My not so accurate R.J. MacReady from The Thing costume thread.

[dropshipbob]

That wig looks a little "poofy" (meaning big), but maybe you could take it to a hair stylist and have them thin it down? So yes, with a little work, I think it will be fine.

As for the idea of the J&B bottle, I made one myself. I had a friend buy the bottle since I couldn't find it around here, I cleaned off the inaccurate label and tried finding an accurate version. With a little digging, I found a collector in Amsterdam of all places that had a collection of J&B bottles. I sent him a screen grab of the label on the bottle in the film and asked if he happened to know when it was produced and if he happened to have a scan of the label.

Low and behold a few weeks later I got a reply with a scan of a label. The label wasn't 100% accurate, but it was the best/closest I had seen. I printed it off on sticker paper, slapped it on the bottle and there it was!

In related news, I recently found that a water gun I bought many years ago is actually 95% accurate to the pistol Garry, and then Mac, uses in the film! And it's even 1:1 scale!!

Do you plan on making the flame thrower?

 

[CB2001]

Love this movie! Don't forget about one of his most important accessories - the J&B Scotch. In fact, my friends and I just refer to it as "MacReady".

Way ahead of you. If I'm unable to make my flamethrower backpack in time, I've got a high res label for J&B and I'll find a glass bottle that closely matches (I've tried to find an authentic bottle with label on eBay, but they're either the small airport size ones {which I did find one, empty, at a store}, huge promotional ones that are in this holder/pouring unit {which I have also come across} or the correct bottle, but is unopened {I don't drink alcohol}) so I can at least do my "causal/off-duty MacReady."

That wig looks a little "poofy" (meaning big), but maybe you could take it to a hair stylist and have them thin it down? So yes, with a little work, I think it will be fine.

Well, this is a costume wig, meaning its the kind of wig that you typically see in Halloween costume stores. I don't know if a hair stylist would be able to thin it down, but I think it looks close enough (especially since in some scenes Mac's hair looks a little poofed out.

As for the idea of the J&B bottle, I made one myself. I had a friend buy the bottle since I couldn't find it around here, I cleaned off the inaccurate label and tried finding an accurate version. With a little digging, I found a collector in Amsterdam of all places that had a collection of J&B bottles. I sent him a screen grab of the label on the bottle in the film and asked if he happened to know when it was produced and if he happened to have a scan of the label.

Low and behold a few weeks later I got a reply with a scan of a label. The label wasn't 100% accurate, but it was the best/closest I had seen. I printed it off on sticker paper, slapped it on the bottle and there it was!

Good snag. I picked up a J&B label from the Paper Props subsection from a user named whitehammer. I'm hoping that Pier One has a bottle similar to the style (as Hobby Lobby didn't seem to have anything that looked like the bottle. They had the typical rectangle bottle that you see holding alcoholic beverages in in the old 1940 movies, but nothing that looked remotely like the bottle. I'm going to be checking around online to see if there's any online hobby stores that have them.

In related news, I recently found that a water gun I bought many years ago is actually 95% accurate to the pistol Garry, and then Mac, uses in the film! And it's even 1:1 scale!!

Sweet! I hope you snagged it. I almost picked up one of the $1 toy revolvers I posted about a while ago to go with my outfit, but my dad was with me and he was worried about it being mistaken for the real thing at a convention (which is odd, as we went to both MegaCon and DragonCon together and he's seen tons of people carrying Airsoft guns. So, I can't really blame him for his concern, so I passed on it.

Do you plan on making the flame thrower?

Yeah, I'm planning on doing it out of PVC piping. But if I'm unable to get it done before MegaCon, I'll be coming out as "casual/off-duty MacReady" (as seen in the opening of the film, as well as a couple of other scenes, even if my costume isn't as screen-accurate as I want it to be).

 

[dropshipbob]

Oh yeah, I snagged the watergun, got two of them in fact but didn't realize they were screen accurate untill a few months ago.

If you don't get the flame thrower built in time, you could go as Mac right after he got Garry's gun and was going to see Blair in the storage shed. You'd have to get a blue hoodie which should be pretty easy. If your Dad is worried about any toy gun you might have being mistaken as real, just plug the end of the barrel and paint it bright orange.

 

[CB2001]

Oh yeah, I snagged the watergun, got two of them in fact but didn't realize they were screen accurate untill a few months ago.

Cool. Glad you snagged them.

If you don't get the flame thrower built in time, you could go as Mac right after he got Garry's gun and was going to see Blair in the storage shed. You'd have to get a blue hoodie which should be pretty easy. If your Dad is worried about any toy gun you might have being mistaken as real, just plug the end of the barrel and paint it bright orange.

I'll try looking for it. But if I can't find the blue hoodie, I'll be walking around for a day as off-duty MacReady (if I do find the hoodie, I'm going to have to be carrying a big bottle of water with me, as I know how humid it gets inside the convention hall). Yeah, I told him that I wouldn't remove the orange cap at the end of the gun, but he's just felt that it was a bad idea (when I brought up the fact that he wants me to carry around a flamethrower and how that was any different, he pretty much told me that normal civilians can't get their hands on a real flamethrower and everyone knows that. Though I don't know if that's true or not, but he is former Army reserve so I have to assume he knows for certain about that topic).

I will say one thing: I'm planning on walking around as MacReady for one day. I don't know if we're going for a whole weekend or not, but if its the whole weekend, I'll be MacReady for one of them. If it's only going to be for one day instead of the whole weekend, then that'd be it too. As much as I want to be as accurate, my actual beard will not be as much (I had planned on growing mine out, but my beard consists of red and blonde hairs, despite the fact I'm naturally brown-haired. I could dye it, but that seems a bit useless to dye it, only to shave it off later, but I haven't decided on my beard situation just yet).

 

[CB2001]

New update:

My dad and I today went over to Tallahassee to see if we could buy a flight suit on the cheap, but the cheapest one was $40. So, I've decided to go with green khaki-style pants (or even green uniform pants) for MacReady's outfit (that way I have only the T-shirt and undershirt to worry about and not have to worry about burning up (since I have to also wear the leather jacket). However, the place my dad and I went to were selling some ALICE Frames. I picked one up instead of making a frame out of PVC and using straps from a backpack. I'm still going to use PVC for the tanks and for the gun portion of the thrower.

As a result of the above, which I believe I'll get done with it before MegaCon, I'll be leaving off the J&B bottle (honestly, I came close to snagging one earlier today from an Olive Garden, but they had recently cleared out their empty bottles. DANG IT!). I will be starting a build thread for the thrower in the prop replica section.

 

[CB2001]

I have just started the thread for the flamethrower over in the prop replica action of the forum.

 

[YuriGagarin61]

Very interesting thread Death Shroom...thanks! Do you know about the very-pricy R.J. hats, the Hollywood costumer guys sell? I'd love to get one but it's way above my present means.

The RJ* by Baron Hats

 

[CB2001]

Very interesting thread Death Shroom...thanks! Do you know about the very-pricy R.J. hats, the Hollywood costumer guys sell? I'd love to get one but it's way above my present means.

The RJ* by Baron Hats

Yes. In fact, its been discussed at another Thing costume thread. I started this one as it is meant to be a project thread not a general costume discussion thread. In fact, the reason why I went with the hat I got from the costume store was because of the pricing (which is a deciding factor in most of the parts of my costume).

BTW, it's just CB2001. I just used the "Death Shroom" image primarily because it was a T-shirt design I came up with for a short film I was going to do (but it didn't get off the ground).

 

[YuriGagarin61]

Yes. In fact, its been discussed at another Thing costume thread. I started this one as it is meant to be a project thread not a general costume discussion thread. In fact, the reason why I went with the hat I got from the costume store was because of the pricing (which is a deciding factor in most of the parts of my costume).

BTW, it's just CB2001. I just used the "Death Shroom" image primarily because it was a T-shirt design I came up with for a short film I was going to do (but it didn't get off the ground).

Oops, my mistake! Sorry the image just jumped out at me. Yeah, as a matter of fact I found Baron's via that thread. Yeah, it's real a pricy if nice replica, and I do understand that you are doing this costume with an eye to doing it affordable. COOL thread though!!!

 

[CB2001]

Oops, my mistake! Sorry the image just jumped out at me. Yeah, as a matter of fact I found Baron's via that thread. Yeah, it's real a pricy if nice replica, and I do understand that you are doing this costume with an eye to doing it affordable. COOL thread though!!!

It's no problem. But my thread is also providing the information for those who are also looking for more screen-accuracy in their MacReady outfit. So, your post about the hat definitely fits.

 

[Justine]

Mother of all that's holy, that's an expensive replica hat! The Thing is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I've easily seen it at least 100 times (long story short, I used to be engaged to a would-be film director and Carpenter fan). Sometimes, screen accuracy comes at too high a cost. I like to see people going for the spirit of things, with an understanding that money doesn't come easy and we can't all just fling money around.

Besides, to really do MacReady right, it's all about the beard, man. Kurt Russell fought hard for that beard. The execs didn't want that handsome box-office-draw face covered by whiskers, but he argued long and hard that there's no way a guy like MacReady wouldn't have serious facial hair in that environment.

 

[CB2001]

Mother of all that's holy, that's an expensive replica hat! The Thing is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I've easily seen it at least 100 times (long story short, I used to be engaged to a would-be film director and Carpenter fan). Sometimes, screen accuracy comes at too high a cost. I like to see people going for the spirit of things, with an understanding that money doesn't come easy and we can't all just fling money around.

Besides, to really do MacReady right, it's all about the beard, man. Kurt Russell fought hard for that beard. The execs didn't want that handsome box-office-draw face covered by whiskers, but he argued long and hard that there's no way a guy like MacReady wouldn't have serious facial hair in that environment.

Well, the beard won't be a major problem. I'm going to start growing it out about a least a month before MegaCon. The only problem is that, despite having brown hair on my head, my beard is has more red and dirty blonde hair than matching. It's either grow out a non-matching beard or purchase one of the cheap costume ones (though easier to handle than growing out a beard, the drawback to a costume beard is that it looks exactly what it is: fake).

And, as I've stated on the first post: one of the major factors is cost, which is part of the reason why I'm not having a whole lot of screen accuracy, but am trying to get close enough. So, its hard to work on something with almost a shoe-string budget, but I figured it's better than nothing.

 

[Havok69]

I would suggest growing your beard and then using one of those beard coloring products you see at the supermarket to try and better match your hair. (Not sure if they only work on gray hair though?)

 

[CB2001]

I would suggest growing your beard and then using one of those beard coloring products you see at the supermarket to try and better match your hair. (Not sure if they only work on gray hair though?)

Yeah, I've heard of them, but I wasn't sure if it'd work with my beard or not. I'll look into to see how much they cost (got a CVS and a Winn-Dixie in town. If not at either of those, I'll try over in Valdosta) after Christmas (right now, I have no beard. I shaved since I know we're going to be taking some pictures during Christmas).

 

[CB2001]

New update: Got a pair of green colored khakis that matches the same color as Mac's flight suit. Since an actual flight suit is $40+ at the local Army Surplus, and since I know how humid its going to be inside the hall that MegaCon is going to be in, I've decided to go with the pants on its own.

So, on a basic level, I've got all of Mac's outfit done. The basic level is what looks like his "off duty" outfit minus the flight suit's top portion. I'll get the outfit together and take some pictures of what I've got. For MegaCon, I'm going to leave out the white "undershirt", as I'm going to be wearing the leather jacket.

So, for the overall list I have:
Leather Jacket
White Long sleeved shirt
Gray colored shirt (with a button up collar, while the one in the film is a solid T-shirt)
Army Green khakis
Pair of boots (actually, I've got two different pairs, one that is army issued that belonged to my dad, the other that is non-army issued that my dad snagged from a Goodwill)

I don't know when I'll get pictures of all I've got, but I'm certain the overall appearance is going to be close, even though still not as screen accurate.

 

[CB2001]

Here's an update. I purchased and received my wig. The wig I got was the one I linked, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of it (it's doesn't seem like a full fledge professional wig, but its definitely not the typical costume/party store wig you pick up on Halloween). So, after getting the wig on, I threw on my jacket, the sunglasses and the hat (pre-modications) and had my father take a picture of me in costume. The wig itself is by Franco Costume Culture (Michele's Wig Collection).

As you can see, it looks pretty decent. I honestly can't wait to get into full outfit to do a few shots. I know my beard may look correct in color, but as I've stated before, though the hair on my head is actually brown, my beard is more of a mix of red and blond hairs than a brown one. I've been looking at the getting beard dye to get it to match. And I know that my beard isn't as far out as Mac's is in the film, but it's been growing out for two weeks. Since MegaCon is next month, it's safe to say that I will have a bigger beard by the time MegaCon occurs. So, here's the first work in progress test shot.

I know that this one shot doesn't help out in showing the full thing, but I figured I'd post at least one shot to give an initial evaluation.

 

[CB2001]

I'm taking the silence in the topic as a bad sign, like how Mac did during the final scene in the generator room.

 

[dropshipbob]

I think you have a good start there, but that hat...I'm not sure about that.

I know you are on a budget, but I found a hat back around Halloween at one of those Halloween stores that should do the trick. I don't remember the manufacturer, but it was marketed as a tricorn/pirate hat similar to this...

Once I unfolded it and smoothed out the corners, it had a nice wide brim and a "bubble" top. The bubble (sorry, I don't know the technical term) is a little short, but since the screen used hat had a band going around it, all you have to do it cut it off and make a shim out of foam or some such to add height to it. Glue the bubble to the top of the shim and then cover that up with the band.
Add some creases to the top and you should have a pretty convincing RJ hat.

 

[CB2001]

I think you have a good start there, but that hat...I'm not sure about that.

I know you are on a budget, but I found a hat back around Halloween at one of those Halloween stores that should do the trick. I don't remember the manufacturer, but it was marketed as a tricorn/pirate hat similar to this...

Once I unfolded it and smoothed out the corners, it had a nice wide brim and a "bubble" top. The bubble (sorry, I don't know the technical term) is a little short, but since the screen used hat had a band going around it, all you have to do it cut it off and make a shim out of foam or some such to add height to it. Glue the bubble to the top of the shim and then cover that up with the band.
Add some creases to the top and you should have a pretty convincing RJ hat.

Thanks, Bob. And thanks for the Info. Honestly, my dad and I plan on getting some felt of the same color as the hat and try to make some mods to the hat in an attempt to make it close as possible (right now, the hat is unmodified).

 

[CB2001]

New Update: Well, my dad and I ran over to Tallahassee earlier today to look at a house that's for sale. However, before we left, my Dad and I were talking about the costume and how we were going to get the hat I originally bought folded. However, since we were in the area of the Party City, Dad suggested we run in to check out any other hats that may be bigger. Before we went in, I told Dad about the pirate hat that dropshipbob suggested, but we went in without any intention of trying to find the hat. However, when we went to where the hats were, we actually found that same hat. I showed it to my Dad and he was like, "Dude, that's big enough! We can make it work!" So, I went ahead and bought it and we've got it unfolded from the way it is, and have the front and back folded in a similar way to the one in the film. Tomorrow, I'll be finishing up some painting on the flamethrower prop and try to get the hat folded. I will get some photos taken whenever I can to show the entire outfit, no matter how inaccurate it may be.