The making of my Roadwarrior / Mad Max 2 costume. With pics.

[Rook3]

Great job on your costume!

And people think you can't do a good job and still do it on the cheap
these days. Well done!

I was the one who posted the original label in the other thread.

If you want to mail your version to me I'd be happy to host it for everyone to have.

PM me.

Russ

[Max Replica]

Thanks Russ. I sent you a PM.

On the subject of cheap however, I should say that "cheap" is relative. Although I spent FAR less than some other people have on their more accurate costumes, I still ended up spending a lot more than I had anticipated. Certainly more than I usually spend on a Halloween costume.
A lot of it was the shipping charges incurred from buying stuff online ($6.50 gun ends up $15 with shipping, $15 shoulder pads end up $30 etc.). If you already own some of the items (a leather jacket in my case) and some of the tools (like rivets and a riveting kit) that can save quite a bit.
I'd say between having to buy the pants for $40, the boots for $30 and so on I probably spent in the neighborhood of $200.
Not bad for an outfit that will look accurate to most people that see it, but certainly not accurate enough for hardcore fans like us.

Hell, a set of just the NSW firefighting tools would probably cost more than my whole costume...

[Rook3]

And thanks to you, here's a link to the new DinkiDi dog food can.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa19 ... _label.jpg

It should print a label that is 4.25 inches by 13 inches (so be sure to put some 8.5x14 legal size paper in your printer), the same size as the label on the large size can of Rosarita refried beans I got at the grocery store.

Since the forum clips oversize images, just click the link at the top to grab the full image.

Thanks again to JWrites for sharing it with everyone!

Regarding cheap, you're right about everything being relative. I got my "Goose" boots "cheap" but had to put hours of work reconditioning them back to a somewhat useable condition. My jacket was an experiment as well. I still don't have leather pants yet, nor some of the other nifty bits. But like anything, it's a work in progress.

Russ

[Max Replica]

Thanks for hosting the image!

You guys may need to tweak the red and green a bit to get it exactly right depending on your printer.
And to be a real stickler, I have to say that the fine print ingredient list on the side of the can is too long. The one in the movie is only about half that long. I didn't want to say anything to the guy who made it for me since he did such a good job otherwise (and because he'd think I was crazy for obsessing so much).

- J

[amc72jav]

jwrites,

Very, VERY, VERYnice! Thank you for sharing you experience. You photographs get across how much research & planning & elbow grease that you put into your costume.

amc72jav

[Madmaxing]

Excellent job, and thank you for taking the time to type all that out.

As a former Stars Wars geek I know how painstaking it is to do a movie correct costume. Don't apologize for doing it on the cheap, your results are excellent. They way you've gone about your costume is a real common story; the rushed version that looks the part. After that there is always the improving and that is where money can be spent because now you don't have to spend it all at once, like when you've only got a week to Halloween.

On the issue of weathering, I heard the costume artist that did the costumes for Raiders of the Lost Ark say that she weathered Indian Jones' jackets with a wire brush. This was in the special features of the DVD set. She said there were 10 jackets made up for that movie. I can't remember if she mentioned any other weathering technique or not.

Steve

[Max Replica]

Thanks Steve.
I tried the wire brush a little, but seemed to get better results from the sandpaper. It may have been that I didn't use the right type of wire brush or didn't know what I was doing. I would love for someone to make a good costume weathering "how to" video and put it up on youtube.

[Madmaxing]

Now that would be really cool! Weathering does so much for movies. It makes it look like you've come in on something that's been going on for a longtime, instead of fabricated to put on a show for you. That was George Lucas' idea of having the space ships with rust, battle damage, burns, and corrosion streaks on them. In all the other space movies and shows everything was brand new looking, because it was. No one took the time to do the weathering.

I like to watch special features in DVD's for techniques such as this. If you want to learn a lot of things like this I suggest you sign up at a message board I used to hang out at a lot.

http://www.therpf.com/index.php?act=idx

It is not just about Star Wars, it covers all kinds of sci-fi movies and there's lots of forums on making costumes and props. There is a wealth of talent there.


Steve

[StepChld]

As for the red brick - it works, but it's not ideal. Most of what you get are very small reddish pebbles that don't really stick to and stain the leather. I think some kind of red mud or clay might be better. Hmmm, maybe some kind of pottery clay from a craft store would work? Anyway, the brick does work all right in a pinch, and the price is right.

Go to Michaels /MJ Designs/Hobby Lobby and pick up a pack of colored chalk in the artist section. I use the white, gray, black , brown, and red chalks the most. They're sticks of chalk about 4" long. Anyway, get some real rough sandpaper and rub away on that with the chalk. Then dump the ground up chalk into a dixie cup or something similiar and get a make-up brush (like the type women use to apply "blush" with) and "paint" your jacket with the dust. Old model railroader trick.
You could also use an airbrush with model railroad colors (like "Mud", "Dirt",and "Grime" etc.) Thin it a lot to experiment and do many coats to get the best results. The airbrush method will be a lot more durable and not rub off on your friends' furniture.

Cheers,
Step

[blownmaddermaxfromoz]

thats a sweet costume