ok I was on a thread here ... http://www.therpf.com/f24/captain-am...5/#post2150352 looking for bits for my TFA costume and I posted a pic of my fabric that spurned this thread so here you go...
I am shooting to be done by All-Con in Dallas Spring Break (march 16th is my drop dead day)
I broke my Cap down into parts
Helmet
I purchased the helmet as a rough cast ages ago. Before the Blu-Ray I think the movie was barely out of theaters... I forget who sculpted it. I think there are better sculpts out there and I may redo it at some point.
I finished and painted... yada yada... typical for the likes of the RPF...
I made the inner liner from an old bomber jacket I've had since the 80s. Some of the earflap material came from a purse I bought at Ross discount store on clearance for $12, I would like the padding to be a little thicker.
Shield
I met Chris Fields at Dcon 2011 and inquired about his shield then. I was blown away and knew the bar had been set. When he decided to do runs of the shield I was to financially challenged to get one of his shields so I set out to make my own. I ordered a spun aluminum shield from the shop Chris posted in his thread, but asked them to change the ring size slightly. In my scaling I was not convinced that the ring size I had seen on previous versions were correct and that the center circle in particular needed to have an adjusted proportion.
I found Valor's two excellent threads on his shield and ordered a Star for the center from him. (I later want to counter sink the star but for my deadline there is no time) On Valor's thread the rattle can paint was mentioned, I took that paint to a body shop that I do website work for and bartered a deal where they will use it as a color match and put me an automotive grade paint job on the shield. They have a $50,000 paint booth so I assume they can do a better job that I! I get that shield back this week sometime.
I am using Valor's excellent thread to make the shield brackets and more of that will come in the following 3 weeks including pictures.
Holster and Belt
The holster was the 1st thing I bought for this build. it's a 1916 holster and I got it from auction arms back in the summer of 2011. So long ago the listing is now gone... For the rigging I went to Tandy leather and bought the raw materials I needed and started building. I built the protoypes from paper before committing them to leather. I used a medium brown Flebings Leather Dye. All of the parts are assembled with brass chicago screws and I did a fair amount of weathering to the straps to make them look, well, weathered. Before I dyed the leather I wet all of the strapping and rolled it, this makes it a little more supple and created some crags and wrinkles to make it look used.
For the belt I started with a 3" strap of leather from Tandy and Bambats buckle. I painted the buckle and silvered it and weathered it. Again I used the wetting technique for character and dyed it with the Flebings. The buckle is cast in smoothcast I think but I am uncomfortable with it being weight bearing so had to make an inner belt.
For the inner belt I used a nylon belt I got from Lowes used to hold up toolbelt bags. Using chicago screws I attached it to remove the pressure from the buckle and still be solid and confident on my waist. See the pic it explains this way better than I could. The silver part you see in the pic is just the keep for the extra flap that is left hanging after hooking on the nylon belt.
The Pouches
After looking high and low I decided these were custom made. I decided I wanted to make some myself but my deadline is problem so I went with plan B and honestly I think it may work out more to my liking. I took some old extra pouches I had from my Fallout costume and used these as a base. I removed the strap and upper flap. I then cut the upper flap to match the movie and sewed the flap and strap back on in the proper orientation. Added a brass post from Tandy and there you have it. I plan to freshen these a little as I think they look a little to worn at the moment, nothing a little elbow grease and shoe polish won't fix.
Greeblies
Boots: found for sale on the League of Heros forum. Paratrooper boots.
Gloves: found a pair that was a close match but needed a little work. Added the cuff and buckle. Still some work to be done here. I think the buckle is to big and I need a curved buckle.
....and finally softparts....
Material Material Material!
We all want it and it's hard to get I know I looked high and low and rfead read read until I was cornflower blue!
So the original material is Ballistic Nylon with a rubber back that came in Gray and was dyed to color then screen printed for the Herringbone. YUCK! that means no one is going to get the original material period. I ordered sample after sample on the internet all were fails. I visited Textile fabric makers and ever mom and pop fabric store I could find and finally found this. I put my hand there for reference to the size of the stripes.
The material is not wool... it needs to be lined as it is very flexible and does not behave like the "ballistic nylon". It does have a good "sheen" to it and reacts to the lighting condition for photos the way I would expect. Finding this was the catalyst I needed to make a go at the costume. With the help of my mom, yes I am 44 and she still helps me! I started to put the pieces together one bit at a time.
Pants
Pants with the patches are made.
Vest (blue)
We have the uppervest blue parts (all 8 freaking panels) complete.
Vest (white/abs)
The ab section is in mocked, cut and awaiting final assembly now. This is not herringbone material BTW look closely!
Sleeves and collar
I am making the sleeves and collar together as one "dickie" to wear under the vest. So here we go again!!!!! The sleeves are Herringbone as well only they are white. Whoa whoa I know you are going to say silver "I" "me" "I" feel they are white and have gray weathering. The few beauty shots we have of the suit are under "interesting" lighting making the sleeves look gray. Also the sleeves are not the same material as the white abs section, the abs have ashy weathering to bring out the shadow of the ab pieces and I believe the same gray ashy weathering is on the sleeves to make them look more gray.
Back to how I did it... when looking for material I initially though of buying a Fisher Stripe overall set and tailoring it. I bought this ... Key 995-18 Fisher Stripe Deluxe Unlined Long Sleeve Coverall think it looked spot on! Well colors on the internet and colors IRL, let's just say they are different! Dramatically! With that being a bust I decided to make lemonade. I cut the overalls just under the armpit essentially making a pair of sleeves to wear. Then using Rit Color Remover several times I was able to washout all of the color leaving me with a white set of sleeves. I removed the collar and and we are now making a new "Chinese" collar, and will cover the exposed area with the blue fabric. I will weather the sleeves to the desired silvery gray color when finished.
The shoulders
... they are next on the chopping block!
The Red Belts
I bought some basics from Strapworks.com but have not started on them yet.
.... this is the pic that got me to make this thread.
In addition. My wife is doing the USO costume with 4 other girls so I may escort them at the con. More to come as the next few weeks unfold.
NOTE ON THE MATERIAL
I will post the info on the fabric as soon as I finish. I have enough material to finish but if I make a mistake I want to be able to get more. There is not enough left on the bolt to make a full costume anyway. I will get all the info when I go back to the store in the coming few weeks. I know I will be back there a couple more times. I promise everyone I will answer all I can as soon as I finish. I am under the gun until mid March.
thanks...
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