the absolute BEST Star Trek tunics ?

[phase pistol]

<div class='quotetop'>(GeneralMayhem @ May 20 2006, 08:55 PM) [snapback]1247694[/snapback]</div>

Do we know if the gold bordered insignia were embroidered on gold leatherette like the others? I'm planning to custom embroider them, and I want to get it right the first time.
[/b]

Here's the best I got right now on the pilot patches... if you need better reference I'd have to do new screencaps (assuming there are clearer shots to be had anyway...)

I'd say based on the Sleazy Guy patch (the clearest one), yes there does seem to be some kind of sparkly material there for the background. Lamé? Glitter? Leatherette? You decide.

The "Where No Man" patches on the other hand seem very smooth, like there's little or no texture in the background.

BTW here's the United Earth Crest that appears on some of the Cage uniforms.

 

[GeneralMayhem]

I have a hunch they might be embroidered on gold lame'. And also that they're smaller than the standard emblem. Probably more the size of the Donmoor patch.

 

[WinstonWolf359]

Here's a few more screen caps. Note how the star isn't centered on the command insignia...

I lean toward silver lame' for the Cage insignia because of the contrast between the border and the rest of the patch, but it's hard to be sure. I did my Cage insignia silver lame' with gold metallic thread and I liked how it turned out, but I'm biased. :$

 

[nwjedidave]

that fabric looks GOOD also WW ...

NWJEDI
dave

 

[phase pistol]

Great tunic Wolf.


OK, strap in folks... here come... THE WOMEN... :eek

You say the dress patterns are all sold out at Rodd.com... you guys need visual reference.... so keep those eyes peeled, here's everything you need to know about women... in TOS.

Note that some of the women's tunics have diagonal seams all over the front.. converging on the insignia badge. I guess they got more tailoring to make their costume fit better...

Chapel's costume has always been made of a sheenier material than either the velour or polyester that everyone else wears... also she's I believe the only female to have the collar be not black, but made of the same uniform material.

The necklines are all over the place on these outfits... here Nurse Chapel gets a dramatically deep neckline, and her insignia badge is actually attached to the COLLAR.

Diana Muldaur rates Lt. Commander's stripes in "Return to Tomorrow".. making her probably the highest ranking woman in Starfleet. (in TOS anyway...)

I think Dr. Helen Noel sets the record for "tightest uniform ever"... :lol

Our Yeoman here doesn't rate the diagonal seams on her front...

"Have you people of the twenty-third century forgotten all there is to know about... conditioner?"

<div class='quotetop'>(GeneralMayhem @ May 20 2006, 10:21 PM) [snapback]1247734[/snapback]</div>

I have a hunch they might be embroidered on gold lame'. And also that they're smaller than the standard emblem. Probably more the size of the Donmoor patch.
[/b]

Even smaller, I'd say.

- k

 

[phase pistol]

BTW the asymmetrical cut of the collar on these women's uniforms is key to making them look right. T'Pol in the "Mirror" episode of Star Trek Enterprise gets a symmetrical V-cut neckline, and it just doesn't look the same. Also her collar lays flat, when usually on TOS it stands up. And the sleeves should probably end about halfway to the elbow.

Nearly everything else about her costume is correct however.

Velcroing her Phase Pistol and dagger holsters to her hips looks really bizarre tho. Those should be strapped to her thighs.

- k

 

[WinstonWolf359]

Nice caps, Karl.

Notice how Yeoman Barrow's invisible zipper pull is showing in this shot...

I'd assume the "extra" seams on the front of some of the women's uniforms were for the same purpose as the extra seams that started appearing in the second season on the men's costumes: The more seams you have the more places you can let the costume out as it shrinks. It probably also gave them more ability to customize the fit in that area, to accomodate a variety of different guest stars.

 

[Mola Rob]

<div class='quotetop'>(phase pistol @ May 21 2006, 02:50 AM) [snapback]1247823[/snapback]</div>

BTW the asymmetrical cut of the collar on these women's uniforms is key to making them look right. T'Pol in the "Mirror" episode of Star Trek Enterprise gets a symmetrical V-cut neckline, and it just doesn't look the same. Also her collar lays flat, when usually on TOS it stands up. And the sleeves should probably end about halfway to the elbow.

Nearly everything else about her costume is correct however.

Velcroing her Phase Pistol and dagger holsters to her hips looks really bizarre tho. Those should be strapped to her thighs.

- k
[/b]

The uniform may be somewhat correct but what is up with the knee high go-go boots? Those do not look right at all.

 

[temponaut]

Yeah, great caps, Karl.

<div class='quotetop'>(WinstonWolf359 @ May 22 2006, 12:26 AM) [snapback]1247937[/snapback]</div>

Notice how Yeoman Barrow's invisible zipper pull is showing in this shot...[/b]

Yup, there it is.

One "excuse" for the invisible zipper being visible here is that the shot comes from the end of the episode, when Barrows has changed from her "fair maiden" costume back into her uniform, which was torn by Don Juan. You can see the torn black collar hanging down the back of her left shoulder.

 

[WinstonWolf359]

I had a second so I decided to take a pic of one of my tunics and the three TOS command patches I have.

From Left to Right they are Katarra8, Joe K, and Lincoln Enterprises (from 1986)

The Katarra patch has very bold embroidery and is very thick and stiff, because of the iron-on fabric used on the back before it's embroidered. Joe K's patch has noticably thinner embroidery, and seems a pretty good match to the first season patches, but I still think the outline shoud be just a hair thicker. The old Lincoln patch has a very noticible leather "grain" and is the most gold-colored of the three. If the star was a little smaller it would be a pretty good match for the third season patches.

 

[phase pistol]

Regards where the zipper is on these things, I'm seeing something like this

The black collar strip is loose and fastens down at the back of the neck as shown in the Yeoman Barrows picture... so that there's no break in the collar where the zipper ends.

Here for example Uhura's collar seems to be missing in the back there... I need more screencaps to be sure, but I think that happened rather frequently (although in the caps I have here the collar is complete in the back everywhere else...)

- k

 

[BrianM]

WOW, thanks for all the girl caps. Wife is about to make one, (lucky me) and this stuff is great.

Still looking for a pattern...

Is the one in the Tech manual close?

 

[GeneralMayhem]

Guys, think about it. The collar isn't missing, it's just got tucked under when she put the dress on.

 

[phase pistol]

Hansome patches Wolf.

Look carefully at the shapes of the legs of the patch... most replicas make them straight, which is wrong. The not-banned-really Joe K. has them too integrated into a single curve along the bottom (the "crotch" of the arrowhead, if you will).

Also note the placement of the "star", and how big the central asterisk shaped part is, compared to the length of the top spike.

Here's a fun little comparison chart...

- k

 

[GeneralMayhem]

The collar is detached because Don Juan ripped her dress, remember?

 

[phase pistol]

<div class='quotetop'>(GeneralMayhem @ May 21 2006, 05:10 PM) [snapback]1248147[/snapback]</div>

Guys, think about it. The collar isn't missing, it's just got tucked under when she put the dress on.
[/b]

D'OH.

That is of course correct. Boy is my emoticon red. :$

- k

 

[Admiral Nogura]

<div class='quotetop'>(BrianM @ May 21 2006, 01:45 PM) [snapback]1248135[/snapback]</div>

WOW, thanks for all the girl caps. Wife is about to make one, (lucky me) and this stuff is great.

Still looking for a pattern...

Is the one in the Tech manual close?
[/b]

Well Roddenberry.com finally got them back in.The Dress pattern that is.
http://store.roddenberry.com/store.cfm?categoryID=11415
So go and order an authentic pattern and good luck. Oh if you can't find it this is what they're calling it.
Star Trek: TOS Starfleet Officer Duty Uniform Female Skant (#PTN018)

 

[GeneralMayhem]

I think the one you chose to use as a guide for the others was somewhat "atypical" of the design. i.e. perhaps a bit out of shape in that photo.

 

[phase pistol]

You may be right GM. I think it's also likely that the patch evolved over time (the third season patches seem to have a longer rightside leg for example).

But the screenused patches do have some characteristics that I think stand out... notably that every side has a smooth elliptical curve (as though drawn with an ellipse template). The one exception is the short straight line coming down to the right from the center (the inseam of the short "leg" as it were).

Also the top tip is rounded off to the right, not a sharp point. Most replicas point the top, make the right leg too long, and make the leg contours too straight. These are flaws with the current Rodd.com patch for example. My earlier Lincoln Enterpises patch from the '70s, and WinstonWolf's Lincoln patch from the '80s, are closer to the third season design I think.

- k

<div class='quotetop'>(BrianM @ May 21 2006, 04:45 PM) [snapback]1248135[/snapback]</div>

Still looking for a pattern...

Is the one in the Tech manual close?
[/b]

You're in luck if Rodd.com has them in again.

As to the Tech Manual, Franz Joseph I love ya, but nothing in the tech manual is really "as it was on the show". He changed stuff to make it "more better". :lol

Also he had never seen the show and was doing it for his daughter who was a big fan... so he worked entirely from film clips. The man was a fantastic designer, and had a powerful imaginiation, but his tech drawings (especially the exterior of his "constitution class" blueprints and the prop drawings in the Tech Manual) misled and confused a generation of fans. :unsure

- k

 

[GeneralMayhem]

Agreed, but the womens pattern in the Tech Manual does get the pattern right for the "extra seam" version of the dress.

Glad the womens pattern is back in stock at Rodd.com. I probably won't buy one though, til someone orders a dress from us.


~ GM