Wallabe
Active Member
Hey Guys,
Mystery Men has been my favorite movie since I was little, and I've wanted to do this costume ever since I got into the hobby. I've been working on it for more than a year now, but I'm finally starting to make some good ground on it.
I started with the helmet, so I'll start with that here too. Originally I bought a modern Bullard hard hat (without a doubt the brand used in the movie) and bought a headlamp that kind of sort of worked. I made a helmet with them, but there was a lot I was unhappy with. (I'll show off that first helmet in some comparison pics). After watching the movie on Blu-ray for the first time, I noticed a lot of little details, and decided to start again. After a lot of searching, the only best match I could find for the hard hat was Bullard's "hard-boiled" aluminum hard hat. I couldn't find a proper match for the headlamp, but I did find a much closer match. The third image shows the two together along with my first helmet.
I painted the hard hat using Rustoleum's paint and primer Marigold spray paint. It wasn't an exact match, but it was the best I could find. It was way too shiny after paint, so I went over it with a really fine steel wool. After that, I painted on some black Model Masters paint and took some of that off with the steel wool to really weather it. My goal was to make the helmet look almost like it was made of a yellow metal, to match the look of the original, and I think I captured that. (I should note that the weathered pic doesn't reflect the final version because I had to repaint and re-weather the helmet. I never took new pics of just the hard hat though)
For the headlamp, I knew I had to use some sort of automotive paint. In the Blu-ray, the headlamp's paint clearly had some metallic quality. The color I went with is kind of sparkly and not as good of a match as I had hoped, but I'm still very happy with it. Shown below is a comparison to a test swatch i made on styrene. I painted the top piece just with a flat black. To give it the miner look seen in the movie, I first removed the lense. In its place, I put two pieces of lighting gel cut to shape. Over that, I cut a piece of hardware cloth to fit snug. I then painted the hardware cloth black as well before the final fitting.
Looking at the screen-used helmet and going off my experience making my second one, I really believe that the straps were purely decorative and not supportive or load bearing. I tried to replicate that in my build. The headlamp is held in place with a screw and nylon-insert lock nut going through the back of the battery box and into the hard hat. I used a red elastic strap for the straps I don't believe the original was elastic, but I've yet to find the right material. I haven't found any shots of the yellow helmet with stitches in the straps and since they're decorative, i attached them this time with fabric glue. It's held down in the back with a 6-32 acorn nut. I'm not sure what they used in the movie, but there's clearly some sort of fitting or rivet holding it down, and I think the nut does a good job of capturing the look.
Below is my comparison pic. In the top row, it goes: my first helmet, my current helmet, and the screen-used helmet. In the bottom row, it goes: my first helmet and my current helmet. Unfortunately, I don't have any good, hi-res pics of the back of the screen-used helmet. You can't see the rigging, but the first helmet has a blue and yellow rigging that really sticks out. My new one and the movie helmet both have subtler, gray riggings, although mine isn't totally accurate. That isn't why I settled on an aluminum helmet though. It's hard to see, but the first helmet has a lip on the top edge of the brim. This is a trait it shares with every Bullard hard, except the aluminum ones and movie hard hat, I've ever seen. The new one has a rounded lip on the bottom, a trait it shares with the movie hard hat. This is something not present in any other kind of Bullard hard hat I've seen. Additionally, you can see how the fins are distinct in the first helmet, but blended in the other two. The aluminum hard hat has two inaccuracies; it has six rivets and the rigging is different. In my searches, though (http://www.proparchives.com/comedy/...lliam-h-macy-shoveler-helmet-from-mystery-men), I found the claim that the movie hard hats were resin. Based upon that, and the fact that the aluminum hard hat is the ONLY close match I've been able to find, I believe they took an aluminum hard hat and modified it to accept a "modern" rigging before making a mold.
I've seen people argue that the shovel used in the movie was a chrome ceremonial shovel. They might be right, but a buddy and I went over references, and chrome almost seemed too shiny. Instead, we decided polished steel would be better. After some looking, the only shovel I could find that fit everything I needed was one that was pretty rusty. Below are my "before" pictures. It's not totally finished, but i've taken a lot of the rust off down to the silver steel beneath, and applied Maas polish for protection until I can finish.
For the shirt, I'm just using a denim shirt I found whose buttons matched the movie shirt. For welder's sleeves, I'm using Caiman sleeves. They'll need some modifications, but they're the closest off the rack that I've been able to find. Below is a progress shot of everything I have so far.
The big things I still need are the belt/harness and the catcher's pads. The belt/harness are on commission from a friend of mine. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about the pads. I haven't found a pair online after like a year of searching, and apparently it'll take an "industrial" sewing machine to make a set, so I'm still looking for someone who can do it. After that are the little things. I need gloves, knee pads, and boots, but those should be easy finds.
That's everything I've got so far. I'd love to hear any feedback as well as suggestions or recommendations for anything. I hope you enjoy this build.
Mystery Men has been my favorite movie since I was little, and I've wanted to do this costume ever since I got into the hobby. I've been working on it for more than a year now, but I'm finally starting to make some good ground on it.
I started with the helmet, so I'll start with that here too. Originally I bought a modern Bullard hard hat (without a doubt the brand used in the movie) and bought a headlamp that kind of sort of worked. I made a helmet with them, but there was a lot I was unhappy with. (I'll show off that first helmet in some comparison pics). After watching the movie on Blu-ray for the first time, I noticed a lot of little details, and decided to start again. After a lot of searching, the only best match I could find for the hard hat was Bullard's "hard-boiled" aluminum hard hat. I couldn't find a proper match for the headlamp, but I did find a much closer match. The third image shows the two together along with my first helmet.
I painted the hard hat using Rustoleum's paint and primer Marigold spray paint. It wasn't an exact match, but it was the best I could find. It was way too shiny after paint, so I went over it with a really fine steel wool. After that, I painted on some black Model Masters paint and took some of that off with the steel wool to really weather it. My goal was to make the helmet look almost like it was made of a yellow metal, to match the look of the original, and I think I captured that. (I should note that the weathered pic doesn't reflect the final version because I had to repaint and re-weather the helmet. I never took new pics of just the hard hat though)
For the headlamp, I knew I had to use some sort of automotive paint. In the Blu-ray, the headlamp's paint clearly had some metallic quality. The color I went with is kind of sparkly and not as good of a match as I had hoped, but I'm still very happy with it. Shown below is a comparison to a test swatch i made on styrene. I painted the top piece just with a flat black. To give it the miner look seen in the movie, I first removed the lense. In its place, I put two pieces of lighting gel cut to shape. Over that, I cut a piece of hardware cloth to fit snug. I then painted the hardware cloth black as well before the final fitting.
Looking at the screen-used helmet and going off my experience making my second one, I really believe that the straps were purely decorative and not supportive or load bearing. I tried to replicate that in my build. The headlamp is held in place with a screw and nylon-insert lock nut going through the back of the battery box and into the hard hat. I used a red elastic strap for the straps I don't believe the original was elastic, but I've yet to find the right material. I haven't found any shots of the yellow helmet with stitches in the straps and since they're decorative, i attached them this time with fabric glue. It's held down in the back with a 6-32 acorn nut. I'm not sure what they used in the movie, but there's clearly some sort of fitting or rivet holding it down, and I think the nut does a good job of capturing the look.
Below is my comparison pic. In the top row, it goes: my first helmet, my current helmet, and the screen-used helmet. In the bottom row, it goes: my first helmet and my current helmet. Unfortunately, I don't have any good, hi-res pics of the back of the screen-used helmet. You can't see the rigging, but the first helmet has a blue and yellow rigging that really sticks out. My new one and the movie helmet both have subtler, gray riggings, although mine isn't totally accurate. That isn't why I settled on an aluminum helmet though. It's hard to see, but the first helmet has a lip on the top edge of the brim. This is a trait it shares with every Bullard hard, except the aluminum ones and movie hard hat, I've ever seen. The new one has a rounded lip on the bottom, a trait it shares with the movie hard hat. This is something not present in any other kind of Bullard hard hat I've seen. Additionally, you can see how the fins are distinct in the first helmet, but blended in the other two. The aluminum hard hat has two inaccuracies; it has six rivets and the rigging is different. In my searches, though (http://www.proparchives.com/comedy/...lliam-h-macy-shoveler-helmet-from-mystery-men), I found the claim that the movie hard hats were resin. Based upon that, and the fact that the aluminum hard hat is the ONLY close match I've been able to find, I believe they took an aluminum hard hat and modified it to accept a "modern" rigging before making a mold.
I've seen people argue that the shovel used in the movie was a chrome ceremonial shovel. They might be right, but a buddy and I went over references, and chrome almost seemed too shiny. Instead, we decided polished steel would be better. After some looking, the only shovel I could find that fit everything I needed was one that was pretty rusty. Below are my "before" pictures. It's not totally finished, but i've taken a lot of the rust off down to the silver steel beneath, and applied Maas polish for protection until I can finish.
For the shirt, I'm just using a denim shirt I found whose buttons matched the movie shirt. For welder's sleeves, I'm using Caiman sleeves. They'll need some modifications, but they're the closest off the rack that I've been able to find. Below is a progress shot of everything I have so far.
The big things I still need are the belt/harness and the catcher's pads. The belt/harness are on commission from a friend of mine. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about the pads. I haven't found a pair online after like a year of searching, and apparently it'll take an "industrial" sewing machine to make a set, so I'm still looking for someone who can do it. After that are the little things. I need gloves, knee pads, and boots, but those should be easy finds.
That's everything I've got so far. I'd love to hear any feedback as well as suggestions or recommendations for anything. I hope you enjoy this build.
