kalkamel
Master Member
I've been wanting a set of BSG Duty Blues and Flightsuit for a while but the prices for good repros were waaaaay out of my budget. I had known that Costumebase sells these costumes but I was kinda wary at the quality having heard quite a few negative reviews. The pics they put up at their Ebay auction pages were not so flattering either. Here are their promo pics for the duty blues (Senior officer version):
And here's their flightsuit:
After reading some reviews and modding threads on ASAP and Galacticahero.net, particularly the mods done by Eggroll I took the plunge and bought these two costumes from Costumebase (at a very good price too, I might add... I used the Best Offer option).
First of all, the duty blues. Aside from the officer piping, the uniform was quite well constructed. The buttons used were accurate, except that they were antique brass and not black like the screen used ones. Costumebase uses navy blue polyester gabardine, not accurate but it looks the part. The uniform was lined but I removed the lining as it made the tunic a bit tight. The material used for the shoulders is black velvet and the insignia was embroided onto the velvet rather than a patch.
Here's what I did: I removed the velvet and replaced it with navy blue suede and sewed on an accurately sized BSG-75 patch I got from Galacticahero.net. I removed all the buttons and painted them flat black and then used acetone to remove the paint on the "X"s on the buttons. I also shortened the cuffs and replaced the metal clasps with small fastex buckles which I painted gold with Rub n Buff. The most complicated part though was removing the piping. It was correctly constructed, but Costumebase uses satin instead of the correct pleather. And it was white and red... I was going for Adama's red and gold. So I got my hands on some red and gold pleather and using Stormhaven's tutorial I constructed my own piping. This was then sewed onto the tunic. I also replaced the buckle on the web belt and painted it gold with Rub n Buff.
Here's how it looks like after the mods. The rank pins and wing are also from Costumebase I hope to get them replaced with MJF's soon).
Next is the flightsuit. Like the duty blues, the flightsuit was also well constructed. Costumebase uses pleather (not too thick, not too thin) for it and all the pockets are functional. The overall color of the suit was a bit off... whereas the Sommers Chroma was vibrant green/gold, Costumebase's pleather was a dull olive green shade. The vest was ugly... rivets were used instead of snaps. The back scales were very very shiny. The flightsuit is also lined and it comes with the Galactica patch (velcroed on), the Vipers and Raptors patches.
I commissioned Batninja to make me accurate wrist and ankle cuffs. Once I received them, I cut off the cuffs on the flightsuit and added snaps to them and attached the new cuffs. I wasn't happy with the dull green color of the pleather so I airbrushed the entire suit with Lumiere Jacquard Olive Green fabric paint. Suffice to say, I was very pleased with the result. The color was much closer to the Sommers Chroma.
Taking a cue from Eggroll, I padded the back scales with some foam and weathered them with an airbrush. This made the scales less shiny and look more like the screen used ones.
Next I worked on the vest. I removed all the rivets and webbing and trimmed the vest with Eggroll's templates. I also cut out some tan split leather and stuck them to the vest. Batninja was also kind enough to give some alternate piping for the vest which I sewed on. The rubber dot material was also sewed on. I replaced the webbing and buckles which I also painted with gold Rub n Buff. Finally I added the LED O2 sensor made for me by Mr Engineer and covered it with anti-static plastic.
Below are some pics of the flightsuit after the mods. As with the duty blues, the rank pins and wing are from Costumebase. The patches are stuck on with double stick tape as I'm still waiting for accurate patches. The gloves are the correct Ironclad ones, but I haven't modified the straps yet. The belt, pouches and holster are not accurate but it's what I got lying around. I hope to fill the holster with Matsuo's excellent S2 blaster soon.
I thought my Vader suit was hot, this one's practically an oven!:wacko
Overall, I'm pleased with the mods. The quality is nowhere like the ones constructed out of the screen used materials, but they look quite decent and they don't burn a big hole in my pocket.:lol
And here's their flightsuit:
After reading some reviews and modding threads on ASAP and Galacticahero.net, particularly the mods done by Eggroll I took the plunge and bought these two costumes from Costumebase (at a very good price too, I might add... I used the Best Offer option).
First of all, the duty blues. Aside from the officer piping, the uniform was quite well constructed. The buttons used were accurate, except that they were antique brass and not black like the screen used ones. Costumebase uses navy blue polyester gabardine, not accurate but it looks the part. The uniform was lined but I removed the lining as it made the tunic a bit tight. The material used for the shoulders is black velvet and the insignia was embroided onto the velvet rather than a patch.
Here's what I did: I removed the velvet and replaced it with navy blue suede and sewed on an accurately sized BSG-75 patch I got from Galacticahero.net. I removed all the buttons and painted them flat black and then used acetone to remove the paint on the "X"s on the buttons. I also shortened the cuffs and replaced the metal clasps with small fastex buckles which I painted gold with Rub n Buff. The most complicated part though was removing the piping. It was correctly constructed, but Costumebase uses satin instead of the correct pleather. And it was white and red... I was going for Adama's red and gold. So I got my hands on some red and gold pleather and using Stormhaven's tutorial I constructed my own piping. This was then sewed onto the tunic. I also replaced the buckle on the web belt and painted it gold with Rub n Buff.
Here's how it looks like after the mods. The rank pins and wing are also from Costumebase I hope to get them replaced with MJF's soon).
Next is the flightsuit. Like the duty blues, the flightsuit was also well constructed. Costumebase uses pleather (not too thick, not too thin) for it and all the pockets are functional. The overall color of the suit was a bit off... whereas the Sommers Chroma was vibrant green/gold, Costumebase's pleather was a dull olive green shade. The vest was ugly... rivets were used instead of snaps. The back scales were very very shiny. The flightsuit is also lined and it comes with the Galactica patch (velcroed on), the Vipers and Raptors patches.
I commissioned Batninja to make me accurate wrist and ankle cuffs. Once I received them, I cut off the cuffs on the flightsuit and added snaps to them and attached the new cuffs. I wasn't happy with the dull green color of the pleather so I airbrushed the entire suit with Lumiere Jacquard Olive Green fabric paint. Suffice to say, I was very pleased with the result. The color was much closer to the Sommers Chroma.
Taking a cue from Eggroll, I padded the back scales with some foam and weathered them with an airbrush. This made the scales less shiny and look more like the screen used ones.
Next I worked on the vest. I removed all the rivets and webbing and trimmed the vest with Eggroll's templates. I also cut out some tan split leather and stuck them to the vest. Batninja was also kind enough to give some alternate piping for the vest which I sewed on. The rubber dot material was also sewed on. I replaced the webbing and buckles which I also painted with gold Rub n Buff. Finally I added the LED O2 sensor made for me by Mr Engineer and covered it with anti-static plastic.
Below are some pics of the flightsuit after the mods. As with the duty blues, the rank pins and wing are from Costumebase. The patches are stuck on with double stick tape as I'm still waiting for accurate patches. The gloves are the correct Ironclad ones, but I haven't modified the straps yet. The belt, pouches and holster are not accurate but it's what I got lying around. I hope to fill the holster with Matsuo's excellent S2 blaster soon.
I thought my Vader suit was hot, this one's practically an oven!:wacko
Overall, I'm pleased with the mods. The quality is nowhere like the ones constructed out of the screen used materials, but they look quite decent and they don't burn a big hole in my pocket.:lol
Last edited:
thumbsup:thumbsup
