The Thing - RJ MacReady - Costume Research and Progress Thread (Back at it! 1/9/24)

[MorbidCharlie]

MorbidCharlie,

Can you please me give the information to the Etsy designer who made the band for you? And any color references you may have on the bead colors? I have the last best west hat and would like to give it this authentic look! Thank you. - Joe

easterling777@hotmail.com

You mind doing ME a favor? I'd like to see your hat to compare colors.
I actually received the band yesterday and tacked it on to my hat, so you can see how it looks. I am VERY impressed.

After speaking with the owner and asking if she would be willing to do more, she said she would be more than happy to. Keep in mind it is woven completely by hand - time and cost reflect that, but it is WELL worth it. Here is the direct link to the hatband.

Custom Hat Band Reconstruction From 1982 the Thing Movie | Etsy

Cotton hat band, made to look like the hat band of the main character in the movie The Thing from 1982. 30 inches long, 7/8 inch wide.

www.etsy.com

 

[JEast]

I would be happy to do so! I just ordered some leather banding and have also adjusted the brims (via steam) to reflect more of the movie look. Give me a few days to post pics but will get them to you as soon as possible!

 

[expo180]

Hope it's cool to bump an old thread, but did you perhaps manage to complete this build Charlie?

I'm currently trying to put together my own MacReady build, and it would be great to see how this one turned out...especially the flamethrower, which I'm struggling to find parts for and put together (and the hat of course).

Many thanks, and I hope you don't mind the bump.

All the best,

Chris

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Hope it's cool to bump an old thread, but did you perhaps manage to complete this build Charlie?

I'm currently trying to put together my own MacReady build, and it would be great to see how this one turned out...especially the flamethrower, which I'm struggling to find parts for and put together (and the hat of course).

Many thanks, and I hope you don't mind the bump.

All the best,

Chris

Sorry, I must not have notifications turned on for this thread.

No, I haven't completed the costume yet. I have cosplay ADD and always have about 10 projects going, so things get shuffled around. I promise once I start working on it again, I will update this thread.

 

[expo180]

No worries at all, and I'll look forward to the update

Just in case you haven't seen it, Adam recently posted some updates on Tested of his own MacReady build...and it looks absolutely fantastic!

Many thanks again for the reply, and I wish you all the best with your build/s

 

[MorbidCharlie]

So, I've picked up this project again post-COVID and I need some help identifying buckles/fasteners for the flamethrower straps. See below.

 

[septic]

Very interesting!
Not seen any buckles like that before [sorry], but the straps look like modified GP (General Purpose) strap ah-la US Army, WW2 vintage.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Very interesting!
Not seen any buckles like that before [sorry], but the straps look like modified GP (General Purpose) strap ah-la US Army, WW2 vintage.

It is vintage WW2 equipment because the tank unit for the flamethrower is an M2 unit from WW2.
Unfortunately, I have never been able to find any other equipment from WW2 that uses this particular strapping system, including other packs from that time. The straps are standard WW2 strapping, and easy to find. I've even found the original documentation for the M2 and the M2A1-7 (Vietnam) and neither mentions what the buckles are called - they just mention that they are part of the lower and upper strap.

 

[Forcebewitya]

Hey everyone, hope it’s ok to jump into this thread, this seems like the most active MacCready thread right now. I’ve been slowing putting a MacCready costume together over the yeas. I’m a milliner by trade so making the hat appeals a lot to me and I figured I should just finish the rest of the costume. I’ve made three versions of the hat and haven’t been satisfied yet but I have three on the block right now in various sizes and I hope to sell them when they’re finished. I’ve loved seeing how people have tried to tackle that woven band on here. That is definitely the trickiest part. Sadly I dont weave myself but I think I’m going to try paracord for mine. There are some colors that are pretty close and I think with some distressing might look ok. I just picked up this desert camo one. I ordered another version of this color and it was a little more taupe so I’m hoping these colors are more true because visually it looks close. Thoughts on this method? And any interest in hats? I’ll post more pictures of those later (Still working on getting the crown taller). Wonderful costumes everyones making and thank you for the help in finding boots/sunglasses etc…

 

[MorbidCharlie]

I finished up RJ's hat today. I am very, very happy with how it turned out. I got in hair (wig, mustache and beard set) to test this week as well so put it all together to see how it looks. All of the hair needs work, but it still is exciting to see it finally coming together.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Completed the bundle of dynamite this morning.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Since this has kind of blown up and I've been doing research on this for a while, I thought I would post any finds and open it up to anyone else who might have more info on parts of this costume.
For example, I originally posted that I thought the boots were "RO Search", but digging a little deeper, that probably isn't correct. It appears that Kurt Russell had lifts on his boots. You can just make out the addition to the soles with a faint separation line in the image below.

 

[Forcebewitya]

Wow very nice hat! Great sculpting on the felt. I hope to share pictures of mine soon. Had some unexpected family stuff to take care of but excited to jump back into the costume. Everything’s looking good MorbidCharlie!

 

[MorbidCharlie]

A couple of minor imperfections to clean up, but the Colt Trooper MkIII is almost ready to move on to the hydro-dipping stage.
"I was wondering when the El Capitan was gonna get a chance to use his popgun."

 

[publiusr]

I think Dysart had a nose ring in the picture...

 

[el toro]

Looking good!

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Finished up the bullets today for the Colt. These were pre-fired .357 rounds, with the primer put back in place. I drilled a hole in each case, so they can easily be shown they are inert and printed bullet "caps" that slipped into each case. A little gold Rub N' Buff and we have passable ammo for the belt.

 

[Forcebewitya]

Finally got some good pictures of the hat. The color appears a shade lighter in the photos than it actually is. These are two different ones I made. I tweaked some stuff a little on the first image. I sold one on Etsy already so I had to make a larger size to accommodate for the hood he wanted to wear underneath. I’m really happy with the result! The paracord reads well I think. The second one I did I was able to add a little height to the block too for a more accurate crown. Hope you all enjoy! I am selling these if anyone wants one DM me. Cant wait to get the rest of the costume put together. I was able to find the Japanese hiking googles and boots so far with help from this thread.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Finally got some good pictures of the hat. The color appears a shade lighter in the photos than it actually is. These are two different ones I made. I tweaked some stuff a little on the first image. I sold one on Etsy already so I had to make a larger size to accommodate for the hood he wanted to wear underneath. I’m really happy with the result! The paracord reads well I think. The second one I did I was able to add a little height to the block too for a more accurate crown. Hope you all enjoy! I am selling these if anyone wants one DM me. Cant wait to get the rest of the costume put together. I was able to find the Japanese hiking googles and boots so far with help from this thread.View attachment 1693526View attachment 1693527

Looks great! I'm hoping to have an update this weekend on the flamethrower.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

The Colt Trooper Mk III is done just in time for Texas Frightmare Weekend this weekend. Sadly, the flamethrower won't be making it on this outing, but I plan to have it done for Fan Expo Dallas on June 10th. I also took a "promo" shot of sorts.

Fairly happy with how the Colt turned out for a 3D print, but I might have actually found a Kokusai replica of the same gun. Still, this is a respectable stand in until the Kokusai arrives.