Top Gun "Goose" Costuming Guide.

[MrTRourke]

View attachment 1352707View attachment 1352707

Thanks for posting, It looks great, would you happen to be able to help with the eagle shield patch, I’ve read on worthpoint that it could be a USN COD patch. I have seen back in this thread that someone managed to find one but it was not easy to find

 

[MrTRourke]

Hi guys
I’m just waiting for my Goose jacket to arrive so I can get my relaxed Civilian Goose Outfit on.
Does anyone know what shoes/boots Goose wears when he picks up his wife and kid or whilst playing the piano?
Cheers

 

[Banzai88]

Found this continuity polaroid from PropStore. MrTRourke his shoes are visible here and a good chance they were used in the the Kansas City BBQ scene. Maybe vintage Adidas?

 

[GhostbusterDan]

Can I revive this a little and ask if anybody has a source for accurate suit patches. I want to make a Maverick suit specifically, but I do need 3 name badges for another display (Maverick, Goose and Iceman).

Thanks in advance!

 

[ID10T]

Name tags come from Gibson & Barnes.

The other patches are covered in here but some are difficult to locate. You might try PM-ing other members that have found them for their suits.

I will add that A-B emblem has very nice American flag patches, although I don’t know if they were the source for the movie props.

 

[Korrigan]

Can I revive this a little and ask if anybody has a source for accurate suit patches. I want to make a Maverick suit specifically, but I do need 3 name badges for another display (Maverick, Goose and Iceman).

Thanks in advance!

If you find a good source for the "tactical wings atlantic" badge let me know, alternatively I can offer you one for cheap because I had them reproduced a years back (had to meet minimum quantity).

 

[James Blonde]

I got some of my Goose and Viper badges fairly recently, let me see what I can find....

Question though... The "Screen Accurate Replica" HGU-33 helmets you can find online.... anyone bought one? I've made my own Goose helmet from a vaguely representative SPH-4 (well, it has the right visor slide handle and housing and bulged ears for the earphone housing anyway...) but need to get a Viper helmet, and the "Screen Accurate Replica" on eBay and Etsy for Viper looks pretty good for around $475 (or £345 + Tax / Shipping)

I contacted the seller on eBay and asked whether it was a replica or a deactivated HGU-33, and he said it's a replica. Which makes me wonder quite how good they are. The Goose replica for example has black and white, rather than blue and white stripes (I was wondering whether to replace my Goose helmet too) and they're glossy rather than matt / semi-gloss, though that's less of an issue.

 

[James Blonde]

For Goose
I put this together in 2018, and some of the sellers seem to have gone, or have discontinued some patches. Fortunately, the ones that are discontinued seem to be easy enough to find at what looks like a half decent quality elsewhere.

I got the screen accurate Goose name patch from this site in the US:

Aviation Collectibles, Military Patches and Insignia from Plane Crazy Enterprises

(It's a blue backed badge (rather than the incorrect but more common black) and the Goose badge has the correct wings for RIO / Naval Flight Officer)

They also do an excellent quality and coloured USS Ranger 100 Centurion patch, and did do a white bordered 4" x 3" US flag, but that seems to be discontinued.

The black United States Navy patch seems fairly easy to find, this one looks like mines:

N-460 United States Navy with Eagle and Shield Round Patch Black 4" | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for N-460 United States Navy with Eagle and Shield Round Patch Black 4" at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

But I'd have to look at the movie stills again to see how good it looks - I seem to recall there were very few shots of Goose where you got a good view of this patch.

A Tactical Wings Atlantic badge can be bought here:
Tactical Wings Atlantic

VF-1 badges seem fairly easy to get hold of, but look out for the quality.

Similarly with Tomcat badges. I think I got to the point of counting the number of stars on them - this one seems OK? In fact, arguably better than the one I got for my Viper cossie - I might have to buy this myself!

Tomcat US Navy Fighter Squadron Top Gun Maverick Goose Sew On Flight Suit Patch | eBay

Going as Maverick, Goose or Cougar to your next fancy dress party ?. Application Sew On. The Need For Speed ! We reserve the right to alter prices, sales or promotions without notice. Why Buy From Us?.

www.ebay.co.uk

(For reference, I did get a far better Tactical Wings Atlantic badge in 2018 for my Goose flight suit from Amazon - company called WARDAH LIMITED. Not sure if they're still on Amazon, but if they still exist, and you could contact them, I would imagine still have the template, so could probably be contacted to knock a batch up? I think it was their VF-1 and the black United States Navy patch I used. Unfortunately some of the other badges in the set they sold were wrong - the Goose name patch had a star on top of the wings, the US flag incorrectly had a yellow border, but their Ranger 100 Centurion was half decent - just not as good as the one mentioned above. And if they don't exist any more, it's a moot point!)



Other characters - mostly Viper
Korrigan As I mentioned above, I got a Tactical Wings Atlantic badge for my Viper flight suit from this seller last year, and they still seem to be selling them:

Tactical Wings Atlantic

The same chap also did a United States Navy patch that I *think* is the one both Maverick and Viper wore:

United States Navy

and a Tomcat patch, though it seemed a bit pale.

I did manage to get a Ranger 200 double centurion badge, which I *think* was what Viper had, but link I had for that isn't working and I can find that elsewhere. (Though I can seem to find a 300 and 400 trap badge strangely! Did I misread Viper's number of traps?)

Obviously when you get someone making some of the more obscure patches, it may be they have templates for others, they just don't have any in stock.

Fighting-33 patches seem fairly easy to get hold of, though all from the US.

Oh, and for info and I was chuffed to find a red bordered "United States Navy Fighter Weapons School" patch a few weeks ago for my Viper flight suit:

US NAVY TOPGUN FIGHTER WEAPONS SCHOOL MORALE PATCH | eBay

United States Navy Fighter Weapons School Graduate Patch. This is the Embroidered Version of our PVC Patch.

www.ebay.co.uk

But bear in mind, postage to the UK is more than the cost of the patch. But I haven't been able to find a red bordered one anywhere!

I got my Mike Metcalfe Viper badge here:

4" NAVY TOPGUN MIKE METCALF VIPER NAMETAG LT YELLOW HOOK LOOP EMBROIDERED PATCH | eBay

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS ITEM! TOPGUN: (1986) VIPER's 'TACTS' Flight Suit Patches.

www.ebay.co.uk

They seem to have a good selection / correct insignia for the yellow winged cast name badges, and may have some of the more obscure Top Gun patches if you scroll through their ebay store. Their VF-1 patch looks pretty decent. Patches were more expensive, but postage was far more reasonable.

 

[Korrigan]

Question though... The "Screen Accurate Replica" HGU-33 helmets you can find online.... anyone bought one? I've made my own Goose helmet from a vaguely representative SPH-4 (well, it has the right visor slide handle and housing and bulged ears for the earphone housing anyway...) but need to get a Viper helmet, and the "Screen Accurate Replica" on eBay and Etsy for Viper looks pretty good for around $475 (or £345 + Tax / Shipping)

I contacted the seller on eBay and asked whether it was a replica or a deactivated HGU-33, and he said it's a replica. Which makes me wonder quite how good they are. The Goose replica for example has black and white, rather than blue and white stripes (I was wondering whether to replace my Goose helmet too) and they're glossy rather than matt / semi-gloss, though that's less of an issue.

Screen accurate is a gross overstatement 99% of the time. Me personally I prefer the decals for the "taped" look. Most of these look painted.

For Goose

I got the screen accurate Goose name patch from this site in the US:

Aviation Collectibles, Military Patches and Insignia from Plane Crazy Enterprises

(It's a blue backed badge (rather than the incorrect but more common black) and the Goose badge has the correct wings for RIO / Naval Flight Officer)

A Tactical Wings Atlantic badge can be bought here:
Tactical Wings Atlantic

I remember that site in the US! I ordered there too and would definitely recommend them.

The Tactical Wings Atlantic badge from ebay is pretty much the same as I had custom made - sadly not perfect but I haven't seen better. If anyone wants one (or more) of mine I'll even offer to send them out for free (and you only recompensate postage from europe/austria)

 

[James Blonde]

Screen accurate is a gross overstatement 99% of the time. Me personally I prefer the decals for the "taped" look. Most of these look painted.

Not only are they painted, the sell it as a feature! Hand airbrushed.....

Problem is, it looks like the closest thing I can find to an HGU-33. I keep looking for an HGU-33 on eBay, and they just don't come up. Same with the MBU-12 / 14 (and when they do come up, they're mega expensive!).

But I've no idea even what these replicas are made from / how it's made, how robust it is, etc. I don't necessarily mind it being fake, but for that sort of price, I don't want a horrible thin plastic shell. As I said, I'd be OK with the Viper helmet, and I guess it can be sprayed with a coat of silk or matt varnish, but wouldn't be happy with the Goose helmet they sell unless they changed the black stripes, so I'd probably stick with my home made job for the moment.

Actually, were the screen helmets taped or painted, and was it reflective tape if it was tape? I'd have thought that would show on camera?

 

[Korrigan]

Actually, were the screen helmets taped or painted, and was it reflective tape if it was tape? I'd have thought that would show on camera?

Taped with non-reflective tape as far as I can tell. You can find high quality photos of the Maverick helmet from when it was auctioned off a few months ago.

I know real pilots would have had reflective tape (and no gloss paint finish? hehe) but it's a movie

 

[James Blonde]

I think I may be inclined not to buy one, unless someone tells me they're half decent.

I think I'll do what I did before and just buy something approximating an HGU-33 (and I can clearly be quite open with my approximation given I'm using an SPH-4 for Goose!!) as long as the visor assembly is the right shape, and be good if I could find one with oxygen mask receivers. Might have to try black reflective tape for Jester though - no idea how I'd do the curves mind! I've got the sticker set if it all goes wrong...

 

[James Blonde]

Well I've just done "stupid".

I've ordered a, what almost looks like a brand new HGU-22. It's clean, undamaged, a bland air force grey (so primed! ), looks pretty close to an HGU-33 in terms of look and visor cover / slider and has oxygen mask receivers. Much better and more representative than my SPH-4

Also, for the first time ever, I've seen a representative oxygen mask - an MBU-12. I know it's not the 14, but it is green and does have the correct amplifier assembly.

around £800 for both though

There is a white taped PRK-37 (HGU-33 effectively?) on eBay - current bid $335 - but didn't have mask receivers, would need more work to prepare it, I sense the bid is going to go up a fair bit, and the import duties would have probably have made it unviable for me in the UK.

So question is.... Do I Goose it (and strip and Viper the SPH-4), or do I just Viper it?

And do I try taping rather than painting / stickering? Or to I try to use tape for the stickers and paint the base?

Current Goose is spray painted and stickered.

 

[Korrigan]

I think I might have misunderstood your question before?
The movie helmets have a base coat of paint and then (non reflective) "tape" + decals/stickers for the lines, lettering and the eagle.

 

[James Blonde]

Nah, your previous answer worked for me too! I've used a sticker set for my Goose helmet, and have a Viper set too. Goose looks good, but they are clearly stuck on, where the movie helmets don't look quite so makeshift if that makes sense? Do you think the movie helmets then have another coat of silk varnish over the top to seal the stickers and improve the finish? Will have to look for the Mav helmet...

(I should say, if you're not UK based, Tom Skerrett is going to the London Film and Comic Con in November, which is why I'm thinking about prioritising a Viper costume / helmet over my Goose one (though I'd probably take both if I can).

 

[Korrigan]

I found the catalog PDF from the auction on my phone's storage and cut out the 3 pages concerning Top gun for you.

 

[James Blonde]

Oh that's awesome, thanks! They are a lot glossier than I thought for some reason! and actually, you can clearly see the sticker lines, so I don't think I need to worry about it so much. Any wear just makes them look actively used as well

 

[ghostryder]

Hopefully not veering too far from the subject, but does anyone know of a decent source for CWU-27/P flight suits?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Rook 3]

Hopefully not veering too far from the subject, but does anyone know of a decent source for CWU-27/P flight suits?

Thanks in advance!

Define "decent."

You talking price or authenticity?

Gibson & Barnes, well, they do flight stuff.

Flight Suits Inc

Now you're going to spend almost $300 for a nomex suit from them.

You can look on ebay and generally find nomex suits at a cheaper price.

 

[ID10T]

Over 6' tall and/or over 42" chest it gets expensive, and G&B may be the way to go.

Under those height/chest sizes it gets easier and cheaper.