Project Zaku: Harry Potter

Wow.. I've been busy. I did get to finish off another Zaku for a friend. He wanted a themed one. It was a special request.. as I've known him for 30 years now... maybe more.

This one was fun!

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

Chest: Paint prep

Fabrication is done (for now). Ready for paint!

Primer

 Masking

Sad Gundam Is Sad

I'm sad. Sad that the helmet doesn't sit as comfortable as I'd hoped. The heavy V-fins drags things down a bit.

Threw the head, batteries and all, on a scale. 5.5lbs! Doesn't sound like much, but when most of that weight is 6 inches from your forehead. That weight doubles! At least it feels it. So, I have to consider further weight loss. I'll have to revisit the V-fins again. But, this will have to weight. I have other projects I want to tackle first.

Decal Description

The decal description:

1) Danger: Watch Your Limbs and Man/Woman washroom icons. Hey, pilots needs to go too!
2) Do Not Touch Boobies Without Specific Authority: Always Be Ninja-like
3) Danger: Hot Oil Not For Cooking
4) little grey marks under the machine gun... are tally/kill marks. (of ZAFT/FAITH kills)

5) QR code to this blog. Figured, I'd be tired to explaining my whole process over and over again. So, I'll just direct them to the code. Let them take a picture of it.. and peruse it on their own time. hehe
6) EFSF: Earth Federation Space Force
7) random stuff
8) just a close up shot of the camera lens

9) -Warning- Do not pull the envelope. Only push it.
10) Decal for my eyes only. Since it's in the inside of the helmet. It's to tell me what switch does what...in case I forget. Icons should be self explanatory.
11) Right side, near exhaust: Danger: Hot oil. Not for cooking
12) Pilot: Wiltonican

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.