpack. I saw this neat little greeble on the top of MMWA's awesome custom blaster and it really caught my attention. I dont think it would be too difficult to craft what I have now into a jetpack resembling this;
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa170/sdeaton1/P1030822.jpg)
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I went back to the Thrift store Thur. and Got one of these for $.83 with Tax ....... :D
Now I just don't know when I'll start it ..... but you've given me lots of Ideas ..... Thanks . ;)
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I went back to the Thrift store Thur. and Got one of these for $.83 with Tax ....... :D
Now I just don't know when I'll start it ..... but you've given me lots of Ideas ..... Thanks . ;)
Haha that's awesome! Cant wait to see what comes of it. Every time I look at this doodad I see lots of potential for what I could turn it into