Quinjet Pilot Uniform

[OrbitalMike]

I don't know what it was; something about the ill-fated SHIELD quinjet pilots who try to aid Captain America and Falcon really grabbed my attention. I found myself really wanting to put together a full Quinjet Pilot costume.

First, I did some research, based primarily off the two screenshots below. Here's a rundown of their gear.
-Alpha helicopter helmet, model Eagle (likely the 901), price range $1,500-$2,200 depending on options.
-Tac Air G2 Aircrew Survival Vest, with integrated flotation collar, price range $700-$1050.
-Black Nomex flight crew gloves, roughly $40.
-SHIELD Quinjet Pilot patch, would have to be custom-made, roughly $50.
-Dark-gray flight suit, which is apparently impossible to find anywhere, cost approximately three unicorn tears and four pieces of leprechaun gold.

I think it's pretty obvious that if I wanted to make a screen-accurate SHIELD Quinjet Pilot getup, it wouldn't be too tough, I'd just go broke. So what to do?

I found a co-worker who had a working helicopter pilot helmet. Granted, it's white, and it's old, but I bought it from him, and plan to use some Gunship Gray spray enamel on it and stencil spray a SHIELD logo on the back. But after this....

...well, I'm open to any ideas...

 

[Fly4v]

Great bit of research, MIke.

I'd say get a cotton reproduction CWU 27/P and re-dye it dark gray.

Make the ALSE vest out of nylon fabric and webbing. It doesn't need to be fire retardant or withstand the rigors of flight, just look good while worn.
The buckles, clips and such will be super expensive.... unless you can find an old SARVIP that is in really bad shape in a suplus store.

Is your helmet a SHP-4 or an HGU?

Whatever you come up with will look great.

 

[OrbitalMike]

So, as an update:

*I picked up a standard SPH-4 helicopter helmet from a co-worker who had "appropriated" one in his previous job. It was an ugly white, so I spray-painted it gunmetal gray, to better match the quinjet pilots in CA:TWS. Then, I photocopied a SHIELD logo from a pair of SHIELD patches that I bought, and used it to create a stencil. I spray-painted a black SHIELD logo on the back of the helmet; it came out...pretty messy. That's still a work in progress.

*Since I freed up a large chunk of my budget on the helmet, I have a little more to work with, and can probably afford a better aviation survival vest, closer to the screen-used ones.

*They do not make flight suits in the color depicted on screen; they just don't exist. (Or if they do, me and The Google Machine had a lot of wasted time.) What they do make in that color, are two-piece, flight-suit-like sets of shirts and pants at Gibson & Barnes. They're almost indistinguishable from regular flight suits. (I got the chance to talk to a couple helicopter pilots, and they strongly encouraged avoiding flight suits, for...reasons of personal comfort.)

I went to Dragon*Con over Memorial Day Weekend, and after seeing a lot of SHIELD-themed costumed goodness, my enthusiasm for this project has been re-kindled.

 

[Ocean11]

I can't wait to see what you come up with. Not enough people do SHIELD themed characters.