Building Charlie Palmer

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

Color palat of available Balistic Nylon fabric I've received. The silver is really damn nice!

One lesson learned so far is that 1680D Balistic Nylon is too thick to be effectively used for pants and/or a shirt. Additionally, it has a water-resistant coating on the flip side that makes it great for backpacks and vests (e.g. I might use it for parts of the armored vest that don't move much...) but not so good for clothes.

The 840D Balistic Nylon is a FAR more practical fabric for pants and/or shirts, and will allow for movement even with multiple layers.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

Did you know that there are textile companies that manufacture gun-metal grey tactical Shemaghs?

I sure as hell didn't, but here we are I suppose!

My Corpsman was kind enough to toss in a hand-full of condoms for all the Wonder Woman, Silk, and Spider-Gwen cosplayers I'll obviously have to "handle" once they see how :censored: awesome this H.A.R.D. Corps suit looks!

Valiant owns the night too... :thumb:

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

Nothing like a 4 ft sheet of industrial rubber to build armor panels with! 8-)

Will likely scuff it up real good to give it that "battle-worn" look and feel.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by jmatt »

DirtbagSailor wrote:Will screw around me with it and see what's it's good for. :hm:
Perhaps sewn inside, around the shoulder/deltoid area for a little extra volume? (not that you need it) The holes will make it lighter and breathable but still be firm to the touch. Of course it might need to be tapered at the edges for a conforming look.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

First rough prototype proof of the patch.

I've told the manufacturer that "orange" is the "wrong" color, and that a Golden/Yellow is the desired look.

Of course the lines will be cleaner in the final product, but these pics do give a good visual idea of where things are going.

(Note: yes, it looks like a wedge of cheddar cheese. The color will be corrected lol!)


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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by Nameless7 »

The anticipation is killing me!.... This outfit is going to be amazing!

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by jmatt »

:popcorn: This is so much fun to watch!

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by grendeljd »

DirtbagSailor wrote:First rough prototype proof of the patch.

I've told the manufacturer that "orange" is the "wrong" color, and that a Golden/Yellow is the desired look.

Of course the lines will be cleaner in the final product, but these pics do give a good visual idea of where things are going.

(Note: yes, it looks like a wedge of cheddar cheese. The color will be corrected lol!)


Image

Image
Looks great - love the look of the beveled edges in colour against the black base! Still seems like that pulse line could be a tad thicker though. Hard to tell from the pics with no sense of scale, but I'd be concerned that te line would get lost when viewed from a slight distance.
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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

grendeljd wrote:
DirtbagSailor wrote:I've told the manufacturer that "orange" is the "wrong" color, and that a Golden/Yellow is the desired look.

Of course the lines will be cleaner in the final product, but these pics do give a good visual idea of where things are going.
Looks great - love the look of the beveled edges in colour against the black base! Still seems like that pulse line could be a tad thicker though. Hard to tell from the pics with no sense of scale, but I'd be concerned that te line would get lost when viewed from a slight distance.
Certainly has an "industrial-grade" look to it, and I am certain that it would hold-up quite well in a combat environment.

The color is being worked, and I did also make mention of the thickness of the line. If not thicker, then at a minimum there needs to be more contrast to avoid distance/vision blurring as you mentioned.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by grendeljd »

DirtbagSailor wrote:
grendeljd wrote:
DirtbagSailor wrote:I've told the manufacturer that "orange" is the "wrong" color, and that a Golden/Yellow is the desired look.

Of course the lines will be cleaner in the final product, but these pics do give a good visual idea of where things are going.
Looks great - love the look of the beveled edges in colour against the black base! Still seems like that pulse line could be a tad thicker though. Hard to tell from the pics with no sense of scale, but I'd be concerned that te line would get lost when viewed from a slight distance.
Certainly has an "industrial-grade" look to it, and I am certain that it would hold-up quite well in a combat environment.

The color is being worked, and I did also make mention of the thickness of the line. If not thicker, then at a minimum there needs to be more contrast to avoid distance/vision blurring as you mentioned.
Yeah, if they don't/can't make that line *slightly* thicker, I'm willing to bet that a brighter yellow colour will help tweak the contrast up. :thumb:
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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

Changed the orange to Golden/Yellow.

Which (based on the result) really meant Lemon/Yellow to the guys. :?

Never the less, it still works.

The line is thinner than I would like, but that's why God created man; so we can use our skills to fix *SQUEE*. :thumb:

I will play around once it arrives, and make it thicker. At least that's what she said lol! :P

I took the image they sent me and superimposed it over an image of red nylon to get a good ideal of visual appearance.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by jmatt »

The color contrast is great! Gonna be tough to carve rubber evenly, though. Maybe a mounted Dremel (pointed down) with a thin carving bit, and then work it like a jigsaw? I dunno. Rubber is tough to work with.

It looks pretty good, perhaps best to leave it be. At least you have extras you can experiment with.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

jmatt wrote:The color contrast is great! Gonna be tough to carve rubber evenly, though. Maybe a mounted Dremel (pointed down) with a thin carving bit, and then work it like a jigsaw? I dunno. Rubber is tough to work with.

It looks pretty good, perhaps best to leave it be. At least you have extras you can experiment with.
If I get a high-speed disk at the right thickness, I should be able make a few straight cuts. It's almost like carving butter though, and there is not a lot of room for extra movement.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by Phoenix8008 »

DirtbagSailor wrote:
jmatt wrote:The color contrast is great! Gonna be tough to carve rubber evenly, though. Maybe a mounted Dremel (pointed down) with a thin carving bit, and then work it like a jigsaw? I dunno. Rubber is tough to work with.

It looks pretty good, perhaps best to leave it be. At least you have extras you can experiment with.
If I get a high-speed disk at the right thickness, I should be able make a few straight cuts. It's almost like carving butter though, and there is not a lot of room for extra movement.
Maybe before carving into it, you might try just taking a black sharpie to it and color the 'side walls' of the trench line black? This would give it a little more visual 'thickness' to the line. But it might also reduce the visible depth of the line compared to the top surface. Not sure. But if you've got multiple copies to work with, it might be worth the time to try before going thru the pain of cutting it up. You would then just end up cutting away the blacked out sidewalls anyway if you didn't like how it looked.
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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by mkb28 »

DirtbagSailor wrote:Did you know that there are textile companies that manufacture gun-metal grey tactical Shemaghs?

I sure as hell didn't, but here we are I suppose!

My Corpsman was kind enough to toss in a hand-full of condoms for all the Wonder Woman, Silk, and Spider-Gwen cosplayers I'll obviously have to "handle" once they see how :censored: awesome this H.A.R.D. Corps suit looks!

Valiant owns the night too... :thumb:

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I can see it now, "Lifeline, give me the French Tickler!" :lol:

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by jmatt »

DirtbagSailor wrote:If I get a high-speed disk at the right thickness, I should be able make a few straight cuts. It's almost like carving butter though, and there is not a lot of room for extra movement.
And rubber melts. The top of the upper edge at the surface could become a non-uniform, gooey mess that then solidifies.
Phoenix8008 wrote:Maybe before carving into it, you might try just taking a black sharpie to it and color the 'side walls' of the trench line black? This would give it a little more visual 'thickness' to the line.
I like this idea. It's non-destructive and it could work. A fine-point Sharpie.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

jmatt wrote:
Phoenix8008 wrote:Maybe before carving into it, you might try just taking a black sharpie to it and color the 'side walls' of the trench line black? This would give it a little more visual 'thickness' to the line.
I like this idea. It's non-destructive and it could work. A fine-point Sharpie.
Will give it a shot. I made the final payment for production last night, so these will be pushed my way soon and I'll be able to test things finally.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by StarBrand »

Wow. Amazing project. I wish I'd clicked this thread sooner.
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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

As previously mentioned, I will pattern the pants on the Crye Precision G3 Combat Pants that are currently issued to special forces and/or operations units here in the United States (e.g. NSW DEVGRU, EOD, and DELTA presently issued these). The pants themselves often sell for over $200 per pair, and with the right AOR Camo pattern and cut, have sold for $500+.

What I did was simple.

I purchased a well-worn and/or damaged pair for $100, and will use it for a pattern template.

Image

The majority of the material I will use will be Ballistic 840D Nylon Cordura (similar to what is used in some motorcycle gear and/or military backpacks). Re-enforced portions will be constructed with Ballistic 1680D Nylon Cordura which is thicker and more sturdier.

I will remove the side cargo-pockets so that the silver stripe (made from silver Ballistic 1680D Nylon Cordura) will be visible.

Lastly, I ordered the integrated kneepads (black/charcoal) directly from Crye Precision since they make the best and it would be a real PITA to make my own. Also, I don't believe in cheap copies, unless it's the pants I'm making (since Crye Precision does NOT (presently) manufacture H.A.R.D. Corps uniforms).

Image

The end result should be the best H.A.R.D. Corps uniform pants ever created. 8-)

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by jmatt »

Curious... what does 'ballistic' mean in the context of fabrics?

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

jmatt wrote:Curious... what does 'ballistic' mean in the context of fabrics?
Ballistic nylon is a thick, tough, synthetic nylon fabric used for a variety of applications. Ballistic nylon was originally developed by the DuPont corporation as a material for flak jackets to be worn by World War II airmen.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

Spoke to Dinesh and told him that I intend to create a thread requesting fan donations to fund this project (since quality materials and gear aren't cheap!!!!) and that I would provide one of the extra H.A.R.D. Corps logo patches to each donor as a "gift" for their support.

He said ok, so expect that to occur once all the rubber arrives! Whatever that means. :?

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by DirtbagSailor »

Got the gloves today; and tested them out. Index finger of each glove has been removed since I prefer to feel skin on steel to maintain trigger control.

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Last edited by DirtbagSailor on Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:42:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by nycjadie »

DirtbagSailor wrote:Spoke to Dinesh and told him that I intend to create a thread requesting fan donations to fund this project (since quality materials and gear aren't cheap!!!!) and that I would provide one of the extra H.A.R.D. Corps logo patches to each donor as a "gift" for their support.

He said ok, so expect that to occur once all the rubber arrives! Whatever that means. :?
:thumb:

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Re: Building Charlie Palmer

Post by jmatt »

You have the best toys.


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