Some advices to my costume?

[lorddrizzt]

Hello everyone,

I would like to ask you about some advices to my not-yet-finished costume. I am still missing boots, but the rest seems to be fine - but would like to know advices from more experienced people:

Outer cloak
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g235/ ... C02343.jpg

Inner cloak
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g235/ ... C02344.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g235/ ... C02342.jpg

Inner robe
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g235/ ... C02335.jpg

My Force pike
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g235/ ... C02388.jpg

The robe is cut and there are trousers underneath (made of the same material):
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g235/ ... C02334.jpg

[lorddrizzt]

Also would like to know what do you think about these boots for the costume:
http://data.equiservis.cz/eshop/article ... lery-1.jpg
or
http://www.equi-shop.cz/equi/foto/820211.jpg

Thank you for any advices.

[JesterTDA]

Looks good to me...hard to tell with the pictures but just make sure the stuff isn't velour or crushed panne velvet. The boots look good too.

[lorddrizzt]

It is velvet, both the outer cape and inner cape and robe. It is quite hot in it, so I will use it only for winter trooping (currently working also on Garindan costume).

Used this material:
http://www.prosvadlenky.cz/Fotografie/Z ... erveny.jpg
http://www.prosvadlenky.cz/Fotografie/Z ... _bordo.jpg

The description says 100% cotton
High density about 290-340g/m2, quality velvet.

So I hope it is the right one.

[LuciousTalvloinne]

Yep I did that entire mock up on my second robes. Make sure you get lots of water so that you do not overheat. Get Fans in the Helmet.

Suggestions: The sash seems to be a little tall. What are the measurements on them. Also not required but a Nice touch is a Rope middle belt.



Sash

An Obi-style waist sash, approximately 3–4 inches (7.62–10.16cm) made of the same color/material as the wearer's inner robe, Worn over the inner robe.

A burgundy rope-belt that wraps around the sash a minimum of two times and ties out of view.

[lorddrizzt]

Yeah, you are right - I gave these instructions to my tailor, yet she understood them her own way - so did not 10cm belt, but 10cm each side from the middle part of the belt

So it seems that is one thing I will have to re-do. The belt is using velcro fastener (you can see it on one of the pictures). Not sure about the rope, as I cannot move much in the robe to get the rope around.

About the heat - it is clear as there are 3 layers of heavy velvet on you (inner robe, inner cloak and outer cloak), plus trousers from the belly down - I would need air conditioning all over my body (maybe in the form of jetpack ) - so I suppose RG will be in service only during Autumn and Winter.

The helmet is another problem. I ordered mine in 2004 from Argentina (I suppose it is Don Post, as it is so small for my big head). I already have new one from FenixProps (made 2011), which is much bigger and I can actually breathe in it.

That is my next question - I would like to glue the visor to leave little space for air to flow in. Does anyone here use this solution? Is it even possible? (I have kit of the helmet and visor, not yet applied).
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g235/ ... C02350.jpg

[JesterTDA]

Well for me I wouldn't even consider the helmet liner as that woudl be just one more piece of cloth covering my head...but that is a personal choice. I made the mistake of spraypainting the inside of my bucket with a nice black Krylon Fusion. I figured it would help keep things darker inside AND protect my face from the fiberglass. Turns out, my cheeks rub up against the paint and because it's so hot and humid I end up with black cheeks after every troop. It's rubbing off though so it's getting better.

As for how to attach your visor. I went an interesting, and somewhat tricky way. I attached a rare-earth magnet at the top of my visor


And then I took a piece of metal, bent it to shape and glued the visor to it and now the visor pops into place.


I get a good 1/4" gap at the bottom of the visor so I get airflow but you can't tell there is an opening. One of the last troops I was at I had a 4-year old boy decide to poke my eyes out and kept hitting my visor. It popped out, hit my head and then snapped back into place...over and over and over again before I could stand up again. The good news is that the visor wasn't damaged and all I had to do was step inside a room and reposition it again.

[Sandy2011]

Very nice set !!

Love the inner robes --- looking very sweet !

[lorddrizzt]

Well for me I wouldn't even consider the helmet liner as that woudl be just one more piece of cloth covering my head...but that is a personal choice. I made the mistake of spraypainting the inside of my bucket with a nice black Krylon Fusion. I figured it would help keep things darker inside AND protect my face from the fiberglass. Turns out, my cheeks rub up against the paint and because it's so hot and humid I end up with black cheeks after every troop. It's rubbing off though so it's getting better.

As for how to attach your visor. I went an interesting, and somewhat tricky way. I attached a rare-earth magnet at the top of my visor

And then I took a piece of metal, bent it to shape and glued the visor to it and now the visor pops into place.

I get a good 1/4" gap at the bottom of the visor so I get airflow but you can't tell there is an opening. One of the last troops I was at I had a 4-year old boy decide to poke my eyes out and kept hitting my visor. It popped out, hit my head and then snapped back into place...over and over and over again before I could stand up again. The good news is that the visor wasn't damaged and all I had to do was step inside a room and reposition it again.

Thanks for great advice - I think that is the best way. I was thinking about how to glue the visor, how to keep it in place till the glue starts working - it is quite hard to bend. But glueing it to the metal sounds great - the metal is glued only on the top of the visor, right?

About the padding - well, I do not have to use it - I am not going to attach it to the helmet, just if fiberglass is too hard, I will put it on. I will consider small fans, but I do not want to sound like some old computer case

Sandy: Thanks, I hope the costume will pass. Just to be sure, I am also working on Garindan costume. One of them will pass. I hope it is the RG, as I love these guys in red, they are my favourite characters from the movie - so mysterious, Emperor's best, elite troops - that is why I chose this costume to be my main. And comics Crimson Empire - the greatest ever.

So far, there is no RG in the Czech Garrison yet and I want to be the first.

[JesterTDA]

Yeah, the metal I used for my visor cost me about $2 at a home improvement store. It wasn't too heavy but it also wasn't super easy to bend. Just make sure a magnet can attach to the metal, the first type I choose wasn't magnetic. I just glued and clamped the visor to the metal for a night or two (I used CA glue) and that isn't going anywhere. Just make sure you bend the visor metal before attaching the visor. I used some extreme temperature glue which holds up to high and low temps and high humidity (it was designed to be used in washer/dryers and freezers) because the inside of your helmet will get hot and humid, trust me.

As for the fans making things too loud...well...that's clearly a personal choice. I for one have 2 blower fans in my helmet blowing air up onto my cheeks. My visor has never fogged and it gives me the impression of a breeze...a hot breeze but a breeze none the less. That all being said...I can't hear a darn thing in my helmet I also can't speak out of my helmet. Everything I say turns into, "whawhawhawha". To fix that I'll be picking up a mic and voice amp at some point but it's not a major thing for me now. I just knew I needed fans when I went to take my approval pictures and I was inside in an air conditioned room for maybe 5 minutes and I was completely covered in sweat.