Alien / Nostromo Uniforms

[johnhenryc]

Here are some pics of my finished jacket. It was a little more challenging than I expected, but I'm satisfied with the results.
Special thanks to Banzai88 for the stencil. I used acrylic paint, and ended up with a lot of bleed out (due to lack of experience, I'm sure), but I was able to clean it up nicely.

 

[sliuman]

Johnhenryc, that colour is really good. I tried to dye my Mk3 four times but I'm still along way off! What's your secret?

 

[johnhenryc]

sliuman - My jacket, I presume like most, was dark green to start. I dyed it 4 times also. I used Rit dye, and I started by experimenting with a small amount of dye on patches of fabric. I thought I had it with 2 parts brown, 1 part navy blue and 1 part light gray. But that didn't translate when I went up to 6 gallons of water for the whole jacket, apparently, and it came out too brown. So then I re-dyed it with just blue and gray, but didn't use enough dye, I guess, because it didn't change. I tried again with more dye (gray only), and it barely changed. Then I did one more time with a lot more dye (blue and gray), and it finally turned this color. The first few dyes were using the powder and the last was using liquid - not sure if that matters. My guess is that I should have started with closer to 1/3 of each instead of 1/2 brown. I'm not sure if that info is helpful or not, depending on where you are with the color at this point.
If I were to start over, I would use 6 gallons of water with equal parts cocoa brown, navy blue and light gray (about 2/3 of a bottle of liquid dye each). Of course, that's not what I did, so I can't say what that would actually produce.

 

[sliuman]

Thanks for the reply...looks like I may have to give mine another go!

 

[Wayne R.]

Hi Johnhenryc (and anyone else who's made the jacket, for that matter), I've a couple of questions that miraculously don't refer to the colour. Hope that's OK.

Firstly, I'm tempted to cut out the hood and lose the buttflap. I've looked at the scene when Dallas first visits Muthr and it looks like the hood might possibly still be in there, but I'm never going to use it. Is yours intact? Or is it like those tags on a mattress that say 'Do not remove this label' and you just don't, but you've no idea why?
Then, the piping, which I'll attach underneath as per the screen-used uniforms. On the left side of the collar there's a tab with a buttonhole then about a small space before the collar ends. On Dallas' jacket it looks as if the piping finishes at the tab but I've seen at least one where the piping carries on. Three options occur to me - Stop at the tab. Carry on through the tab to the end. Stop at the tab then start again for that last little run. Any thoughts on the best route for that?

My jacket's one of the green ones with padded pen pockets, which I'll leave on. It's a size 6, which on my 5' 10" frame with a 42" chest (let's not linger on waist sizes) fits me almost exactly like Dallas' in the white-background group shot, same sleeve length and waist height. My question is, with all that washing and dyeing, it won't shrink at all, will it?

Thanks in advance, all. If I ever move forward with this there'll be the obligatory pics, goes without saying.

 

[Banzai88]

I left the hood and flap intact as I like the details like that. I stopped the piping at the tab per the film. Since these are vintage jacket to one degree or another, they've been wash a lot already. Mine is the same fit after many washings.

 

[johnhenryc]

Wayne, I cut off the beaver tail specifically so I could use it to test the dye, since it was not onscreen anyway. I also cut out the hood, but mainly because I could feel it bunched up against my back and, again, it didn't take away from the screen accuracy in terms of how it looks. Also since I already cut off the tail, the "unseen" authenticity became less important to me. If I had already felt comfortable with the dyeing process, I probably would have left the tail and then also the hood by default. But this was the first time I ever dyed anything, and I didn't want to accidentally ruin the whole coat.
As for the piping, I had assumed it went all the way across, because that just makes more sense from a design perspective, and I uncharacteristically didn't double-check that detail - so I just continued it over across the tab. I think that is the best way if you want it to go all the way (rather than interrupting it at the tab). However, afterward, I did notice that it doesn't go past the tab on the on-screen jacket, so I'm considering chopping it off to be more screen accurate, and would probably recommend that route.
Mine did not shrink at all after 4 dye steps/washings, but I did use a low heat setting when drying it.

 

[Wayne R.]

Thanks all. I was lucky enough to score a mint example, it doesn't look like it's seen the inside of a washing machine yet. A lot of these have already been washed repeatedly by the time we get hold of them, so any shrinkage has normally already happened. Hence the caution. It'll have to be washed before it sees as much as a grain of dye anyway, so time will tell.

The sleeve laces will be the making of the project, get those right and that's 90% of the look completed. The square, zippered pocket panels look terrifying, though.

 

[omortson]

hi all
made this cake for my mate and thought you guys might like a look at it
omortson

 

[Banzai88]

Wow nice job on this! Ridley would approve!

 

[samuelgteague]

Just won a lot on eBay for my proposed Dallas Costume (Aiming for October London Comic Con), and have a couple of questions:
1. How much hassle is it to dye the material?
2. What brands of dyes would you recommend? (Bare in mind I'm based in the UK - did help with the Jacket... :lol)
3. Has an ideal diametre for the cord on the arms and pockets been determined? I've read through the thread but didn't find anything, but I gather it can't help to ask
4. Any ideas for the trousers? I've trawled through pages of army trousers but all would have to be bleached. From the looks of it, everyone has had to scratch build, if that is the case, then an idea for the base would be appreciated!

Thanks for any help, and I'll upload pictures as and when I can :thumbsup

 

[Banzai88]

Johnhenryrc had good dye results a few posts back. I also got some cord Flexserve posted here http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?p=3641435

It is a good diameter and thinner than most paracords available. I still need to lace up the jacket to compare. As for pants a lot of people use Dickies work/ painters pants. I found a good linen pair at Old Navy which wrinkles nicely. Will post pix later.

 

[Wayne R.]

Sorry to move off of jackets for a minute, but I think I've spotted something that's possibly not been noticed before. Dallas' shoes.
Whilst looking at his uniform trousers, turned-up with sports socks underneath, I saw that there was something sewn on the side of his basketball boots. PF Flyers don't have a side-logo, but I remembered back in about 1983 or so, buying a pair of Hi-Tec boots from a long-gone place called Fosters. Apart from the ribbed toe section, they were a pretty accurate copy of Converse Chucks, same sole and all, but with a weird, cut-down version of the Hi-Tec logo. Just the end bit:


I've flipped it and highlighted the part I mean and there's Dallas' boot for comparison.


Good luck finding some of these, by the way. So far even a picture's proved impossible.

 

[samuelgteague]

Thanks Banzai, had missed that link!

If you're right Wayne that would throw a spanner in the works. At the moment I'm planning to modify some old converse that I have. I'll have to bleach them first, then put on the right fastenings etc... Whereas living in the UK helps for the jackets, finding PF Flyers is a bit too difficult (and costly considering shipping)

 

[Wayne R.]

Re PF Flyers, I've had two pairs so far. Both were via eBay and Amazon and both were under £30. The current pair were bought from a seller advertising them as New Balance, because that's who's making them now.
Also, if you do find some, buy at least a half size larger than you think you need. Mine are a UK 9 and too small for my normally size 9 feet. Hopefully if I wear them in the house they'll give a little.

Horrible thought... What if all the shoes were Hi-Tec but Dallas' were the only ones with the logo painted over (it should be navy blue) rather than completely removed? It kind of makes sense as the movie was made in the UK and those trainers were cheap. PF Flyers wouldn't have been anywhere near as common, possibly not even known about over here.

 

[samuelgteague]

That would be terrible, especially seeing as there is no trace of them online. Then again, Isn't the highlighted part of the Hi-Tec logo the wrong way round? The logo is flipped and it fits to the screen capture, but round the right way it wouldn't work. There are distinct marks there, but couldn't it be something else?

 

[Wayne R.]

That would be terrible, especially seeing as there is no trace of them online. Then again, Isn't the highlighted part of the Hi-Tec logo the wrong way round? The logo is flipped and it fits to the screen capture, but round the right way it wouldn't work. There are distinct marks there, but couldn't it be something else?

The logo flips direction on the other side, like the Nike tick or the Puma... Thing. I flipped it so the similarity was highlighted.

 

[samuelgteague]

Ahhh, sorry, was under the impression that the text was printed also (which would make it implausible) In that case I guess it's possible. When this week is done I'll put all my effort into this build (and sourcing everything hopefully)

 

[johnhenryc]

Samuel, FYI - the paracord I used (that you can see in my pictures) is from Paracrodgalaxy.com, and I got the 275 Tactical size in Camo Green. Based on pictures I saw of the actual jacket, it seems like that size is about right; but a slightly thinner size, like Banzai suggested, might be more pliable. I definitely would not go thicker than the 275.
As for the pants, I haven't started on mine yet, but I am planning on making them from scratch in order to get the right shape and built-in pockets.I'll probably take apart a pair of Dickie's work pants to make a pattern for the base. I'm sure it will be quite the challenge. I'm still working on my shirt, and I'm learning a lot about how to sew by doing that.

 

[samuelgteague]

Ok, exams over (and not a care in the world 'till August...) Jacket arrived in one piece (With a tear on the sleeve, but it was on the eBay image so I can't complain that much...) It is the standard NATO green as far as I can tell, but it is fairly washed out (As you hopefully can see in the picture).

So now I embark on the dyeing process! Given the colour (its as accurate as I could get on my camera), what kind of proportions of grey to blue dye would you all recommend? And also (This probably is a silly question) should I stitch up the hole in the arm before or after dyeing, and if before, does the thread have to be a shade darker/lighter due to different amounts of penetration into the fabric?