Sneak Preview of Cover for GASLIGHT Compendium

GASLIGHT Compendium Cover Detail
GASLIGHT Compendium Cover Detail

I’ve written here a few times referring to the upcoming release of the eagerly anticipated GASLIGHT Compendium.  We’ve contracted a very talented artist for the cover art.  Above is a small detail from the cover art to whet your appetite.  Look here from time to time for more sneak previews and information.

Rocket Pack Finished

Commando Cody battles one of the Moon Men
Commando Cody battles one of the Moon Men

Another prop I wanted to build for the upcoming photo shoot was a rocket pack ala The Rocketeer or the Commando Cody serials from the early 50’s.

Rocketeer comic book cover by Dave Stevens
Rocketeer comic book cover by Dave Stevens

This has been a joint project with my son.  Last night we put on the finishing touches.

Finished rocket pack
Finished rocket pack

This started with two three-liter (not two liter) bottles, some plastic cups, and a funny shaped shoe box.  The wing was cut from black-core foam board.  The frame is from an old cub scout back pack.

Sam wearing the jet pack
Sam wearing the jet pack

This is a picture of my daughter wearing the rocket pack that gives you an idea of scale.  We didn’t want the wings to be too large — just large enough to suggest a control surface.  Tommy made the turbine-looking tops of the pack out of card stock cut, folded, and fastened with a brad.  We “primed” all the plastic with Krylon Fusion (which is made to stick to plastic), and then everything was sprayed with metallic paint.

The chemical compound that makes it work
The chemical compound that makes it work

We wanted the bottles to be labeled with some chemical name.  We pulled out the periodic table, took a little license, and determined that GASLIGHTe makes it fly!  What a coincidence.

The designs were made in PowerPoint and printed onto a full sheet of label material.  Then we cut them out and affixed them.  This was way easier than gluing on card stock or heavy paper.  I found a pack of 100 full-sheet labels online for $10.  I only needed one sheet to make spotting dice for Look, Sarge, No Charts: WWII, but I figured I’d find use for the other 99 sheets over time.