Hey gang.
I'd recently taken a break from Ghostbuster props tackling some Star Wars stuff mostly, but have started a new suit for myself for a con over Memorial Day weekend. I have also taken on a commision to knock one out for a member here. It's been a long, hard trip for me with Ghostbuster propping, but nothing's really stopped me from trying to get a super accurate suit, or at least, an affordable one that I can be proud of.
I thought it'd be fun to let you guys tag along as I took the suit from start to finish, and shared some tips and tricks for making a cheap, yet accurate suit for yourself! I also wanted my commision to see his suit get 'born.' Should get really fun once we get to the equipment!
I should note, that a Ghostbuster suit and equipment buildup is NOT for the timid or the novice. I will never understand why people think it's easy:rolleyes
I've had more trouble with this costume than I ever did with my Fett, or, more recently, my Biker Scout suit. The main problem is most sellers have the wrong stuff, or the correct stuff is wayyyy overpriced, or not even avaiable.
It's definatly an advanced undertaking.
But, ever undaunted . . . .I started by gathering up all the junk it takes to get a suit going. The ready-made items include:
Pistol Belt
Khaki flight suit
Paratropper boots
Knee pads
Patches
Gloves
And while doing that, I started to pick up the supplies I'd need to do all the little things for the suit, like belt pouches, keychain hardware, hosing, etc.
Black polystyrene
Black Leather
Flexible gas line (leg hose)
Sqaure eyed clip, o-rings, d-rings, snaps, rivets
After that was all bought/ordered, I started to crank out the cast parts I'd be using for the suit;
Suit coupling (rubber)
Seiko watch (rubber and resin)
Circuit boards, large and small (resin, foam, rubber, and plastic)
MT-500 Radio (resin and rigid foam)
I'm a big fan of a prop or costume accessories that I can beat the crap out of, so most, if not all , of the belt props are cast in rubber, resin and foam, or a combo of all three. I'm a bigger fan of a belt that won't hang to my knees by the end of the day. But we'll get into that later.
This all took about three weeks to get together, but upon viewing the pile I'd made, it was quite worth it.
I started in the most obvious of places, the dyeing of the flightsuit, belt, and elbow pads.
The filghtsuit starts as a very tan shade of khaki, and the zippers are the same color. Once dyed, we'll paint them to appear brass. Since the flightsuit is a nice poly blend, the dye should take right to it. Be sure to unfasten the velcro, and get the name tag velcro removed from the chest. You won't need it.
The pistol belt starts out a nice color of grey shade of khaki, and will also take the dye very well.
I could do all the technical little things that most Ghostheads do (salt, hot water in a pot), but I've never seen a huge difference in one or the other. So all I do, is hit the warm water normal cycle on the washer, mix in my dye (wearing rubber gloves of course), and carefully set the suit and belt into the mix, making sure every part gets submerged. Then I just let'er go! After a nice rinse cycle, I hang it up and let it air dry. I won't touch it until later, when I pin the patches for it's trip to the embroidery. While the color doens't change much, the grey is very apparent, and looks sharp.
The belt is very low matainence, as I just hang it up and leave it until all it's accessories are done.
Once those are drying, I moved onto the Elbow pads. Now, there's two ways your can go; really dark, or really light. Both are accurate, and it just depends what scene you're going for. In our case, we're going full hotel look (radio, goggles), which means we get to pick between the New York and the LA costumes. Horray choices!!
So, we're gonna go dark, and I start by mixing in a full bag of black RIT dye (I'm doing two pair) and let them run. After they're done, they look pretty nice, but not entirely accurate.
The next step is crucial, I take the pads a toss them over a thick shipping tube, so they'll stretch when they get painted, and all the color can be absorbed.
Yep, painted . . .
Alot of photos show the elbow pads in various states of wear and tear, and some even show paint under/overspray. The TIME stairway photo's a great example, with a clear shot of Murray's pad, showing alot of unpainted white.
Hitting them with fabric paint is kinda fun, and does require a sharp artisitc eye. I usually mist it in light coats, so that I can get a nice 'airbrushed' look to the pads. The flocked fabric gives them a nice used, dirty look.
Once that dries over the course of a few hours, I give the middle of the pad it's black streak. On the real pads, this is a piece of black elestic sewn on, but it was famous for ripping (again, screencaps show this alot). So I just paint it on. Once they dry up (usually 5-10 hours) you can play around with them and get them ready for cutting. But we'll get to that too.
It's not a bad start, and I'm looking forward to getting the suit coupling on, as well as the patches, cause the suit really starts to come to life at that point. I'll also start thing about all teh leather fabrication that has to happen, and will not be easy. Hope you guys enjoy the ride with me!!
I'd recently taken a break from Ghostbuster props tackling some Star Wars stuff mostly, but have started a new suit for myself for a con over Memorial Day weekend. I have also taken on a commision to knock one out for a member here. It's been a long, hard trip for me with Ghostbuster propping, but nothing's really stopped me from trying to get a super accurate suit, or at least, an affordable one that I can be proud of.
I thought it'd be fun to let you guys tag along as I took the suit from start to finish, and shared some tips and tricks for making a cheap, yet accurate suit for yourself! I also wanted my commision to see his suit get 'born.' Should get really fun once we get to the equipment!
I should note, that a Ghostbuster suit and equipment buildup is NOT for the timid or the novice. I will never understand why people think it's easy:rolleyes
I've had more trouble with this costume than I ever did with my Fett, or, more recently, my Biker Scout suit. The main problem is most sellers have the wrong stuff, or the correct stuff is wayyyy overpriced, or not even avaiable.
It's definatly an advanced undertaking.
But, ever undaunted . . . .I started by gathering up all the junk it takes to get a suit going. The ready-made items include:
Pistol Belt
Khaki flight suit
Paratropper boots
Knee pads
Patches
Gloves
And while doing that, I started to pick up the supplies I'd need to do all the little things for the suit, like belt pouches, keychain hardware, hosing, etc.
Black polystyrene
Black Leather
Flexible gas line (leg hose)
Sqaure eyed clip, o-rings, d-rings, snaps, rivets
After that was all bought/ordered, I started to crank out the cast parts I'd be using for the suit;
Suit coupling (rubber)
Seiko watch (rubber and resin)
Circuit boards, large and small (resin, foam, rubber, and plastic)
MT-500 Radio (resin and rigid foam)
I'm a big fan of a prop or costume accessories that I can beat the crap out of, so most, if not all , of the belt props are cast in rubber, resin and foam, or a combo of all three. I'm a bigger fan of a belt that won't hang to my knees by the end of the day. But we'll get into that later.
This all took about three weeks to get together, but upon viewing the pile I'd made, it was quite worth it.
I started in the most obvious of places, the dyeing of the flightsuit, belt, and elbow pads.
The filghtsuit starts as a very tan shade of khaki, and the zippers are the same color. Once dyed, we'll paint them to appear brass. Since the flightsuit is a nice poly blend, the dye should take right to it. Be sure to unfasten the velcro, and get the name tag velcro removed from the chest. You won't need it.
The pistol belt starts out a nice color of grey shade of khaki, and will also take the dye very well.
I could do all the technical little things that most Ghostheads do (salt, hot water in a pot), but I've never seen a huge difference in one or the other. So all I do, is hit the warm water normal cycle on the washer, mix in my dye (wearing rubber gloves of course), and carefully set the suit and belt into the mix, making sure every part gets submerged. Then I just let'er go! After a nice rinse cycle, I hang it up and let it air dry. I won't touch it until later, when I pin the patches for it's trip to the embroidery. While the color doens't change much, the grey is very apparent, and looks sharp.
The belt is very low matainence, as I just hang it up and leave it until all it's accessories are done.
Once those are drying, I moved onto the Elbow pads. Now, there's two ways your can go; really dark, or really light. Both are accurate, and it just depends what scene you're going for. In our case, we're going full hotel look (radio, goggles), which means we get to pick between the New York and the LA costumes. Horray choices!!
So, we're gonna go dark, and I start by mixing in a full bag of black RIT dye (I'm doing two pair) and let them run. After they're done, they look pretty nice, but not entirely accurate.
The next step is crucial, I take the pads a toss them over a thick shipping tube, so they'll stretch when they get painted, and all the color can be absorbed.
Yep, painted . . .
Alot of photos show the elbow pads in various states of wear and tear, and some even show paint under/overspray. The TIME stairway photo's a great example, with a clear shot of Murray's pad, showing alot of unpainted white.
Hitting them with fabric paint is kinda fun, and does require a sharp artisitc eye. I usually mist it in light coats, so that I can get a nice 'airbrushed' look to the pads. The flocked fabric gives them a nice used, dirty look.
Once that dries over the course of a few hours, I give the middle of the pad it's black streak. On the real pads, this is a piece of black elestic sewn on, but it was famous for ripping (again, screencaps show this alot). So I just paint it on. Once they dry up (usually 5-10 hours) you can play around with them and get them ready for cutting. But we'll get to that too.
It's not a bad start, and I'm looking forward to getting the suit coupling on, as well as the patches, cause the suit really starts to come to life at that point. I'll also start thing about all teh leather fabrication that has to happen, and will not be easy. Hope you guys enjoy the ride with me!!
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