Nothing like leaving it to the last minute, but my previous costume idea fell through (I mean seriously, who knows who Mrs Slocombe is in the cosplay world? :lol) I'm trying to put together a Top Gun costume, most likely either Goose or Viper. I'm trying to do it without breaking the bank, but I want to be as accurate as I can be, reasonably quickly - for MCM at the end of this month. I'm in the UK, so sourcing authentic US military items locally isn't likely to be easy I suspect, and sourcing from the US may take too long (and cost more than it needs to in postage). Ultimately, I'm likely to build up a "better" costume, or costumes, over time
3d printing a helmet was suggested to me as a potential option - are there any HGU 33 style models that anyone is aware of to print from? Or would I just be wasting my money and be as well to buy a surplus flight helmet of any kind, with visors (even a uk military helmet without the visor cover), and build / paint off of that with random cheap surplus mask parts, etc? Ultimately a real HGU 33 would be the ultimate goal, but I'm looking at a shortish term option. I could theoretically go without a helmet, as per the classroom scenes, but that seems like it would be too little, and probably not obvious enough?
I have an ex RAF flight suit, which I could use as a stop gap, though some of the chest zips are clearly in the wrong place to add chest patches. If I were to look at a US style flight suit, is a modern CWU-27/P representative of the same mark flight suit that would have been worn in the 80's , or have they updated it, and it's no longer representative? (in which case I might as well use what I've got until I find a more exact match).
Patches have obviously been discussed a lot, I don't suppose anyone has any Goose (or Viper) patches they are selling / getting rid of? I'm guessing the triangular "Tactical Wings Atlantic" patch is a bit like rocking horse poo? The rest seem fairly easy to get hold of.... but does anyone know if that Japanese guy who was mentioned a few pages back still doing patches, etc?
Does anyone know what kind of top Goose is wearing underneath his flight suit? Looks like a white T-shirt, but with red sleeves / body?
At this stage I'm not so worried about accurate masks, hoses, harnesses, life preservers, buckles, etc, but is there anything that you'd say a Goose or Viper costume needs that without it it wouldn't be worth doing?
The alternative is that I go down the summer whites route from the bar scene. Maybe easier and cheaper to do, but doesn't seem easy to source Navy whites in the UK! Anyone know of a source of US Navy surplus kit?? that includes wings, rank epaulettes, medal ribbon, etc? And what's worn on their feet in that form of dress?
and on that pattern of uniform, does anyone know what Goose's medal ribbons are?
I don't recall them wearing hats (I'll have another watch tonight) but if it was you, would you go down a "summer whites" route without one?
I don't want to go down a non-uniform route (no G-1 jacket for example) but any other uniform options that would be worth considering? I don't think so, but....
I'm probably biting off more than I can chew here given the timescales, but I've got a few days to get my act together, source parts and put a costing together before I commit. So any help gratefully received!
don't know if anyone else saw this.
