Ken Collins
as Max
"I started with a basic Motorcycle jacket, removed the epaulets and the belt. I work with leather, so I created my shoulder pad out of boiled 10 oz. leather; cut, shaped, and carved to resemble the movie. For the leg brace, I used 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick steet that I cut, shaped, and riveted to the 8 oz leather straps I had cut. I'm not sure of what the tool on the center of his back might be, but since the handle is the only thing that shows, I just used some 1 inch dowel, created the top metal portion out of sheet aluminum, and made sort of a spade type shape to fit the leather case I made. The other case looked like it might be for handcuffs, so that is what I sized my smaller case for. The Shotgun holster appeared to be much more flexible, so I used 2 layers of 2 oz leather to make it. This meant I was also able to keep a smooth surface to protect the shotgun model as well as for the outside appearance. The shotgun is the deluxe blank firing Hudson model with the wood grips (They also make a pellet firing version for the 6 mm airsoft pellets). The boot knife is a rubber blade from a toy knife that has been reshaped along the lines of a fighting knife, like the Sykes-Fairborne Commando Knife. The hilt is a piece of pine that was shaped, painted, then coated with a clear laquer. I think some of the other tools Max had were a curved frame saw of some type, missing the blade; and the small tool hanging from the front was a folding set of feeler gauges. I used the feeler gauges for mine, but the only thing I found close to the shape for the back was a "C" shaped, box end wrench. The final touch, of course, was to drag the whole setup in the dirt behind my pickup for about a 100 yds or so, for that realistic weathered look. I unleashed the Mad Max outfit at this year's big Chiller Theatre Horror Con, Oct 26-28. Ironically, one of the guests was Vernon "Wez" Wells. A very nice gentleman! He saw me dressed as Max, and my girlfriend has us on video, with him doing his famous line 'YOU! You can run, but you can't hide!'"
Back to the Fan Costumes Page