greenmachines

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
This will be my first build on therpf that is threaded from the beginning. Please help with opinions, knowledge and resources when you can. This particular character seems to have no front to back build info even though there are some pretty amazing costumes existing in photos. If you will be using this as a walkthrough be aware that many errors were corrected and much research done while this thread was being created. Reading to the end may save you from some mistakes I corrected later.
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Update added 1/13/23: Current progress on makeup: (split face - I am on the right side)
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Orlando Bloom's, Will Turner Jr., character from Pirates of the Caribbean 3, or best as I can place this inspiration shot that I am using for the build (pictured here)(correction, this has elements of the older costume but is from the reunion scene in Dead men tell no tales):

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Somewhere in the years since this movie, it seems that the following Simplicity 4923 costume sewing pattern was created with POTC in mind. This looks like a lock match for the pants, shirt and coat (upper right of picture below) with adding the coat collar:

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So now for materials. In other very sunlit photos the coat is slightly lighter than charcoal gray but as gray goes there are numerous shades with exotic names. The shirt looks maroon but not wine. The pants an even lighter gray than the coat. I would certainly invite discussion on all points in this build.

So the parts list for me is cloth type and color specifics, possibly swatch matches, button source or mold for coat, bandana true color and material (maxcady.com claims a screen match version) but it seems too olive?, facial hair patterns and length with color swatch, skin tone color swatch, eye color contact match, buckles pattern and true color (aged brass, aged copper, or pewter), belt widths-materials-color swatches, earring type and loop size. I have seen some offerings for baldric and buckle but am looking for patterns to complete a true a-z build thread. I apologize that I do not offer speed, as most of my builds take a minimum of months. Any and all links and resources requested please.
 

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So several trips to fabric stores were a complete bust but today I hit the jackpot at second hand thrift. I have my maroon base shirt as a button up. I believe I can use it backwards and slit the top for the neckline.

I found an infinity scarf in a near match green grey for the bandana, so a bit of dye work and then stamping the pattern. I will make my own stamps for this part. Then a bit of weathering.

For the pants, I found a suit jacket with matching material that I can dismantle for the panels I need to build the pants. The pattern and material is right but I will need to gray it up a bit. It is currently a bit of an olive drab on the lighter side of tan.

They are in for a short wash now but I will post the pics of my finds before I cut into them.
 
I just noticed that Alyson Tabbitha promoted the Simplicity 4923 for her Jack Sparrow build. That would have made life easier during that build.... sigh.
 
Here are some pics of my fabric finds. These were all thrift store and I don't like leaving it hanging like that as it would be like winning the lottery in order to replicate it. I will work on swatch color matches, rgb, etc. and include weave and material type as I uncover that information. Today you get pics of second hand clothes. Just note the suit jacket will be the breeches fabric:

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Still sruggling with how quickly the colors change under different lighting and cameras. The blue for the overcoat looks bright under sunlight and needs to be much darker. If anyone has any insider info on materials of the originals, spill the beans here.... I intend to gray out the breeches and add a bit more green to the bandana.. All is in trial phase right now.
 
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I noted some movie magic when watching the reunion scene in Deadmen tell no tales. The bandana that was once shredded and torn, twenty years prior, is again new and smooth without tear or wear. This removes any reason to age the bandana for this cosplay build.
 
I have been struggling on fabrics and couldn't quite put my finger on why. I had been waffling on the coat color as a possible blue black. You may ask why, as the inspiration picture above clearly shows a black coat. Well, I had been led astray by some promo poses. This costume is not only used in the promo shots but is also used as the museum presentation outfit.
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OrlandoBloom WillTurner Pirates costume.jpg
This led to far too much speculation on my part that the coat contained blue or was a dark grey. I had also felt the pants seemed off. After a very zoomed inspection, it looks as though there were duplicates made of varying materials. The pants, showing a very corduroy weave in the screen cap of a beach scene, are in stark contrast to the clearly square weave of the promo outfit.
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versus
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So, after another purchase of material following the dark blue grey coat path.....

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I have come to the conclusion that the onscreen beach outfit is most certainly black, not blue black, not grey black but just black with pewter buttons. Luckily my initial purchase of material for the pants matches the screen used and not the promo pic version. So the search continues for coat material.... now in black and definitely a tighter weave and finer thread.
 

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Close...but no cigar;) The woven curtain fabric is a bit too open. Should be tighter for the pants. Eager to see your next update.
Not easy to find the right fabric for sure...
 
I finally found some good before and after shots to show the difference between the real-life blue coat and the digitally color graded gray-black. I will include a link that shows the digital rendering and color grading of an earlier film. Know that I yelled out loud when Will Turner himself walks into the frame.... too late to show the coat color changing.... oh the cruel fate.
20220717_135432.jpg


This next shot is a behind the scenes, without digital color grading, and obviously blue, pic of the reunion scene at the end of Pirates 5 (the scene I am cosplay building from).

78e1e250349c08b94c2a165a0585f691.jpg



And this one shows the obvious change after color grading.
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And for the few, like myself, that just can't let go of the possibility that it is just poor lighting making the difference, this next one is in full sun, digitally changed from blue to black in the onscreen version.
will1a.jpg

And no, that is not just really dark blue. They digitally changed it to black before releasing the film.

In the following link, Will walks in at 14 seconds, after the opportune color changing moment. Just sad.


So, I am finally convinced that at no point in any of these movies was Will's coat shown, ON SCREEN, as blue. I feel for all the folks who made their Will Turner costumes with a blue coat based on the real world true color of the coat. In defense of all that did, the promo pictures, the behind the scenes shots and the real costume is really dark navy blue. As such, it would have been a nod to a historically accurate color for naval coats of the period and coats in general. Especially those made with fabric of a weave known as Serge. Serge is a twilled woolen, usually in dark navy and generally used for coats made for hard working people. The weave and the color were at that time like Indigo blue is to Denim. Aka, "serge de Nim". Literally, Serge from Nim, a city in France, making its own version of this popular coat material. The Nim combination of blue with a twill weave obviously won that fashion battle. Oddly, "cottons", being too expensive at the time was often mislabled wool, woven and softened to resemble denim. I am leaning toward a full linen or a linen wool blend for my coat. I also see some diagonal weave in the close up shots, so am leaning toward a twill, gaberdine or similar diagonal lines weave. All of which, I didn't know existed, two days back. Enjoy the following rabbit hole:


This is the sample given for the blue that serge was known for. You will immediately recognize it as Will's true coat color but not the onscreen, digitally changed version:
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I finally took the plunge and purchased my fabric for the coat today and am awaiting the shipment. 100% linen in solid black medium weight. I will weather it or color it back to black gray if it does look too dark in photos but after all of the process in picking, I think it will work fine with the correct lighting.
 
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I started my buttons today. I carved the button in molding clay (non drying) and have it set up ready for making my negative mold. First pic is my closeup of the onscreen button:

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The process is supposed to go like this:

Mix the plaster, in a throw away container, by the instructions on the bag.

Spray in mold release for the possibility of not destroying the clay positive. Be certain to check that your release agent is not a solvent for your sculpture material. Big mistake.

Paint a light coating of the plaster onto the sculpture, using a soft bristle brush so not to damage or misshape the sculpted piece.

Then slowly pour in the plaster to avoid adding a lot of bubbles. Tap mold to release bubbles but do so gently. Do not try to STIR out the bubbles as you might drag the stir stick across your sculpture. Destroying everything, by being too frisky, is not advised.

Now, for how I always do it.... forget to spray any release and do a radically awesome job of ensuring no bubbles because now you get only one shot at it....sigh....

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More tommorow, when we attempt a soft alginate casting to test the mold for lock points.
 
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Yep, unless you have a Grey Scale next to a prop/costume; you'll never know for sure what's the real color of said prop/costume.
It's looking good so far (y) ...as for the buttons; those are, it seems, knotted buttons. A special knot is done (four strands it seems) spread into a star kind of design apposed to another leather background (the tightening of that leather creates those little ridges around the rim).
After the design is set, a mold was done (probably packed sand) and copper was poured in to make the actual buttons.
 
Yep, unless you have a Grey Scale next to a prop/costume; you'll never know for sure what's the real color of said prop/costume.
It's looking good so far (y) ...as for the buttons; those are, it seems, knotted buttons. A special knot is done (four strands it seems) spread into a star kind of design apposed to another leather background (the tightening of that leather creates those little ridges around the rim).
After the design is set, a mold was done (probably packed sand) and copper was poured in to make the actual buttons.
I tried to find a cloth representation of the buttons before sculpting but my searches were just floods of modern cloth button kits. I would love to find a how to on the original method with a sample.
 
This button project brought me into the new to me arena of two part epoxy. I'll share my failures. Because my button is a small object casting and because I made a stone mold, the heat produced by the chemical mix was not sufficient to cure the epoxy. Heating the stone enough to make it just bearable to carry back to the workbench made the process successful. Second, one coat of release agent was not enough as the mold soaks it up being porous plaster casted. Keeping a small paint brush soaked in release next to the mold reminded me to brush again, ensuring I didn't waste my casting by tearing it on pulling it from the mold. And this is the spot where I began to wonder if I should have used the silicone mold process but it had seemed unlikely to get a good cast of my original, still soft, Plastilina sculpture. If anyone has had some success with make a flexible mold from a soft clay original sculpt, please share your method. Because my mold was not flexible, it was important to pull the button at 10 minutes while the casting was still pliable but strong. Waiting would have made removal very difficult.
 
I used Plasti-Dip on some of my "Fast & Crazy Parts". I put the part into plasticine (walls of foam board) and pour the Plasti-Dip a little bit at the time, making sure the first pour is completely dry before adding another one. It works well for small jobs of course. Next, I use Alumilite (two-part) to get the piece I want.
I have white Alumilite that has a 3 minute work time...so, you have to be sure that your Plasti-Dip mold is powered with baby powder to remove bubbles, and...done!
Easy to de-mold.
 
I used Plasti-Dip on some of my "Fast & Crazy Parts". I put the part into plasticine (walls of foam board) and pour the Plasti-Dip a little bit at the time, making sure the first pour is completely dry before adding another one. It works well for small jobs of course. Next, I use Alumilite (two-part) to get the piece I want.
I have white Alumilite that has a 3 minute work time...so, you have to be sure that your Plasti-Dip mold is powered with baby powder to remove bubbles, and...done!
Easy to de-mold.
thank you,i will certainly do this on my next project. I was falling onto large cast processes that I knew from prosthetics and they were not working with these tiny buttons.
 
Not bad at all;) I know that knotted buttons have a real flat button base onto which you stretch your leather + knot part and then glue it in steps.
First the background and then the knot and its strands.;)
 
With the darker buttons (and darker fabric) from the chosen scene (Orlando in the Dead Men Tell No Tales reunion scene):
20220614_182824.jpg



I am ready to move past buttons:

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and yes, I really dragged that decision through weeks of trial and error. It will work for only this scene.
 
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