Felgacarb
Sr Member
Here's a costume I did not too long ago that was very satisfing. It is one of my more accurate attempts, and was not too complex. So, I thought I'd break down what I did into a quick tutorial.
The first step was (much as it was done on the show) buying a set of orange 'Red Kap' overalls, such as these:
Men's Twill Action Back Coverall - 9 color choices CT10
I couldn't get the size I wanted, (really small) but that wasn't a problem, since I intended to have to disassemble it a bit anyway, and could take it in then.
The next item to buy was a couple of rolls of 1" wide 3M Scotchlite reflective yellow tape. I had hoped to just pick it up at a local hardware store, but I didn't have any luck finding it, so I had to get it online. I think I was able to find it via Amazone, but right now I'm only finding this:
3M
I was able to get the black rubber material at the hardware store. Orchard Supply Hardare had some floor matting material that was just the thing. For the pockets on the rubber parts and some of the details on the lower part of the jumpsuit, you'll need some of the infamous 'black dot' material that was used on the vest of the flightsuits. I know some people were able to get the material by buying bathroom scales from Sears, but I took a different approach. I went to an auto junkyard and pulled some seat upholstry out of a '60s MG. It's a tad on the 'basket weave' side, but was pretty close, and very inexpensive.
I bought black metal snaps in a bulk package from a local Tandy Leather.
I of course had to buy a Galactica patch for the sleeve.
It is possible to find the giant grommets used at the ankle cuffs, but the tools to set them are crazy expensive, so I substituted shower curtain grommets- much cheaper and easier to use, similar to these:
Tab Top Shower Curtain | Extra Long Shower Curtain | Extra Wide Shower Curtain | Hookless Shower Curtain
Finally, I needed material to make the grey piping that lines the rubber parts on the chest and wrists. Someone over at SciFiHero speculated that it could be made from silver Scotchlight tape, and so that's what I used. Looking at more pictures of the actual costumes under different lighting conditions and comparing it to mine, I'm now sure that's not correct. (They probably uesd the same grey piping that went into the blue uniforms...)
So, getting to work, first I took measurements from the person the costume was to fit. Then I turned the jumpsuit inside out and marked approximately how much I'd have to remove to make it fit. In this case, rather a lot.
I then opened up both the inseam completely, the outer seams ankle to armpit, removed the sleeves, and opened them up as well. This wasn't hard as I didn't have to actually rip the seams. I knew a lot of material would be coming out so I could just cut close to the seams. I cut material out of the chest area to reduce the torso length, took in and shortened the legs and sleeves. I also cut 6.5" off of the bottom of the legs to use later for the cuffs.
I then stitched the outer seams up again with the new smaller size. With the garment and sleeves still open, it was easy to stick on and then sew on the yellow Scotchlite tape. I also put the Galactica patch on with the sewing machine while the sleeve was open. Next I sewed the new inseam closed, and then attached the cuffs. After that the sleeves were put back on. I could now have the jumpsuit tried on to see how it fit. (Needed to take in the bottom a bit more, but otherwise, pretty good!)
After that came the fun parts- sewing the black dot material into the pockets and onto the left leg as a 'tool strip'.
I made the wrist cuffs and chest and back parts from the rubber floor mateial, starting from paper patterns. To get the snap number and placement right I relied on some good photos of a screen used costume graciously shown here:
BSG Deckhand Uniform pics and info! - ScifiHero.NET
(If you're not familiar with it, SciFiHero is overall a great place to get info on doing new BSG costumes.)
I used contact cement to glue the grey piping to the edges of the rubber parts, then stitched it on. Yep, the sewing machine had no problem with that soft rubber.
Then I just had to set the giant grommets in the ankle cuffs, and tons and tons of snaps into the rubber and the jumpsuit. Here's how it ened up looking:
And actually being worn:
As you can see from the first photo (with flash) the Scotchlite tape works- you'll not get hit by a car crossing the street on Halloween in this outfit!
Overall, I was very happy with this result. For more accuracy, I'd start by getting the Anovos tank top set. And we didn't bother with the proper boots- If you wanted to go all the way you'd also need to track down the gloves and the flight deck helmet.
Thanks for looking!
The first step was (much as it was done on the show) buying a set of orange 'Red Kap' overalls, such as these:
Men's Twill Action Back Coverall - 9 color choices CT10
I couldn't get the size I wanted, (really small) but that wasn't a problem, since I intended to have to disassemble it a bit anyway, and could take it in then.
The next item to buy was a couple of rolls of 1" wide 3M Scotchlite reflective yellow tape. I had hoped to just pick it up at a local hardware store, but I didn't have any luck finding it, so I had to get it online. I think I was able to find it via Amazone, but right now I'm only finding this:
3M
I was able to get the black rubber material at the hardware store. Orchard Supply Hardare had some floor matting material that was just the thing. For the pockets on the rubber parts and some of the details on the lower part of the jumpsuit, you'll need some of the infamous 'black dot' material that was used on the vest of the flightsuits. I know some people were able to get the material by buying bathroom scales from Sears, but I took a different approach. I went to an auto junkyard and pulled some seat upholstry out of a '60s MG. It's a tad on the 'basket weave' side, but was pretty close, and very inexpensive.
I bought black metal snaps in a bulk package from a local Tandy Leather.
I of course had to buy a Galactica patch for the sleeve.
It is possible to find the giant grommets used at the ankle cuffs, but the tools to set them are crazy expensive, so I substituted shower curtain grommets- much cheaper and easier to use, similar to these:
Tab Top Shower Curtain | Extra Long Shower Curtain | Extra Wide Shower Curtain | Hookless Shower Curtain
Finally, I needed material to make the grey piping that lines the rubber parts on the chest and wrists. Someone over at SciFiHero speculated that it could be made from silver Scotchlight tape, and so that's what I used. Looking at more pictures of the actual costumes under different lighting conditions and comparing it to mine, I'm now sure that's not correct. (They probably uesd the same grey piping that went into the blue uniforms...)
So, getting to work, first I took measurements from the person the costume was to fit. Then I turned the jumpsuit inside out and marked approximately how much I'd have to remove to make it fit. In this case, rather a lot.
I then opened up both the inseam completely, the outer seams ankle to armpit, removed the sleeves, and opened them up as well. This wasn't hard as I didn't have to actually rip the seams. I knew a lot of material would be coming out so I could just cut close to the seams. I cut material out of the chest area to reduce the torso length, took in and shortened the legs and sleeves. I also cut 6.5" off of the bottom of the legs to use later for the cuffs.
I then stitched the outer seams up again with the new smaller size. With the garment and sleeves still open, it was easy to stick on and then sew on the yellow Scotchlite tape. I also put the Galactica patch on with the sewing machine while the sleeve was open. Next I sewed the new inseam closed, and then attached the cuffs. After that the sleeves were put back on. I could now have the jumpsuit tried on to see how it fit. (Needed to take in the bottom a bit more, but otherwise, pretty good!)
After that came the fun parts- sewing the black dot material into the pockets and onto the left leg as a 'tool strip'.
I made the wrist cuffs and chest and back parts from the rubber floor mateial, starting from paper patterns. To get the snap number and placement right I relied on some good photos of a screen used costume graciously shown here:
BSG Deckhand Uniform pics and info! - ScifiHero.NET
(If you're not familiar with it, SciFiHero is overall a great place to get info on doing new BSG costumes.)
I used contact cement to glue the grey piping to the edges of the rubber parts, then stitched it on. Yep, the sewing machine had no problem with that soft rubber.
Then I just had to set the giant grommets in the ankle cuffs, and tons and tons of snaps into the rubber and the jumpsuit. Here's how it ened up looking:
And actually being worn:
As you can see from the first photo (with flash) the Scotchlite tape works- you'll not get hit by a car crossing the street on Halloween in this outfit!
Overall, I was very happy with this result. For more accuracy, I'd start by getting the Anovos tank top set. And we didn't bother with the proper boots- If you wanted to go all the way you'd also need to track down the gloves and the flight deck helmet.
Thanks for looking!
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