Re: Jack Sparrow COMPLETE! New PHOTOS page 8.

[Indy Magnoli]

Thanks! Just got my hat. Here it is on my wig stand (made from a wooden candlestick and dowel stained to match) with and without flash:

[Captain McCool]

Nice hat! Is that one of ACME's or someone else's?

[Indy Magnoli]

The hat was made by Captain Venno.

Here's a little teaser of the work in progress:

[Indy Magnoli]

...and here is an updated teaser of the main "effects" on my mannequin (with a temporary place-holder shirt):



Kind regards,
Magnoli

[Captain McCool]

Lookin' good! And yeah, I've got to say, I really like the look of Captain Venno's hats.

[Polynesian Pirate]

It's all coming together nicely, looking forward to the eighteenth so we can see the finished ensemble!

Is the coat a Magnoli Clothiers work in progress?

[Indy Magnoli]

Yes, both the Frock Coat and Waistcoat are made by my company and will be added to my site once finished.

Kind regards,
Indy

[Indy Magnoli]

Just finished my beard braids last night. I went to the local bead place but couldn't find anything right. I ended up using a piece of red coral and turquoise (as used on my Raiders Headpiece chain) and grinding then down myself. The first braid came out a bit thin, so I made the second a little fatter. I noticed (in one shot at least) that Jack's braids aren't the same thickness, but the beads are swapped. Oh well... with all the superglue involved in making these, there's no changing out the beads now!

For the hair, I first cut some black hair from a wig I used for an Orc costume (see my LOTR speed build) but it was too dark (and too cheap looking) to match my real beard. So... I cut some of the dark brown hair from the back of my Yordreem wig... but that was a little too light. A mixture of the two seemed to be a good match so:



Still waiting on my shirt, waistcoat, frock and sword... with only 10 days to go.

Kind regards,
Indy

[Captain McCool]

Nice! I bloody hate making those gorram braids. They drive me nuts. And unfortunately, because of the way I do mine, I keep having to make new ones, over and over and over again.

[Indy Magnoli]

Yeah, I'm REALLY hoping these will survive the day and the removal from my beard without any damage so they can be reused... if not, I am NOT looking forwards to making another set!

[Indy Magnoli]

A friend of mine got a whole chicken the other day, so came over with two feet and a head. I took one of the feet, laid it on some tin foil with rock salt and dried it in the oven on fan bake at 50 C (about 120 F) for several hours over two days. The end result was a very rich orange-brown, so I stained it was some Raven Oil (used for leather work) and sealed it with a polyacrylic spray. It was still too "rich", so I painted it in several washes of greys and brown until I got that "dead dried" color. After adding a leather tie:



Unfortunately, the "thumb" toe dried sticking out instead of pointing downwards like the original, but... at least I've got a real chicken foot!

Five days left...

Kind regards,
Indy

[Indy Magnoli]

Just got a message from Paulette (pauliepoos) and my shirt is not done. I've got a similar shirt, but it is stark white... so I'll see if I can darken it a bit. Also, my waistcoat isn't hear yet and only three shipping days left to go... not looking good!

My coat is finished, though there are a few tweaks I'd like to make... I'll get photos up shortly.

The good news is, the sword prototype is finished! The blade needs to be narrowed slightly and, of course, all the aging done, but here she is:




Hopefully I should have some photos of the scabbard by the weekend.

Kind regards,
Indy

[Pistol]

What's the handle material? Looks like a laminate.....also as already noted the knuckle guard needs to be attached, but all in all, it's a good lookin' cutlass!

[Indy Magnoli]

Ok... bad news for me time. After several e-mails over the past week, most likely I am not going to have the following pieces in time for the weekend:

Shirt
Waistcoat
Sword

Here are my plans, and I'd like some advice and opinions:

SHIRT: I have a similar white shirt that I'll be tea staining today. Certainly "close enough" so that should be fine.

WAISTCOAT: Right now I'm leaning towards no replacement. With the frock coat on top and all the other belt effects, baldric, etc... I don't think anyone will notice. And, if I choose to remove the frock coat, better no waistcoat than something wrong. (My other idea was to wear one of my high gorge suit waistcoats to give the look [above the sash anyway] of the real waistcoat. The down side is that I couldn't remove the frock coat). So... what do you think?

SWORD: I'm really upset that after all this work, the prototype won't be hear in time, but I've got to come up with another option. I've got tons of swords in my collection but no cutlasses. I do have a period style fencing saber as well as a genuine 19th C Confederate Civil War saber (genuine meaning it's actually 150 years old):



I think the look of the Civil War saber will do the trick, but it is much longer than a cutlass and has a metal scabbard. So, do I carry this long saber instead? Do I try to whip up a leather scabbard in two days? Could I get away with a metal scabbard? Opinions?

I'm really disappointed that I'll only be a few days from a complete costume but... c'est la vie!

Thanks,
Magnoli

[Mojo Turbo]

My rule is do what you can to the best of your ability.... in other words don't over think it.

Then I would go as Jack without jacket, waistcoat and baldric (and hat). If you are streamlined... then go streamlined.

[Polynesian Pirate]

I agree with Mojo, sucks you won't have it all in time for the 18th, but perhaps you could do one of the stripped down Jack variants for this event?

On the bright side, you can guarantee that no one at the event will know that some parts of the costume are slightly off. You could definitely get away with the saber and no waistcoat under the frockcoat. It's just really annoying when you know it's not 100% accurate, especially when you've put so much effort into it!

[Indy Magnoli]

I just got off the phone with FedEx and there is a slim chance that my waistcoat could arrive in time so... fingers crossed!

Here is my antique sword & scabbard in the baldric. Not accurate, but I think this is certainly better than nothing:



Here is the shirt I already had:



Here is a steel sink with 2 liters of hot water and 9 teabags (I ended up adding another three, for a total of 12 bags):



I steeped the tea for five minutes, then pulled out the bags. I soaked the shirt for ten minutes, making sure to stir a few times for even staining. The end result was nothing short of amazing and, honestly, I don't think fabric dye would have done any better a job:



Since this was my "nice" poet shirt, I was hoping for a uniform staining and not a distressed, uneven look. And I got just what I wanted. I'm really impressed how evenly the tea stained the shirt. So, that's at least one thing that worked out very well.

Kind regards,
Indy

[Capt Jag]

Should do well enough. The thing about Jack is really the attitude. And a good wig. Everything else is usually under far less scrutiny expcept by fellow Jackaholics. A good wig, the right attitude and a close enough costume and I think you'll be fine...

[Indy Magnoli]

Well, the waistcoat arrived! And in time for me to add the accurate buttons. The sword just landed in Auckland, so I won't have that in time for tomorrow, but at least the outfit is complete. All in all, I'm happy. I'll post photos after the weekend. Wish me luck!

[Polynesian Pirate]

Yay! Glad to hear the waistcoat turned up!

Have fun tomorrow, and get plenty of photos. Looking forward to seeing the (semi) finished costume

[Indy Magnoli]

It was a fantastic day! I'm playing catch-up right now after the busy weekend, but I'll post a full review and lots of photos later today or tomorrow. Until then... here's a teaser:



Kind regards,
Magnoli

[Indy Magnoli]

Someone at the gala (fair) took a few high-res shots, but I probably won't get those for a few days. So, until then, here are some of the few we managed to get ourselves:

The full outfit (took two and a half months to put together):




Jack and company attracting people from the road:



Only $1 to fight Captain Jack Sparrow:



It was great fun all around and I've never had so many photos taken of me in such a short span of time (and will never get to see said photos). I was surprised how comfortable the entire outfit was... it was a beautiful warm, sunny day (highs of around 75F/24C) but the excitement must have kept me cool. The only thing that was annoying was my extra long saber (so when I get my correct length cutlass, all should be good).

Thanks to all for everything!

Kind regards,
Indy

[Captain McCool]

Looks like you just about nailed it! Well done, mate!

[Mojo Turbo]

great looking Sparrow, great looking sash!

[Captain McAnen]

Very nicely done!

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