Wolverine all day baby! Jackets, belts, claws, oh my.

Very nice @Wolverony . Also have seen shots of Darkside's new Wolverine bone claws and need I say how fantastic they looked again? Finally...Here's the shots you've been waiting for. I won honorable mention with the suit in the contest. Was my first time participating in a con or anything like this. There's also a video in the description of my unscripted performance being called out during the contest, it's epic...Check it out and let me know what you guys think! I want some input.

http://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152397460306687&set=vb.270759951686&type=2&theater

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This is phenominal. The cole looks like it was done right from an Art Adams drawing (my favorite artist of Wolverine). How did you do this?!
 
Big picture update coming shortly-

Procedural distressing my X-1 Leather video- part 1_

The below screen grabs have been included for a preliminary peek of the entire video, which will be finished when I am; as I go for the full screen accurate (or at least faithful) weathering condition of Logan's jacket as seen in the original X-Men (2000). These below images show the X-1 right out of the box, stiff as a board, and pretty much like wearing Jerky.

It will not/does not drape correctly (the leather) until I fully engage the weathering and stripping of the factory finish to begin the procedural distressing. The upcoming opening segment screen grab images will show what I'm using, tool and supply-wise, to achieve the desired effect(s), as well as the first finished internal wall-test patch(es)- below the collar inside the lower yolk at the base of the neck area, of the final result(s) of the overall distressing process.

NOTE- Claws by Dark Matter Forge, Denim is Helmut Lang, Boots are Freys ("The Wolverine" style). Buckle is pre-painted, Sitting Bull Indian Chief- Original Vintage 1970's from Bergamot Brassworks. Everything else I have on is temporary (see my earlier posts regarding Lumberjack shirt and Jeans, etc.) until the final garments are either finished or procured.

Stand by;)

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Travis
 

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@Wolverony : Do NOT, use sandpaper to weather the buckle, i repeat, DO NOT. I don't care how low or high the grit is on it, it will strip away the details of the feathers and high spots of the buckle, trust me, I found out. You're best bet is to use your finger, cloth, and a bit of alcohol with and old toothbrush for the high spots. I just got back from Wizard World. Featured on Jason David Frank's fb multiple times and told Lou Ferrigno for a rematch...He wasn't a happy camper today. I'll post pics when I get all of them together.

I used sandpaper on mine....About 2000+ grit (modellers papers), and the edges, and nose are were lovely with that....I'd agree you'd be dumb to apply a lower grit paper to the metal...It'll wear through easily, but a very high grit, used well, is no worries at all....Just knocked the edge off the paint and rounded the edges a little on the outside corners of the buckle so wearing it was "softer"......I can post pics if anyone wants them... ;)
 
1st stage distressing the X-1

More on this later, as I am running late for work and trying to get out the door. This is the result (with comparison image of a screen grab of the procedural video I'm making to document the process) after a 10 hour distressing session of my new X-1.

The results at this 1st stage are as follows...

The factory sheen/shine has been completely stripped/removed allowing for a semi-matte, natural finish and providing the base for specific distressing details and weathering.
The leather is more supple, softer and now drapes according to screen, and provides a significantly more comfortable and greater range of overall motion around the body, especially at the stress points.
The shoulders have been correctly re-shaped/rounded down the arm and off the shoulder-joints and now hang screen accurately.
The arms have begun to accordion correctly.
The "boxiness" of the shell has ceased to exist, especially around the4 forward closure, and now rests comfortably toward the body.
Collar and zipper front draping and correct splaying of collar flaps have been addressed and are setting in.

More/ better pics after the next session (and probably after work before that when I get home). This image was taken after 10 hours, at 5:00 A.M. and will be included on the procedural distressing video.

Thanks for looking!

Travis

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1st stage distressing the X-1
The leather is more supple, softer and now drapes according to screen, and provides a significantly more comfortable and greater range of overall motion around the body, especially at the stress points.
The shoulders have been correctly re-shaped/rounded down the arm and off the shoulder-joints and now hang screen accurately.
The arms have begun to accordion correctly.

Travis,

I am interested to know how you achieved these things in 10 hours. ;) What technique did you use to soften and break-in the leather?

ps - I go by Dark Matter Props now... too many people didn't get the Dark Matter Forge metaphor and I kept getting calls from people looking for a metal foundry. lol
 
Who is the manufacturer of the jacket?
@DavidCXoppola...

Hey there.

This is actually a question I'm getting now more and more as I sort of get better known, and also as I try my best to weather and distress this thing in the few short days I've had it and started posting pictures on the forum, so I'll try to give you the most complete answer I can with regard to this very long, very drawn-out journey. The answer, as it turns out, is going to be somewhat cryptic. To be honest, there are, as we know, a number of vendors out there, all in degrees of accuracy, worth and expertise, who I have pioneered the craft of bringing the X-1 to life.

I am aware of each of them, and also their strong points vs weak...or other.

I have wanted this Jacket for 13 Years. I actually called Vanson nearly ten years ago when I found out their original involvement in the history of this garment. Not that I could afford one (from ANYONE) , let alone a Vanson original at that time.

Fast forward to now, and everyone under the sun is sort of giving it their go. Even Wested (whom I got my original Raiders Jacket from years ago before the internet was even the Internet really) has one. Heron, Magnoli...the others. Each of them whom we all know are doing the X-1 Logan reveal coat. From what I've learned on the forum since my short time here, as a life-long Wolverine fan pre-dating the films and my new favorite model Weapon X; Hugh Jackman, everyone has their preferences.

And everyone (myself of course included) feels they have the bead on what makes a truly screen accurate (a term I first coined, as point of interest, over 23 years ago in Fangoria Magazine ...again, and showing my age, before the internet existed. And how I wish now, on a side note, these decades later, I would have had the fore-sense to trademarked that term.

When I came up with it to sell a well known horror prop and was trying to figure out a way to avoid the legal hassle of calling it an exact replica, for fear of getting sued.

Back to the Jacket. The X-1. With all those choices available to me now in the age of everyone, and with Erin and I being supported by a team of people jumping for the chance to do something really cool in professionally creating our custom costumes, and those few X-1 Vendors with reputations and examples readily available, (if not the latter entirely at the time of order, and additionally there with some apparent question as to when one interested in an X-1 might actually receive said order, from a few of them I've heard about ,on some of the other forums, I did my diligence. The bottom line was I had two things paramount. My desire for the definitive take on the coat (IMO) and my 3 month deadline to Comic Con NYC. Which I wasn't even planning on attending, but which my girlfriend Erin surprised me with tickets to.

Vanson made the original jacket. The prototype.

A subsequent designer made the child coat(s) for production. This information was known and available to me ( or anyone) with a good Google abilities embarking on a dedicated search. As was the plethora of information stockpiled here on the RPF, the recently archived photos on filmjackets.com, and a few other unnamed sources scattered about online.

My X-1 was exhaustively researched against both the film and all outlying records available ( as mentioned above) to date. Everyone out there doing an X-1 was looked at during the vetting process and exhaustive notes were taken...whom was doing the best seams...whom had the waist trim darts correct vs not...whom was doing an accurate body silhouette...whom was delivering their product on time...if at all.

The answer here is I took those exhaustive notes on what I thought were the correct details vs the not and had a Jacket made by someone I trusted enough due to personal and long-term experience rather than not. the answer is that It was a complete custom job. And by complete I mean every measurement, every tape-measured dimension of articulation and torso-shape...down to my personally specified cuff length and waist-fall, and I was fortunate enough to be able to pull a few strings and have it crafted as very much a personal favor, from a very small, very skilled group of people, to whom I am now forever in debt.

They know who they are. That's all can say. And they shun the lime-light with such things. They don't wish to be known for this job. They don't wish to be swamped with inquiries if they were known, and someone ( or a lot of someone's) thought it was worth the pursuit. It (the job) was done entirely personally for me. It was a two-off. One to screen-distress, and one to be kept in neat condition for myself, when not fully committing to the role of Wolverine on some convention floor, which has been a dream of mine since playing Marvel Super Heroes as a kid at my kitchen table.

I'm just in awe I even have it. I've wanted it for 13 years. Never thought i'd own it. Not ever. And I know all of this ( that the maker wishes to remain anonymous) is not the answer anyone with a genuine interest wants to hear. But there it is. And it was the agreement made.

It's not perfect. I'd say it's 95.5% perfect. So, in my world view, that's good enough for the prize. And it's kind of how I judge prop replicas and replicas of garments on the whole. If ity falls into that 95%, it's good to go. No reason to nit pick after that really. Be thankful for what you got. Most never get there.

And that 5%? There is one minor discrepancy on this jacket vs the film coat, and it's so minute ( literally a less than half an inch difference in one tiny section of the entire coat) that it's at this point inconsequential, and I won't mention it. hence the 5%. And as much as I say it's good to go, it is. on THIS coat. They'll be correcting it, however, on the final personal copy in the next few months that I'll wear as my street Jacket. No one will notice it on this one anyway but me, and it's literally, again, pulling in that half an inch section a degree or two on some edge-line that I won't even get into.

So minor I don't even care. It's about as close as anyone's ever going to get (IMO) and that's fine by me.

The only drawback, frankly, to the entire situation going on right now with countless people working for us behind the scenes and creating, literally, a dozen custom made garments, and garment fine details FOR them, is that Erin's custom X-3 Field Jacket is going to outshine even Logan's X-1.

Thanks for looking and nice to meet you. Love your hair in your avatar!

Travis

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Very interesting read. I know quite a bit about the jacket as well.

IMG_0370.JPGMine is a DavidYR1, now known as UD Replicas. It is an X2 that I've had for a few years now.
I rarely wear it, except for Wolverine appearances, maybe 15 or so. I have washed it and had it destressed.
 
Nice stuff Wolverony and David!
Does anybody know if Heron still offers Wolverine jackets? I don't see them on their famous jackets page. My XO is feeling lonely after seeing your guys' X1s and X2s lol
 
I have had no luck finding anything even close IMO. I have found some alternates. There are 3 in Origins I would like to have.
 
They were probably custom as far as I know the only identified shirts are the X-1 pasiely and the brown X-3 shirt and both of those were custom from what I have read. It's sad that is how it is.
 
Anyone have saved the size chart from the UD replicas Wolverine X2 suit? I really need it. It is different from current suit they have now. I used to have the chart but I lost it. I know it's out there somewhere in a forum in a text copy.
 
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