S1RDAG0N3T
New Member
these are amazing!
Apollo A7L Moon Suit
- Thread starter kenlandrum
- Start date
Where are these pictures from? I don't believe I have seen a suit with such damage. Where is this? It looks to be an A6L suit? It has an A6L pressure gauge. The bubble and the LEVA shell are also early.
On my earlier replica fittings, only my helmet disconnect was exact in size and function to the real ones. Back in 1995 we made simple ball detent style helmet disconnects for a Family Channel movie about Apollo 11, and in 1997 for "From the Earth to the Moon, we created fully functioning exact replicas, I copied using my real A7Lb disconnect.
I have decided to do this with the other Apollo fittings.
Some of my latest work on fittings for Apollo. The A7l and the A7Lb glove disconnects were very different sizes. The A7Lb being 1/2" larger in ID.
This is a 3D print on a real A7Lb left disconnect.
I'll be offering 3 different versions of Spacesuit fittings;
Plastic copies; molded off high quality machined copies Which I call "Class III".
Non-functional anodized aluminum versions designated "Class II"
and finally, working replicas, in polished/ anodized aluminum, that replicated the real fitting in dimension as well as function. "Class I"
On my earlier replica fittings, only my helmet disconnect was exact in size and function to the real ones. Back in 1995 we made simple ball detent style helmet disconnects for a Family Channel movie about Apollo 11, and in 1997 for "From the Earth to the Moon, we created fully functioning exact replicas, I copied using my real A7Lb disconnect.
I have decided to do this with the other Apollo fittings.
Some of my latest work on fittings for Apollo. The A7l and the A7Lb glove disconnects were very different sizes. The A7Lb being 1/2" larger in ID.
This is a 3D print on a real A7Lb left disconnect.
I'll be offering 3 different versions of Spacesuit fittings;
Plastic copies; molded off high quality machined copies Which I call "Class III".
Non-functional anodized aluminum versions designated "Class II"
and finally, working replicas, in polished/ anodized aluminum, that replicated the real fitting in dimension as well as function. "Class I"
These were taken last year at the Edmonton TelusWorld Science Center when they had a space exploration exhibit on display. This suit was billed as "Neil Armstrong's Spacesuit" if I recall, and knowing where the actual suit is, obviously the first thing I did was look for a tag to confirm what it actually was.
It's an A7L, serial #060 which from what I have found it is
"060 - Haise: Apollo 11 backup crew primary suit and Apollo 13 backup suit"
There are a mishmash of parts on this, it's obviously been heavily repaired, and potentially used as a training suit?
More photos to follow.
It's an A7L, serial #060 which from what I have found it is
"060 - Haise: Apollo 11 backup crew primary suit and Apollo 13 backup suit"
There are a mishmash of parts on this, it's obviously been heavily repaired, and potentially used as a training suit?
More photos to follow.
helloworld
New Member
Hey I’m kinda new here and I’m very interested in making this, but I have no idea on how to scale this to me. Also does anyone know where the arm files and the lower half files are any help is apreciated
S1RDAG0N3T
New Member
Nice to have you here!
Scaling patterns and sizing costumes is relatively simple, if you know how big the original patterns are meant to be, you can just change them accordingly.
IIRC kenlandrum has not made any patterns for the pants or arms at any point, or at least, he hasn't posted them. There are other makers who have created their own full patterns for these suits, like Ryan Nagata, but he will not post them as he made them for his job, which is fair enough.
I'm too busy right now to seriously commit to this project, so I haven't got patterns either, but based on the sheer amount of reference material, (pictures, drawings, journals) it doesn't seem like an especially complex sewing pattern. I'm probably dead wrong on that, but hey, I find that out on my own.
My best advice is just to keep looking through the forums, and try making up your own patterns.
zachsbanks547
New Member
I posted my patterns in my build thread and you’re more than welcome to use them. You’d just have to scale things for your own size. For reference, I’m 6’ 1” and about 150lbs.
S1RDAG0N3T
New Member
O-O
holy **** this is incredible dude.
S1RDAG0N3T
New Member
Oh my god this is really amazing!
helloworld
New Member
Thanks for the help! Would it be ok if I message whenever I need help and tips?
zachsbanks547
New Member
Sure, I can certainly try.
Not sure how much help I’ll be; I don’t have any tailoring experience and was mostly making things up as I went along.
S1RDAG0N3T
New Member
here's some of the fabric research I did, with links to actual fabrics, from what I can tell, most of the Betacloth has a basketweave appearance.
Silver Fabric
Tema Cotton - Look Mercury
Greige Basketweave Upholstery Fabric
Soft Thin Lurex Fabric
Redbrick Mill Textured Basketweave Grey Silver Upholstery Fabric
Main fabrics
White Poly Basket Weave Fabric
Plain 100% Cotton Fabric
Snoopy cap
A-Express Plain Cotton Fabric
Redbrick Mill Plain Chenille Basketweave Brown Upholstery Fabric
hope this is a little helpful.
Silver Fabric
Tema Cotton - Look Mercury
Greige Basketweave Upholstery Fabric
Soft Thin Lurex Fabric
Redbrick Mill Textured Basketweave Grey Silver Upholstery Fabric
Main fabrics
White Poly Basket Weave Fabric
Plain 100% Cotton Fabric
Snoopy cap
A-Express Plain Cotton Fabric
Redbrick Mill Plain Chenille Basketweave Brown Upholstery Fabric
hope this is a little helpful.
zachsbanks547
New Member
I would definitely recommend a synthetic of some kind for almost everything, to match the slightly shiny appearance of the originals.
For the Chromel-R, I used an RFID fabric which worked really well. It’s about as close as you can get to the real thing. But you’ll want to make sure it’s something heavy and stiff, without much texture.
For my snoopy cap, I used a ripstop nylon, which seemed to match the texture of the original teflon pretty well. But your second Snoopy Cap fabric looks pretty good.
I just used a standard heavy white nylon for my suit, but that basket weave does look really good too.
S1RDAG0N3T
New Member
that RFID fabric is really cool!
I think the nylon basket weave is really close to the texture on the suit, but I have seen a few photos that make it look more like a herringbone pattern
I think the nylon basket weave is really close to the texture on the suit, but I have seen a few photos that make it look more like a herringbone pattern
helloworld
New Member
For making the hands how would I go around stiffening the glove fabric? Do I need some kind of under fabric to thicken it
S1RDAG0N3T
New Member
if you used any of the silver fabrics I suggested or the RFID fabric then yes, probably. IRL the Moon gloves are just the outer covers, they also had rubber pressure gloves, which is why they look so bulky. Same with the moon boots, they're just outer covers as well, with fabric inner-shoes that actually hold pressure.
The Apollo inner glove,
-and the outer glove.
S1RDAG0N3T
New Member
this photo makes the betacloth look like denim almost.
S1RDAG0N3T
New Member
I mean in these photos the pattern seems different on every panel...
zachsbanks547
New Member
I didn’t stiffen the fabric at all on mine, partly because the stuff I bought is pretty stiff to start, but also because I made inner and outer gloves, like the real ones.
