COSTUMES
STAR WARS
TIE FIGHTER PILOT
May 2007
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HELMET
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COM PAD
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The com pad was drafted based on photos of the film used com pads that have been on display at various museum exhibits like Magic of Myth and FIDM (note, the TIE Pilot pad is usually in the X-Wing Pilot costume). I used many different thicknesses and widths of styrene strips in order to assemble my own com pad. The base color is simply "grimy black" floquil spray paint.
I used this MOM image as a paint reference. Note if you look at the very upper left you can see a sliver of gray - I think those are the top oblong shapes. This is the poor photo from the Visual Dictionary. I think you can make out the top buttons paint scheme of gray and red that is almost totally hidden in MOM and FIDM reference photos.
FLIGHT SUIT : I was very close to making my own screen accurate pattern (it would have saved me money) but I was in a time crunch to get my flight suit done within a few days so I opted for the Black Unlined Coveralls made by Rothco.
Here
are the pros to this jumpsuit:
- The zipper is covered with a flap, similar in shape and size to the
movie costumes
- There is a band around the waist - similar to the movie costume
- There are tucks (pleats) in the back similar to the film used suits.
The difference being, they are about 1" inward from the arm seam.
The film used flightsuits have the tuck aligned with the arm cycle seam
and they do not extend all the way to the waist. SEE
BACK ARM CYCLE SCREEN SHOT >>
- Heavy duty poly/cotton twill (I'm not sure if that will make me too
hot in summer months, but I liked the substantial look and feel of it).
Cons:
- There are some snaps
on the top of the jumpsuit. However, for those who can sew and want
to add a screen accurate yoke to eliminate the snaps, that was easy to
do.
SEE
MY YOKE AND COLLAR MODIFICATION
- It helps to modify the collar
- There are some pockets on the rear that are a bit of a pain to remove
because they were stitched on so well with stay stitching and back stitching.
I do suggest for those of you who want to add screen accurate pockets and modifications to your store bought jumpsuits, purchase a second jumpsuit in an XL to use as spare matching fabric. It might not be easy to find the same exact black twill (weight and color and weave) in the fabric store.
Here's the state of my modified jumpsuit right now. I may change out the pockets on the upper part of the body, add the vertical seam with top stitching, and add screen accurate cuffs if I'm in the mood.
LEFT
ARM >>
RIGHT
ARM >>
FRONT
>>
FRONT
CLOSE UP >>
MODIFIED
ROTHCO JUMPSUIT - BACK VIEW >>
ARMOR & CHEST BOX: I was able to obtain vac-formed armor from another member of the Omega Wing (made by farawaycreations.com) . It was a little large on me, so I had to carefully heat the sides of the front chest plate with a craft heat gun, and bend them inward to fit my rib cage a little better. For the most part, I followed the assembly instructions at the Imperial Lounge. However, rather than using binding posts to attach my plates to my armor and straps, I used screws covered with black screw covers. In order to keep my screws from working their way loose, I added thread lock. I also used 1/5" webbing rather than 2" webbing under the ABS straps so they wouldn't accidentally show.
