MFP 2020
Sr Member
I have loved Blue Thunder (the movie and the helicopter) since I first saw its theatrical release. And apropos of nothing, it came to me in a flash the other day: Frank Murphy’s uniform!
I’ve searched the board and have found no evidence that anyone here has done Frank Murphy’s Astro Division flight suit and helmet. Or if they have, they didn’t advertise it. Obviously I could just buy a flight suit and a helmet and try to fake it, but I’m sure you’re all familiar with the concept of “not good enough.”
I’ve been poring over the DVD (haven’t upgraded to Blu-ray yet) and searching the Internutz and so far the only item I have ID'd 100% is the watch (Casio AA-85 w/brown alligator band). That’s gonna be spendy right there, if I can even find one I can afford, so I’m considering similar Casio models. The big question is, of course, how much do I want to spend to get it right?
Stand by for full geek-out...
The Astro Division is fictional so I’ll have to commission replica patches, unless someone knows of a source. They're based on the LAPD Air Support Division patch. The “Metropolitan Police” badge should be pretty easy; I just need to ID the lettering and decide whether to go with all silver or with gold banners (appears to vary between scenes). The pilot wings appear to be standard US Air Force, silver, although the shield looks gold in some scenes.
I believe the Astro flight helmets are Gentex HGU-84/P models; I found a listing on Craigslist and aside from the liner color, it looks spot on. I just haven’t found one available with the gray liner yet. (The more I look, the more I think helicopter helmets are a mix-and-match type of deal, with few standard combinations.)
Blue Thunder’s fire-control helmet is most cool, but Murphy never wore it with his flight suit, only with his “regular guy” clothes: slacks, dress shirt and green corduroy jacket. (What are the rules about mixing and matching, anyway?) Still, it seems that using this helmet would sell the costume much better than the plain gray Astro helmet. (“Um...so you’re, like, a police helicopter pilot?”) It appears to be an HGU-84 with a flat black paint job, cable connector box and PRU-36/P dual visor housing. (If anyone knows different, please chime in.)
Finally (yeah, right), sunglasses. Aviator style, black frames, transitional lenses. As we used to say when I was a kid: “Cinchy.”
But it’s not worth worrying about the little details unless and until I get the biggest part of the uniform right: the flight suit.
Murphy’s flight suit is different from the other pilots’ standard gray suits, not only in color but in style: It’s not quite navy blue, looks up-close almost like a lightweight denim (brushed cotton twill? I don’t know fabrics), and has light gray stitching. It’s fitted at the waist and has an integral belt, almost like modified mechanics’ coveralls from Sears (like my uncle used to wear). I’m not nearly as trim (or short) as Roy Scheider was, but I can pull it off. Zip front with long sleeves, always rolled up. What’s interesting is that it appears to be previously used (and therefore faded), as there’s a darker rectangle on the right chest where he wears his standard LAPD uniform nameplate (as well as a stitched repair to the right sleeve). He wears another version of the same suit after he crashes the Jet Ranger and gets the left sleeve cut off; this other suit has the darker rectangle on the chest as well as dark spots on the sleeves where patches were removed—patches that were the same shape as the Astro Division patches (which are the same size and shape as standard LAPD patches). All of which leads me to believe that they sourced some actual police flight suits for Murphy.
I’ve been looking intently for a couple of days to no avail. If I have to have something made from scratch or heavily modified, any recommendations on where to go?
So there’s where I am. I would appreciate any pointers, tips, IDs, etc. you can offer. Thanks in advance.
One final question: Once I get this thing together, where the hell am I going to wear it?
Many more screen grabs here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v381/Max_Deployment/Blue%20Thunder/
I’ve searched the board and have found no evidence that anyone here has done Frank Murphy’s Astro Division flight suit and helmet. Or if they have, they didn’t advertise it. Obviously I could just buy a flight suit and a helmet and try to fake it, but I’m sure you’re all familiar with the concept of “not good enough.”
I’ve been poring over the DVD (haven’t upgraded to Blu-ray yet) and searching the Internutz and so far the only item I have ID'd 100% is the watch (Casio AA-85 w/brown alligator band). That’s gonna be spendy right there, if I can even find one I can afford, so I’m considering similar Casio models. The big question is, of course, how much do I want to spend to get it right?
Stand by for full geek-out...
The Astro Division is fictional so I’ll have to commission replica patches, unless someone knows of a source. They're based on the LAPD Air Support Division patch. The “Metropolitan Police” badge should be pretty easy; I just need to ID the lettering and decide whether to go with all silver or with gold banners (appears to vary between scenes). The pilot wings appear to be standard US Air Force, silver, although the shield looks gold in some scenes.
I believe the Astro flight helmets are Gentex HGU-84/P models; I found a listing on Craigslist and aside from the liner color, it looks spot on. I just haven’t found one available with the gray liner yet. (The more I look, the more I think helicopter helmets are a mix-and-match type of deal, with few standard combinations.)
Blue Thunder’s fire-control helmet is most cool, but Murphy never wore it with his flight suit, only with his “regular guy” clothes: slacks, dress shirt and green corduroy jacket. (What are the rules about mixing and matching, anyway?) Still, it seems that using this helmet would sell the costume much better than the plain gray Astro helmet. (“Um...so you’re, like, a police helicopter pilot?”) It appears to be an HGU-84 with a flat black paint job, cable connector box and PRU-36/P dual visor housing. (If anyone knows different, please chime in.)
Finally (yeah, right), sunglasses. Aviator style, black frames, transitional lenses. As we used to say when I was a kid: “Cinchy.”
But it’s not worth worrying about the little details unless and until I get the biggest part of the uniform right: the flight suit.
Murphy’s flight suit is different from the other pilots’ standard gray suits, not only in color but in style: It’s not quite navy blue, looks up-close almost like a lightweight denim (brushed cotton twill? I don’t know fabrics), and has light gray stitching. It’s fitted at the waist and has an integral belt, almost like modified mechanics’ coveralls from Sears (like my uncle used to wear). I’m not nearly as trim (or short) as Roy Scheider was, but I can pull it off. Zip front with long sleeves, always rolled up. What’s interesting is that it appears to be previously used (and therefore faded), as there’s a darker rectangle on the right chest where he wears his standard LAPD uniform nameplate (as well as a stitched repair to the right sleeve). He wears another version of the same suit after he crashes the Jet Ranger and gets the left sleeve cut off; this other suit has the darker rectangle on the chest as well as dark spots on the sleeves where patches were removed—patches that were the same shape as the Astro Division patches (which are the same size and shape as standard LAPD patches). All of which leads me to believe that they sourced some actual police flight suits for Murphy.
I’ve been looking intently for a couple of days to no avail. If I have to have something made from scratch or heavily modified, any recommendations on where to go?
So there’s where I am. I would appreciate any pointers, tips, IDs, etc. you can offer. Thanks in advance.
One final question: Once I get this thing together, where the hell am I going to wear it?
Many more screen grabs here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v381/Max_Deployment/Blue%20Thunder/
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