Vintage Pilot!

Today, I was super fortunate to come across a vintage toy. A 1989 Countdown Astronaut G.I. Joe figure! (ok, i'll be honest, I had to look him up.. but, he's VINTAGE!) My brother-in-law knew I was looking for one. Because I needed a pilot to put inside the cockpit, of course!

So, I quickly whipped up a chair for him.

 Very cozy

 Yea, of course the screen lights up too!

All painted! Ready for the big show!!

Zaku: Monoeye lens

Time is running out. I needed to make a decision on the mono-eye fabrication. Many options had gone through but none would look good or had too many safety compromises.

This one is the least that looked the best. Still kind of dangerous though. O well, I'll have to keep an eye on her then. (uh.. sorry)

Lexan plastic. Heating it up in my toaster oven. When it starts to droop in the window, I pull it out right away.

The best form I had around the house was this paint can. Whatever works!

Perfect diameter

To shape it further, I just took it to my belt sander. 

For the tint, I used some leftover auto tint.

Made a small accent ring out of craft foam. Hotglued it on. And voila!

Now, all i have left to do is:
- screens in the side windows
- hot glue the lens in
- custom cut some foam to fit my daughter's head
- maybe another final coat of top coat to seal things off a bit more for durability

Gundam: CHEST

After putting the helmet on, I'm not satisfied with the weight balancing on it. It's just too front heavy. Since the comic convention/cosplay is happening this weekend, I don't really have time to rebuild the head. But, I can build a chest (and maybe shoulders). This way, I can anchor the helmet to the shoulders.

The chest would be made from the same foam I used on the Zaku project. So, it'll be fast.

The design is mostly from the original Strike Freedom again. And, again, I'll be modifying to make it SD(super deformed) so it'll look proportionally smaller than the head. Still going for that goofy look. I'll use my sketch as a base.

Zaku Paint!

Adding random details again.

Paint:

Pipes painted:

Random Details

Trimming up the snout shorter:

Hot glue gun burn. I really don't like working with hot glue guns. Gonna have an awkward week of typing now.

Not really caring what color craft foam I use to cover up the insides. It'll be painted another color later anyways.

The Damage

Grabbed all the receipts I collected for this project and did a tally. All the tools I had and some of the material (like the plastic) I had around the house, I won't add to the total. (But, I'll still give a rough price on them)


Tools I used:
Dremel tool with various attachments (cutting, drilling, buffing, sanding)
Sandpaper
scissors
pliers
needle-nose pliers
tweezers
X-acto blade handle
cutting mat
misc sized grippers/clamps/clips
soldering iron
heat gun
saw + mitre box
drill press
spray booth
airbrush + compressor




Here's the damage:
(10x) Superglue = $10
X-Acto blade refills = $1.59
Disposable gloves, measuring cups, brushes = $2 for the brushes (Had the rest)
Tamiya Putty = $7 (Already had it)
5 min Epoxy (2 part) = $1 (Already had it)
Plastic Cement = $2 (Already had it)
(7 cans of spray) Paint = $38.50
Hot glue sticks = $1 (Already had it)
duct tape (Already had it)
masking tape (Already had it)
Heat shrink wrap (Already had it)


Electronics:
(2x) 9v Batteries = $6
Wire-to-wire connectors = $25
Wires, (2x) micro fans, (4x) micro switches = $21
(2x) fashlights = $2
(50x) 3mm LEDs = $11
(6x) 3mm flashing LEDs = $12


Card stock = $7 (probably should've gotten this for free if I asked one of my friends that work at an office)
Resin = $30 (Already had this)
Sheen fabric for reinforcement = $7
HUGE sheet of 0.08 gauge plastic = ~$40 (Already had this)
3/4" (24 gauge) All Round Galvanized Bracing = $7? (Already had this)
(2x) Chicago Screws = $0.40
(3x) 1/2" round, 1/8" thick Rare Earth magnets = $4 (Already had this)
(3x) Decal sheets from Kinko's = $6


TOTAL: ~$149.49


That's with ALL the electronics. Not bad! It would be easily under $100 if I didn't choose to have any electronics or have the retractable face.

Final Details

Here are some close-up shots of the helmet. Showing ALL the embarrassing blemishes that any supermodel would simply freak if it was ever shown on a magazine cover. I wasn't worried about them cause, frankly, no one's gonna see them... except you, here, online. When I'm wearing it, walking around... I'll be a blur.

Just for you guys, I've put in a few easter eggs in the decals. Can you spot them all?

FINALE!

Finally finished! Pretty happy with the results. 

- Roughly 2.5 months in the making (I really did take my time with it)

- It's running on 2x 9v batteries. 

- 4 switches: 

          1) 2 fans 

          2) 17 LEDs in V-fins, Mohawk lens, exhaust, and a couple in the ears 

          3) machine guns 

          4) 6x LEDs in the eyes

- Retractable faceplate. For extra vision, talking, eating, etc.

I'll post details in the next post.