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

Well...I mulled it over and went back for the coat. It's not 100% accurate, but it's damn close. I figured it was an easy enough costume and I've already got the beard and hair for it. But if something happens I can always sell the jacket down the road if I needed to. Let me know what you think.

I agree, that jacket is pretty close to screen accurate (and I'm judging this from the picture and comparison to the screencaps I've done of Mac's jacket in the film). It's pretty close.
 
I bought the "RJ" from Baron Hats.
Beaver pelt and aged. The only thing I didnt like anout the hat was the "Stampeed Straps" were too short.
The only thing I didnt like about Baron Hats is my hat was about 3 months late and none of the employees could tell me what was going on with my order. Might have been a fluke... Great gat though. I look likr a nut in it. If I ever get dark green coveralls or a flight suit my getup would be complete.
 
I bought the "RJ" from Baron Hats.
Beaver pelt and aged. The only thing I didnt like anout the hat was the "Stampeed Straps" were too short.
The only thing I didnt like about Baron Hats is my hat was about 3 months late and none of the employees could tell me what was going on with my order. Might have been a fluke... Great gat though. I look likr a nut in it. If I ever get dark green coveralls or a flight suit my getup would be complete.

The hat looks awesome, even with the short stampeed straps. Sorry that you had a delay in getting your hat, but I'm glad you got it. Over all, you're totally close to having a better getup than mine. But if you need a flight suit, Army Surpluses have them, but they're pretty pricey (I was lucky to find one for less than $10 at a store in Panama City last summer). And I'm totally digging that Outpost #31 t-shirt. :cool
 
I just wanted to express what a help this thread was with my Halloween costume last year (especially that pirate hat tip). I am having a helluva time trying to upload any photos to an album within my profile on here for some reason, but here's my RJ MacReady drag costume!

RLWTEpr.jpg
"I'm tired of talkin', Fuchs. I just wanna get up to my shack and get drunk."

cMKH6ns.jpg
I took this after a night out dancing in costume, so my feathered hair deflated and a bunch of long strands I'd been hiding (my hair is actually past shoulder length) had come loose.

I hand applied my beard with spirit gum and two different weaves. Unfortunately, the shop was out of blonde, so my facial hair doesn't match my real hair as well as it could. I made the band and straps out of fake leather and an old belt. All the clothing items besides the flight suit were found secondhand.

KtqKAgU.jpg
Hat band detail

More at: imgur.com/a/AQkyQ

Thanks again, CB2001!!
 
Last edited:
I just wanted to express what a help this thread was with my Halloween costume last year (especially that pirate hat tip). I am having a helluva time trying to upload any photos to an album within my profile on here for some reason, but here's my RJ MacReady drag costume!

View attachment 292818
"I'm tired of talkin', Fuchs. I just wanna get up to my shack and get drunk."

View attachment 292819
I took this after a night out dancing in costume, so my feathered hair deflated and a bunch of long strands I'd been hiding (my hair is actually past shoulder length) had come loose.

I hand applied my beard with spirit gum and two different weaves. Unfortunately, the shop was out of blonde, so my facial hair doesn't match my real hair as well as it could. I made the band and straps out of fake leather and an old belt. All the clothing items besides the flight suit were found secondhand.

View attachment 292824
Hat band detail

More at: imgur.com/a/AQkyQ

Thanks again, CB2001!!

You're very much welcome. I'm glad that my post was able to help you out. Excellent job on your costume (definitely love the detailing on the hat). :D
 
Just found this thread, probably a little too late, Awesome work on your costume, looks fantastic, I recently pulled together one on a budget also and wore it to the SciFi weekender in Wales just last week.

Here in the UK A.L.I.C.E frames are all but reserved for the ghostbuster comunity but I am aiming to improve the flamethrower for next year, but opted for garden weed sprayer tanks with an old baked beans can and some piping this time round. Also as I am severely challenged in the hair department and was having trouble with sourcing the Mutant campaign hat, so I opted for the hood up and goggles look.

Not screen accurate but great fun to wear!

Managed to find an old G1 winter pilots jacket on ebay for £30 and pretty much all the rest came from my current wardrobe with some snazzaroo white facepaints watered downa nd airbrushed on for the "frosting". Beard is my own.

Macready final.jpg
 
Just found this thread, probably a little too late, Awesome work on your costume, looks fantastic, I recently pulled together one on a budget also and wore it to the SciFi weekender in Wales just last week.

Here in the UK A.L.I.C.E frames are all but reserved for the ghostbuster comunity but I am aiming to improve the flamethrower for next year, but opted for garden weed sprayer tanks with an old baked beans can and some piping this time round. Also as I am severely challenged in the hair department and was having trouble with sourcing the Mutant campaign hat, so I opted for the hood up and goggles look.

Not screen accurate but great fun to wear!

Managed to find an old G1 winter pilots jacket on ebay for £30 and pretty much all the rest came from my current wardrobe with some snazzaroo white facepaints watered downa nd airbrushed on for the "frosting". Beard is my own.

View attachment 458491

Amazing job! You definitely make it look awesome, and I love the frosting detailing. Believe me, using my A.L.I.C.E. frame/PVC tanks idea may have given the look of a real thrower pack, but it was almost as heavy as a real one. Your thrower pack definitely looks like its much lighter than mine. But over all, you definitely pulled it off the costume and flamethrower prop with the limited budget. I have to ask: how many people recognized you as MacReady?

BTW, for anyone else who is reading this post, there's a new tutorial I've come across where you can make a flamethrower prop that is really light weight in case you're doing one and especially for conventions. I'll post this over at my flamethrower prop build thread as well.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks CB2001... thats a great compliment. Overall it wasn't too bad on the recognition front.. there were a few confused faces at times but plenty of people got it. Certainly enough for me to keep it on until the wee small hours.

I'll definitely be trawling through your flamethrower thread and this one once again to refine the costume for next time.

Many thanks and keep up the good work!!
 
Thanks CB2001... thats a great compliment. Overall it wasn't too bad on the recognition front.. there were a few confused faces at times but plenty of people got it. Certainly enough for me to keep it on until the wee small hours.

I'll definitely be trawling through your flamethrower thread and this one once again to refine the costume for next time.

Many thanks and keep up the good work!!

That's good to hear. Like I said, when I went to MegaCon, not many people noticed me (including a guy wearing a t-shirt with the film's poster art).

I hope you enjoy the build thread (BTW, I definitely recommend Jake's tutorial for the pack instead of using mine, unless you want lug around something that has the exact weight of the real thing. :p).

You're welcome. And thank you. It's people like yourself is the reason why I started the threads, so that they can also use the resources I discovered on the actual costumes. If you refine your costume, feel free to share more pictures of it. And you keep up the good work as well. :D
 
New update on this particular topic: Adam Savage has made a video where he updates the Last Best West MacReady hat. may be useful.

 
New update on this particular topic: Adam Savage has made a video where he updates the Last Best West MacReady hat. may be useful.

I think he may have a couple thing incorrect. No proof, just watching the movie and this is what I saw. I don’t think there would be a separate leather outer band and stampede string. All you have to do is wrap the stampede string one and a half times around the crown and stick it through the holes and you will have that look. Secondly, the “beaded” hat band, I have an alternat theory. Based on what Macready does, and what he works with, I think it’s a piece of mountaineering rope with the cord pulled out. I remember seeing mountaineering rope with that type of pattern, just find the right color, cut a few feet off, pull the core from the outer sheath and tie it on the hat. Fits the character to me. And the dip and the wrap could be just where the leather comes over and drops down the hole to be the stampede string.
 
Last edited:
I think he has two things wrong. No proof, just watching the movie and this is what I saw. I don’t think there would be a separate leather outer band and stampede string. All you have to do is wrap the stampede string one and a half times around the crown and stick it through the holes and you will have that look. Secondly, the “beaded” hat band, I have an alternat theory. Based on what Macready does, and what he works with, I think it’s a piece of mountaineering rope with the cord pulled out. I remember seeing mountaineering rope with that type of pattern, just find the right color, cut a few feet off, pull the core from the outer sheath and tie it on the hat. Fits the character to me. And the dip and the wrap could be just where the leather comes over and drops down the hole to be the stampede string.
Considering the lack of upclose detailed photos of the screenused hats used in the film (there are two that can be found at yourprops.com, but none of them are detailed enough), the only option for readily available managerial is is the actual film. This is pretty much true of any fan replicas. And he's been doing fan replicas since he was a kid and did this with his Blade Runner blaster, using a VHS tape and pictures from magazine to try to make it. If anything, this video show he can update it to make more accurate when he can get more info.
 
Considering the lack of upclose detailed photos of the screenused hats used in the film (there are two that can be found at yourprops.com, but none of them are detailed enough), the only option for readily available managerial is is the actual film. This is pretty much true of any fan replicas. And he's been doing fan replicas since he was a kid and did this with his Blade Runner blaster, using a VHS tape and pictures from magazine to try to make it. If anything, this video show he can update it to make more accurate when he can get more info.
I changed the way that was worded a little. I am just throwing out and alternate theory of construction. As a hat maker I pay attention to them in movies. I even bought a couple of those beaded bands in case I get asked to make this hat, just as I do with most replica bands. But if I came across some old climbing rope that was that color I would get my hands on that too. The only real thing I can say about the band is that I have never seen a beaded band with that type of pattern before these, I have seen climbing rope with a similar pattern. But until someone uncovers a stockpile of (probably) 1970’s climbing rope, the beaded bands are the closest thing I have seen.
 
Last edited:
I changed the way that was worded a little. I am just throwing out and alternate theory of construction. As a hat maker I pay attention to them in movies. I even bought a couple of those beaded bands in case I get asked to make this hat, just as I do with most replica bands. But if I came across some old climbing rope I’d tha was that color I would get my hands on that too. The only real thing I can say about the band is that I have never seen a beaded band with that type of pattern before these, I have seen climbing rope with a similar pattern. But until someone uncovers a stockpile of (probably) 1970’s climbing rope, the beaded bands are the closest thing I have seen.
 

Attachments

  • 6F400362-0080-40E8-8204-FBB14A3938B8.png
    6F400362-0080-40E8-8204-FBB14A3938B8.png
    1.1 MB · Views: 80
  • D2FEDEBC-1A4E-41CF-B7BE-87863DE27753.jpeg
    D2FEDEBC-1A4E-41CF-B7BE-87863DE27753.jpeg
    301.6 KB · Views: 60
Considering the lack of upclose detailed photos of the screenused hats used in the film (there are two that can be found at yourprops.com, but none of them are detailed enough), the only option for readily available managerial is is the actual film. This is pretty much true of any fan replicas. And he's been doing fan replicas since he was a kid and did this with his Blade Runner blaster, using a VHS tape and pictures from magazine to try to make it. If anything, this video show he can update it to make more accurate when he can get more info.
I've looked at the images of that reelprop hat over and over and over as well as screengrabs from the movie. It's not a beaded band, it's definitely woven. I'd be surprised if we ever find out what the original source of the band was, but I went on an adventure, asking well over 30 weavers on Etsy if they could replicate this style. I eventually found one who took it on herself to actually teach herself how to replicate the weave.
1643316818305.png


It's darker in all of the movie screens I've pored over, but I believe that is lighting, and not the color based on the pictures of the yourprops hat.
Here is a picture of my hat from my own MacReady thread: The Thing - RJ MacReady (update 11/9 - Hatband Received!)

1643316985509.png
 

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top