Wesley Dodds' Sandman Gas Mask

[Magnus Darcrider]

Greetings All,

I'm trying to track down an appropriate gas mask for a Wesley Dodds Sandman costume, as he appears in Sandman Mystery Theatre. It's a face mask secured with straps rather than a hood, and has the filter attached to the "snout" rather than by a hose into a gas mask bag. No specific type is known, but I'm assuming it'd be a 1930-1940s era mask.

There are plenty that look right on eBay, but my main issue is what are the health concerns with putting on an old used gas mask and breathing? I know asbestos was used for some filters, and that's not good for you. New filters are fine, but what's the life on those?

Given these questions, and given the amount of WWI & WWII reeactment groups online, does anyone make non-working replicas of gas masks?

If you've got any suggetsions or advice, please let me know, and thanks in advance.

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

[rollerboi]

What about this one? Click on 'view photo'. For the price, could be a great base to start with.

http://www.sciplus.com/recommend.cfm/recommendid/10735

 

[Bizarro Lois]

What about this one? Click on 'view photo'. For the price, could be a great base to start with.

http://www.sciplus.com/recommend.cfm/recommendid/10735

The "snout" on that one would work, but it needs to have straps, instead of an all-over head covering. Maybe more like this: http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/images/product/main/GAS-MASK-GERMAN-WWII.jpg
http://www.hermes-one.com/NaziGasMask.jpg
It actually looks like most of the image results I find that look correct, are labelled WWII German gas masks, if that helps at all. I have some decent pics of his gas gun, if you need them. I'm working on this same costume for my husband.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

The gas mask arrived today! It was actually labelled as a Hungarian military surplus mask. As it turns out, the whole German thing wasn't entirely correct, because I've found about a zillion different models that were supposedly German, and only a few looked ok for the Sandman. We went with the Hungarian one because it was olive green canvas, instead of rubber/vinyl, like many other ones.

 

[rollerboi]

I'd love to see a picture.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Well, he won't let me post the pic of him in normal clothes, wearing the mask in the public forum, so here's the mask.

 

[troopermatthew]

That looks great for a Wesley Sandman!

 

[rollerboi]

I'm jealous now. That looks great.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Greetings All,

There are plenty that look right on eBay, but my main issue is what are the health concerns with putting on an old used gas mask and breathing? I know asbestos was used for some filters, and that's not good for you. New filters are fine, but what's the life on those?

Do you think it would work to drill some small holes into the sides/bottom of the filter end? We were thinking about looking for a way to ventilate ours a little better.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Progress so far: My husband and I are having no luck finding a double-breasted olive drab suit, which is the color Wesley is wearing in the specific page we're using as reference. Hubby has a brown suit that is only single-breasted, but the fabric looks like something Wes would wear, so we might end up using that one. Today, I picked up an overcoat in khaki at the Salvation Army store - I'm proud of picking one out that fits my husband without having him there to try it on. Now here's something we were debating today: In some of the panels, it looks like Wesley is wearing a long-sleeved dress shirt, vest w/ matching pants, and no suit jacket, with the overcoat on top. The reason I think it might be just a vest is because it stops right around his waist, plus there's something about the cut. My husband insists that it has to be a suit jacket, although I have yet to find a pic of Wesley in the suit, without the overcoat, or some other proof. Does anyone know who is right? If I could prove that the vest is correct, my husband might be a little cooler on the Convention floors, since he'll be wearing a mask and hat as well.

 

[rollerboi]

Which page are you using for reference? I think I have the first few comics in a box in the garage.

 

[Remo]

The only pics I have of him are from when he guest-stared in the "Starman" series . He always had the overcoat over the suit. Though depending on the artist, there may be pics of him without. It's summer, why make it hotter.

 

[UFO]

well, in this pic here:

that is not a double breasted suit... its a double breasted waistcoat (or vest).
very popular in the 30s and 40s....
such as this one:

 

[howlingwind13]

The one in the Sandman Mystery theater cover...is an Israeli gas mask, I have a couple of them I use at my haunted attraction.
You can find them new at army surplus or ebay.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

The one in the Sandman Mystery theater cover...is an Israeli gas mask, I have a couple of them I use at my haunted attraction.
You can find them new at army surplus or ebay.

Depending on which issue you read, his mask sometimes looks different. My husband went with the one I posted because it was olive green. I saw the Israeli masks on eBay, they are pretty dead on with some of the covers, aren't they?
As for the waistcoat/vest, I don't know if we're going to do that or not. He pointed out that Wesley doesn't seem to have a regular costume, he just dresses up in earth tone suits, wearing his overcoat, and gas mask. It's pretty much whatever he's wearing that day, as opposed to his JSA version, which has an actual costume. He's been doing pretty well at picking out his own stuff, so if he finds a waistcoat he likes, I'm sure he'll get it. Where do you usually find those?

 

[electric jay]

I have some decent pics of his gas gun, if you need them.

I'm not sure if this offer was open to anyone, but PM sent anyways.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

I'm not sure if this offer was open to anyone, but PM sent anyways.

Sorry, I didn't really get a chance to respond and cut/paste links from my Photobucket account, but if you(or anyone else) would like to see them, just click the link in my signature. You can follow links back to my list of folders. The Sandman pics are in the Costumes album. Just don't laugh at any of the other pics in there.

 

[electric jay]

Thanks, Lois...you're a peach. :thumbsup

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Does anyone have an idea where I could buy one of those waistcoats? I've seen a few vests, but very few of them are double-breasted. I'd rather buy one in a store than online, as it will have to fit just right. Can anyone recommend a good pattern to use? It would have to be available in a larger men's size. What kind of fabric are they usually made from?

 

[electric jay]

What I had planned to do was scour the thrift stores for a decent-looking double breasted linen suit and alter the jacket into a waistcoat. looks like removing the sleeves and shoulderpads and snugging up the waist to that blocked-off beltline would be fairly easy...