Valor Design wanted a replica of the Rocketeer’s Cirrus X3 jetpack for a long time. He recently made his dream come true though it took about five months of build time to do it. He made a beautiful prop, and yes, he has the Rocketeer costume to go with it. The jetpack was made from scratch, and Valor Designs used the project to teach himself how to mold and cast.
The base of the jetpack was seven inch thin-wall PVC. He ordered it online especially for the project. He used scavenged parts for the tops of the engines, and the bottom bells were made from clay and various parts. He cast the finished bells from resin.
For the nose cone, he made a single master from styrene for the basic shape and used expanding foam to fill it in. He used fiberglass and Bondo to smooth the foam before pouring a mold over it. He posted plenty of build photos.
Besides looking fantastic, the jetpack has neat electronic components. The rocket bells have LEDs that operate on a hand trigger, and the trigger also controls speakers that play sound effects from the film including the ignition, thrust, and wind down sounds.
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