Hi all. I've been lurking for a bit figuring out how to do this, so figured I'd give you guys an update on what I'm doing, and ask for a tip at the end :happy
I'm doing a Rocketeer build for halloween this year. I've always wanted to do Rocketeer, but it's a lot of work. This year I finally decided to go through with it. Been working on it for a few weeks now.
A little background. I'm a mechanical engineer, and I work at a design firm. We have a basic shop, with a band saw, drill press, sanding disc, and small paint booth. Also a 3D printer, but, I'm not using it for this build (resin is too expensive to print a rocketpack, sadly).
Anyway, I decided on the Acme helmet, but I'm scratch building the pack, because $1k for the pack kit is a tad too much for me.
So, the helmet will hopefully be prop-quality, but I've decided to make my rocket pack more of a "form" model. What I mean is I'm eliminating a lot of the tiny stuff which would take a long while to get right. That way, instead of saying "wow all those radiator grills are crooked" you'll just look at the form and say "ooo nice rocket pack."
And now, photos! Lets start with the helmet from start to current. Enjoy. :popcorn
Just arrived (Clint tells me this is the first one off of a new mold, looks good to me, though the area around the eyes was about 0.75" thick)
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Here it is after gratuitous dremeling, and then a layer of priming and a base layer of Krylon gold:
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Then going with the Rub N Buff Antique Gold (with the camera phone you can't tell, but it was a nicer finish after the Rub N Buff):
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Another angle, still pre-patina:
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Bought some weird patina spray at a sculpture store. I think it worked? Maybe I went overboard?
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No flash this time. I'm slightly disappointed the welds aren't as dirty as I'd like them, but maybe I'm being a bit picky:
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Last step in the paint will be to satin-finish clear coat it to seal everything.
So here is my problem. Lenses. I've done a lot of research but I can't find anyone who describes with some detail how to mold the lenses.
I tried one, using this tool that I made:
![]()
It fits flush on the inside of the lens area:
![]()
The idea was to push the lens in place using it, once it was heated up. This somewhat worked, and I ended up with a lens that was pretty nearly fitting, until I noticed that the backside had blurred, and it was now useless as a lens.
I had left the paper on the backside of the plexi, but took it off the front side, in the hopes that the paper would protect the lens while I used the tool to push it in place, but no. No good, the backside now has a texture. I'm wondering if it was the paper on the back, if it was the fact that while heating up the lens I heated both sides (should I not have heated the paper side?), or should I not have pressed the lens like that and tried forming it using only the edges?
My problem is, since I only have 2 remaining cut lenses (thankfully Acme included 3 with the kit) I don't want to screw them up. How do you guys form the lenses without blurring the plexi in the process? I'm thinking I might just try to find some oversized aviator lenses somewhere...
Any help with the lenses would be greatly appreciated! I'm taking until Sunday off from this project, need to move... urg, bad timing.
I will show rocketpack progres in a reply soon. It's currently at "covered in bondo" stage.
I'm doing a Rocketeer build for halloween this year. I've always wanted to do Rocketeer, but it's a lot of work. This year I finally decided to go through with it. Been working on it for a few weeks now.
A little background. I'm a mechanical engineer, and I work at a design firm. We have a basic shop, with a band saw, drill press, sanding disc, and small paint booth. Also a 3D printer, but, I'm not using it for this build (resin is too expensive to print a rocketpack, sadly).
Anyway, I decided on the Acme helmet, but I'm scratch building the pack, because $1k for the pack kit is a tad too much for me.
So, the helmet will hopefully be prop-quality, but I've decided to make my rocket pack more of a "form" model. What I mean is I'm eliminating a lot of the tiny stuff which would take a long while to get right. That way, instead of saying "wow all those radiator grills are crooked" you'll just look at the form and say "ooo nice rocket pack."
And now, photos! Lets start with the helmet from start to current. Enjoy. :popcorn
Just arrived (Clint tells me this is the first one off of a new mold, looks good to me, though the area around the eyes was about 0.75" thick)
Here it is after gratuitous dremeling, and then a layer of priming and a base layer of Krylon gold:
Then going with the Rub N Buff Antique Gold (with the camera phone you can't tell, but it was a nicer finish after the Rub N Buff):
Another angle, still pre-patina:
Bought some weird patina spray at a sculpture store. I think it worked? Maybe I went overboard?
No flash this time. I'm slightly disappointed the welds aren't as dirty as I'd like them, but maybe I'm being a bit picky:
Last step in the paint will be to satin-finish clear coat it to seal everything.
So here is my problem. Lenses. I've done a lot of research but I can't find anyone who describes with some detail how to mold the lenses.
I tried one, using this tool that I made:
It fits flush on the inside of the lens area:
The idea was to push the lens in place using it, once it was heated up. This somewhat worked, and I ended up with a lens that was pretty nearly fitting, until I noticed that the backside had blurred, and it was now useless as a lens.
I had left the paper on the backside of the plexi, but took it off the front side, in the hopes that the paper would protect the lens while I used the tool to push it in place, but no. No good, the backside now has a texture. I'm wondering if it was the paper on the back, if it was the fact that while heating up the lens I heated both sides (should I not have heated the paper side?), or should I not have pressed the lens like that and tried forming it using only the edges?
My problem is, since I only have 2 remaining cut lenses (thankfully Acme included 3 with the kit) I don't want to screw them up. How do you guys form the lenses without blurring the plexi in the process? I'm thinking I might just try to find some oversized aviator lenses somewhere...
Any help with the lenses would be greatly appreciated! I'm taking until Sunday off from this project, need to move... urg, bad timing.
I will show rocketpack progres in a reply soon. It's currently at "covered in bondo" stage.