Female Street Judge Build WIP

HeyLetsRock

Active Member
NOTE: As of 11/11/13 this build is inactive and will likely be shelved until June/July 2014 when I will possibly pick back up on it for Halloween 2014. The most likely scenario is that I will never complete the build, but will finish the helmet out and sit it, my badge, buckle and mine on a shelf in my office. I would say the build was in the $800+ range when I stopped. It was just getting too expensive and I lost interest in the project. I am currently the in the process of sorting about about $200 in unused returns to various chain stores. Thanks to everyone that was supportive and who was interested in this build. It was fun for a while, but I just lost interest in the end result of having the costume and it was getting more expensive than fun. :(


Hi guys,

This is my first costume build ever. I am going for a somewhat budget friendly build (I'm probably at $350 - $375 USD right now much of which is not going to be pictured yet as it is customization supplies, if I can keep it in the $500 - $600 range it would be great) wanted to post a completely pre-modified pic of my "base" gear to the uniform to get opinions on everything before really starting on the customization. You know, while every thing still has tags on it and I can return it. LOL If you guys have suggestions on something that would work better that is simple to purchase let me know and if you have suggestions or tips for the things I have planned for these items please share! Thanks!

My workroom isn't cleaned out enough for me to set up the tripod and DSLR camera on timer, so I apologize for my phone blocking part of the jacket. Sheesh, I just noticed I hung my mirror with the warped part on top across my forehead. I'm not putting all that on on again, but I promise I'm not from Remulak. :lol

Here we go:

dredd_base_webres.jpg

1. Jacket - I got this faux leather jacket at Wal-Mart this week, brand is George, it doesn't have any perforated faux leather, but it has the look of the female jacket (the tab collar WITHOUT the tab and button like Dredd's). I am 5'9" and it actually fits GREAT in the shoulders, and the sleeves are plenty long. This is amazing for clothing from Wal-Mart as most of their things are too short for me and small in the shoulders. Of all things, it's a little tight in the forearms, which is really odd, never had that happen, I have pretty puny forearms. LOL If you have a solution for that that does not involve seam destruction to sew, let me know.

I was also thinking of cutting out holes under the arms and replacing with mesh so I don't melt in this thing, but again, not really wanting to deconstruct much since it's faux leather and lined. I don't want to mess it up getting it back together.

2. Elbow pads and knee pads - I got these at a thrift store plus a skateboard style helmet (more on the skateboard helmet later). They are World Industries brand, and I have already seam ripped the branding from them. I am decently pleased with the elbow pads and will do some kind of foam on top of them for the movie look and paint them.

I did find some faux perforated leather (it was actually by the car headliner material at Hancock Fabric) to maybe make those "flaps" that you see on the built in looking pads on the jacket and pants in the movie.

I feel the knee pads are a little big, but since I'm tall I plan on doing the male/Dredd style pad to them vs. the Anderson look with the 3 larger sections. They still look a bit tall/big though, I would like more space between the pad and boot, but I have to save $ in some places. What do you guys think?

3. Belt - Nothing fancy here, just a black leather Wrangler brand belt from Wal-Mart. It is the kind that has the snap so you can remove the buckle and replace with another. (It also came with a free keychain. Wooooooo! haha) I got one size larger than I absolutely needed as I knew I would be adding a lot of holsters to it and didn't want to run out of room.

4. Pants - I found these at Target in the womens (juniors sepcifically) section, Mossimo is the brand.They are mostly stretchy fabric like exercise/yoga pants are made out of and then the front is a very thin stretchy faux leather. The leather kind of tapers as it goes down the leg, they are pretty neat to find ready made. If they had the faux leather on the back as well they would be really great. I'm not really wanting to modify these as they are stretchy material and I don't think they would go back together too well after I took them apart to add more faux leather (and I can't find any that is stretchy). I think I will sacrifice authenticity for comfort and ease on the pants.

5. Boots - Ok, these are a little over-the-top compared to the movie boot, but come on, you just feel like 30% more awesome when you put on a pair of motocross boots! These are Mens O'Neal Element motocross boots (if any ladies out there wear a US size 9.5 or 10, these are mens US size 8 and fit pretty well). I found them on Craigslist and just got them today, they are like new, worn twice, good find I think. I believe they are taller and have more buckles than the movie boot, but have a very similar vibe. They do have a waterproof gusset at the top instead of being flat, which isn't ideal, but it's not too bad.

The suede leather calf protector will have to be painted black. They say O'Neal at least 3 times on each boot in a rubbery non-detachable material, so I will have to find a solution for covering those. Instead of making an armor piece separate that is raised then attaching to cover the front of the boot, I was thinking about painting the silver armor piece directly on the plastic front panel of the boot (and the front part of the buckles that cover that piece so it blends). I think it would allow me to take them on and off much more easily and could look pretty similar to the movie version.

Ok, so what do you guys think of this for a base? I've already learned a ton from this forum, there is some amazing talent on this board - I would greatly
 
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Great find and cost effective.... you still need to get a couple of things but on your way there.... helmet should be next on your lists...
 
Looks like a great base to build from. Just remember that with some determination and a good razor blade nothing is impossible to remove. Have fun and we all shall be watching to see what you come up with.
 
i think thats a great base, im not extremely talented. but just from others ive seen and what ive currently got. that looks great

Thanks, I will definitely check out your build when you get some photos up.

Great find and cost effective.... you still need to get a couple of things but on your way there.... helmet should be next on your lists...

Thanks, and yes I still need to find a suitable pair of gloves for this base, I think I will make the gauntlets and have them be a separate piece that blends to the gloves (I saw the thread with the EL panel in it that lights up and that is awesome, would love to try it). I have a Nerf Stryker to mod for the Lawgiver and I've been piecing together items to mod for the belt items. I've also been collecting materials for the vest and armor.

I think I'm going to start a pep helmet this weekend. Only I am worried I will have to make a couple before getting the scale right. :( Kind of dreading the Bondo and shaping/sanding part too. I do have access to a shop full of sanders and many other tools for getting the job done though.

Looks like a great base to build from. Just remember that with some determination and a good razor blade nothing is impossible to remove. Have fun and we all shall be watching to see what you come up with.

Thanks for looking. That is very true...including accidentally removing part of my own digits if I'm not careful. lol Having fun now, but starting on the more stressful bits soon. Found some GREAT motocross armor to part out for shoulders, and back base of armor vest (I hope). Will post more photos later.
 
You are so lucky to have a shop with sanders. My first attempt at a helmet was done mostly by hand, took forever, and didn't look great. I think that once you get the sizing right, working with the bondo will be just fine. It's pretty easy to work with. I'm going to have to look for those pants on Target.com. I agree about the modifications, leave things intact unless they are going to distract from your overall look. Looking forward to seeing what you do.
 
That's a very impressive start to your build, keep the pics coming.

Your O'Neal's look very similar to my Wulf's (very similar indeed), the logo's came off quite easily with a hobby knife, I then hacked them more than I wanted too with a Dremel and made a mess! Battle damage it is then..............

Looking good.
 
Hey, guys, thanks for the encouragement! Here is some stuff I did a few days ago, thought I would share it as well.

Remember how I said I got the pads as a set at a thrift store for $5? Here they are in their thrift glory:

pads_before_webres.jpg

And here they are after peeling all the silver tape off, pretty pristine. You can also get a better idea of how the straps are here. I think they are just a standard set of cheap skateboard pads. I used a seam ripper and took those ugly rubber branding bits off after this photo:

pads_after_webres.jpg

Here you can see the branding gone, and I'm about to start messing around with thin craft foam and a heat gun:

foam_heat_1_webres.jpg

And here is after hitting a test piece of foam with the heat gun, then putting it on the pad and pressing, this is only after I pressed on it a little, I heated and pressed more and it got a lot more of the shape, the plan is to cut it out once it has the shape of the pad and use it as a base layer to cover those ugly grommets. I might do it in black foam, or I might just paint the red:

foam_heat_2_webres.jpg

I took a small piece of the red foam and took some FolkArt Acrylic Paint (color 927 Old Ivy) to it to see what would happen. The left is one coat dried and the right is the start of the second coat wet. It looked pretty good after the second coat, so three coats should be plenty to cover any color foam I would think:

foam_paint_test_webres.jpg

In related news, I am thinking of just buying a cast helmet that comes with a cold cast badge (for the helmet) and visor. I will still have to paint and weather it, but I'm thinking it will save me alot of time to do stuff like have a melt down over my shoulder eagle build if need be. haha.

Also thinking of getting a 3D print badge with my own last name - has anyone ordered one and finished it out? are they easy to sand the "print lines" out of?
 
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Oh, and how could I forget, this is the motocross armor I was talking about gutting for the shoulder pads. This was a Craigslist find. I was also thinking about using the elbow pads for knee pads, but I would have to cut the forearm armor off them and it might be too thick for me to bind the edge that I cut easily. The back pad that the plastic spine thing is on looks almost usable as the base of the back of the armor vest, but after examining the back spine that dude is riveted on there good and you can't get to the backs of them without cutting up the backing, so not sure.

The whole thing looks pretty cool and I kind of want to just take up dirt bike riding now that I've got like 1/3 of the gear. LOL It's actually a size too large for me, it's called an upper body pressure suit and is supposed to fit very snug. I was lucky to get this old version as the new version doesn't have parts that look very DREDD street judge-like at all.

The guy I bought this from was super nice and assumed I was using it for bike riding and I didn't have the heart to tell him I was going to part it out. I'm thinking I should send him a photo of the finished build in a few weeks? :lol

Here it is, trying it on so you can see it better, even though I will have to cut parts off of it (to clarify, I'm not using the "suit" part of the pressure suit, I will take the pads and back and use it in making the DREDD vest):

armor_front_webres.jpgarmor_back_webres.jpg

The shoulder shape is almost perfect for the right side, it's not perfect for the eagle side, but will still work nicely I'm thinking.

What's the word on the buckles? Is there a vendor for the exact one? I searched the forum pretty well and all I ever found was "cobra style" but they aren't actually Cobra buckles, they are different, but similar.
 
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Here are some links which might be useful for you :

Helmet DIY using the one you bought :
http://www.therpf.com/f71/judge-dredd-3d-2012-helmet-diy-168850/#post2606659

Helmet for Sale :
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...339.1073741835.266358440064737&type=1&theater

Badge (can be customized for your name, I already bought one and looks great)
http://www.therpf.com/f13/dredd-2012-badge-update-16-july-2013-orders-re-opened-158382/


Belt Buckle (also bought one and really cool)
http://www.therpf.com/f13/dredd-3d-screen-cast-belt-buckles-belts-dredd-version-186193/
 
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I bought a Pannaus helmet, and it was worth it. I'm still waiting for my Andyface badge, but I'm sure it will be as awesome as the others. The Bratina 3d printed badges are cool, and certainly priced quite right, but I haven't yet been able to nail a decent method for smoothing out all the print lines. I bought a Max Replica buckle as well, and it is awesome. However, I am going to buy one of these brass buckles for every day wear. A bit more than I was planning on spending, but then again, everything is turning out that way. :D

I look forward to the rest of your build!
 
striker01, thanks for the links! rolandblais, thanks for your comments on items as well!

Wow. The effort involved in that helmet build using an existing helmet has just about sealed the deal on me getting a cast one! LOL I don't think I have the time to get it just right. I'm not building a Halloween costume per say, since I'm making this because I think it's awesome, BUT I would ideally like to be able to debut this around Halloween when it's appropriate to go about in such a get-up as there aren't any Cons in my area.

I am working with someone in the US right now on getting a cast helmet, I will have to do some detail work on getting the extra bits cut out of the cast and paint/finish it, but it seems like a great deal, is in the US and the guy seems very professional.

As for Pannaus, I've seen it mentioned a lot, and the helmets are very nice looking all finished out, so just out of curiosity I messaged the guy on pricing. Yeah, I just about fell out of my chair after I converted the Euros to USD. I am sure you can just message them on facebook for the info, but if anyone wants to PM me, I'll fill you in on the price. The turn around time is pretty long and it's international shipping too as they are in Europe. Certainly not knocking anyone that has one, I just need to budget funds to several other parts of the costume as well still and would like to have everything before Halloween.

Unfortunately, Max Replica isn't currently selling his buckles, they sold out on 7/28 and it's just an interest thread now no definite date on the next run. :( A pity, those look great. Those brass buckles in the DragonCon group sound awesome.

Andyface stuff looks awesome, but he's not doing another run until some point in October so I might try my hand at making something (and then getting on his list if I fail. lol) Thanks for the info on the print lines on the 3D print badges too.

I have an idea on the shoulder eagle that I haven't seen before so I'm hoping it works out and I can show you guys, I might show you guys even if it doesn't work so you'll know how NOT to do it.

Anyone know the brand of the buckles used on the vest and holster? I search the forum pretty well I thought. I saw a holster where the guy called them Ailpin buckles, but that was a no-go when I google, zero results. I know they aren't Cobra .
 
Lunch time breach mine decisions. I got both of these to use as possible breach mines and am going to return the one I decide against. I plan on buying a handcuff holster at a used police gear booth at a local flea market on Saturday, and cutting out pieces so it looks like the breach mine holster.

So I should be able to better judge then, but just by looking, what do you guys think?

breach_mine1.jpgbreach_mine2.jpg

I am leaning towards the tape measure, as it would take less mods as it's already completely round on the sides and bottom. It was $2-$3 USD and the spy gear was about $7, and I'm not even going to use its noise making feature as it's an alarm sound I'm guessing.
 
For the breach mine, you can try my build which might be much cheaper and easy to build....

http://www.therpf.com/f71/breach-mine-diy-193148/

Thanks, I've checked that one out before. I actually randomly found a Duncan Imperial yo-yo behind my desk today, so I might modify it if time allows, going to get the bigger projects done first and see. Will keep the tape measure so I can quickly spray it green, weather it and paint holes on it if I run out of time. I don't even own any Bondo at this point, so would be spending money on that to mod the yo-yo.
 
you must be one of the luckiest people I've seen so far with those finds. I was just at WalMart and Target during my lunch hour and had 0 luck finding a jacket or pants (I have my wife almost convinced to be a PSI Division judge but the costume has to be *extremely* budget friendly...) - when you have a chance can you mention the brands? The closest thing I could find at WalMart was an "Free Tech" sports jacket but the fabric was no where near p/leather...

I got lucky on my Helmet - found someone in the JunkYard looking to sell, and they were just a state away. Keep an eye out there and on the Facebook page and maybe you'll catch one.

For a shoulder, have you seen this? It's pretty awesome:
http://www.therpf.com/f24/yup-another-dredd-2012-build-includes-templates-193339/#post3030662

Keep up the good work!
 
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