The 76th Independent Battalion (Part 6)

POSTED BY: Tristan
UPDATED: Monday, December 18, 2006 18:29
VIEWED: 15685
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TRISTAN

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 8:53 PM

Greetings! This is the discussion thread for the newly-formed 76th Independent Battalion. We are planning on marching in the DragonCon parade as a Battalion of Independent soldiers.
Last threads:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=25856
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=25714
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=25575
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=25503
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=25393


And our new website (thanks, BWTP!):
http://76thbattalion.homestead.com/index.html

We have a patch!


I'll see if I can get all of the relevant data in this first post...

We have agreed that it is important to be at least somewhat uniform in appearance...vests, coat or smock, helmet, and weapon...at least close in pants, shirts, and boots. There are two basic uniforms that we can see, and have broken them down as follows:

Type A...basically use Mal as a model. The major item of this uniform is the long coat.


Type B....use Zoe as a model. The vest is worn over a smock-type tunic, and the mail sleeves are visible.


As the war progressed, the Independents seem to have become very hodge-podge...I was aiming for a relatively new group...haven't really had their edges dulled too far yet. On thing we have agreed on is the weapons. Those will be covered below.
Here are other photos from the series that we are basing the costumes from:











A similar pair of pants that most of the soldiers seem to have worn can be found here:
http://www.wwmerc.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=CM83&type=store&catego
ry=3930
These are the pants I used for my Mal costume...all that needs to be done is a bit of hemming and adding the stripe down the side. You don't have to use these pants, but they are the closest within a decent price range.

Vest:
Tristan is designing one now:


I have decided to go with the simple three-line pattern to make the vest more generic as well as quicker and easier to construct.
These should be available for purchase beginning in February. For those that want the pattern and a cloth swatch to match, email me and I will get those to you in February as well.


Overcoat and "smock".
Tristan is currently working on a pattern for both the overcoat and for the smock worn under the vest for those opting for the mail sleeves.
I hope to have photos of the coat up here by the middle of next week, with the smock shortly afterwards. I am still iffy about the type of cloth to use.

Mail Sleeves:
Artcat is testing out these directions http://upstagereview.org/CostumesArticles/Chainmail.pdf and will be making chainmail sleeves on a limited basis, possibly making a make your own sleeves kit available if there is enough interest.
An update from ArtCat on the sleeves:

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Nearly done knitting chainmail sleeve #2,
leatherworking pals are working on buckle design which will make the chainmail sleeves more true to the show, also more adjustable!
I have round 2 of dye ready to roll as soon as Sleeve 2 is knitted completely
Found Silver colored mylar at Texas Art Supply :)
oh and coworker gave me their clothing iron actually, two of them.... sooo fun with heat, glue and shiny stuff will probably ensue after Saturdays Big Houston BC holiday Shindig.

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TRISTAN

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 9:08 PM

Alright, the last thing under discussion was the unifrom coats. I'll try to move everything into one post so you don't have to bounce back and forth, so this will be another long one...

This was one of my long posts on the subject:

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The coat I am basing my design off of (and will be offering for sale and possibly the pattern, too...we'll see how that goes) is a straight-cut single-breasted long coat. It is NOT a trench coat. I have several long coats in my closet, and the Independent coats don't match any of them. The best shots of the coat I am trying to recreate are in the flashback scenes from The Message. I have a working pattern right now, and am in the process of creating a shell. I should be able to post photos some time next week so y'all can get the general idea. The color is a light brown, close to a Khaki. I am currently using a cotton duck, but it may be too "stiff", so I may have to switch to a different fabric. I am sticking to the non-wool cloth for several reasons, cost and heat factor are the major ones...our first parade will be in downtown Atlanta in September...and it gets a bit warm. My ultimate goal is to have a lined and unlined version available for sale within a month or so. Same goes for the "smock" (I need a better word for that!) that goes under the vest for the Type B uniform, ala Zoe.
If nothing else, as I know there are people who already have coats in mind, is the color and basic cut. These are supposed to be uniforms, more or les, so they should at least all look similar. I would hate to have a dozen different shades and cuts of coat marching down the street. I am sort of stuck here...I would love to be able to build everyone's coat, but I don't want people not to march because they think they HAVE to buy my coats. That is why I will probably also offer the pattern to the members of the 76th along with the finished coats as close to cost as I can absorb. I would also be willing to allow other sewers access to the pattern so there are several of us making them at the same time. I need input on that from the other stitchers in here.

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Seeing as the independents were stretched over multiple planets, I would not be surprised to see variation from area to area on the color of the cloth, think about it the border planets do not seem to have the manufacturing capabilities of the central planets, and everything seems rather homespun or made, makes sens that if the war started that alliance would cut off shipments to the rim and folks would make do with what is on hand, that means handdying fabric, its much easier to transmit a pattern and have things made locally if push came to shove...

just a thought

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ArtCat, thank you. I had not thought about that. Huh!

I would still like to keep everything as close as possible, though. Again, to the theoreticals of the formation of the 76th:
We may have been from different planets, but the muster and formation would have been on one of them. This would mean, hopefully, a collection of indentical or near-identical uniforms, helmets, etc. Recruits would still have personal items such as pistols, knives, pouches and bags, but the majority of the gear would be issued by the Independents. As we are creating a "newer" Battalion, I would think this would be the case...but again, I realize that we will be coming from all over the world, so the best we can hope for is coordinating uniforms with a few of the basics identical.

Good thought, ArtCat. That's going to have me pondering for awhile!

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There is a Late Great Unpleasantness... ahem, Civil War... historical precedent. The Confederac

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