Gary Hughes’ Rocket Man

Here are some shots of the Rocket Man kit I did for Bob Burns.This is a vintage IDC Models 1/6 scale kit sculpted by Terry Reynolds, circa 1996. It has been heavily modified in order to add more screen accurate detail.

The head and helmet were originally cast as one piece, so I hollowed out the helmet with a Dremel tool, then added clear plastic for the eye lenses and a pipe screen for the mouth piece. I also added pins for some of the helmet rivets not included in the original sculpt. I then added a 1/6 scale resin head to the figure and re-sculpted a more correct jacket collar.

For the rocket pack, I drilled out the exhaust ports and cut small pipe screens for the intakes to create a more realistic appearance.

I widened the belt to the correct size and added pins for the buckle rivets and aluminum rivets for the side snaps. I also re-sculpted detail into the vintage B-17 hook and latch safety harness buckle as used in the original costume.

To give the figure a more “40’s” feel, I lengthened the pants with Apoxie Sculpt and added the wide knife creases.

The jacket and shoes were base coated with black, then air brushed with charcoal gray highlights and dry brushed with burnt umber to create a leather look. The pants were base coated charcoal gray and highlighted with a lightened shade of the base color. The helmet, rocket pack, back plate, chest control and belt buckle were base coated with Testor’s German Metallic Silver, shaded with black pastels and dull coated.

The original resin base was base coated charcoal gray and dry brushed with tan.

The look on Bob Burns’ face was well worth a week’s worth of late night, last minute work sessions!

Gary Hughes