One of the things that has blown me away the most about The Finest is the Field Manuals for the common characters. They are probably one of the finest references I have seen for costume guidance supplying information on items that are available and affordable.
That being said, I began work on building a sailor of the USS Flagg as seen in the Pyarmids of Darkness arch of the ARAH series. Since the intention is to have my suit approved and supply the information publicly in the spirit of the field manuals, I am asking for tribal wisdom here.
While I would prefer to use Propper or Rothco cargo pants, the ones in the reference photos look like Dickies to me which is what I am running with. I am using the Dickies shirt as well because there is a thing in my head saying they have to be matched. That is flexible with the right influence…
Any suggestions would rock. Full disclosure… after this one is finished I am working on the Generic “Greenshirt” kit.
For me, it’s hard not to consider dungarees and the utility shirt. Especially considering the time of the cartoon, that was probably what the artists were basing it on. But I can definitely see the advantage of something newer and available in more sizes.
Fun fact, there’s actually a whole line of Blueshirt action figure coming out! It’s ReAction, so not the most details, but it’s very clear what everything is I think.
Just for reference because you had mentioned the greenshirtss too, here’s that figure they came up with.
It’s not exactly like the comic depiction, which was more of a wooly pulley sweater according to the big name folks in G.I. Joe, but might make for a clear visual reference.
I seriously considered the vintage US Navy dungarees, but in keeping with the stated membership criteria of supplying a reference along with the costume submission I felt it was better to use the screen grabs as my working model. I will have to default back to the brilliance of the field manuals being affordable, and available for a generic uniform.
Besides, dungarees are a signature look for Shipwreck. I would hate to take anything away from that.
I have seen the ReAction figures and I am probably going to get a couple. I am not sure about using them as a guide, but you never know, because the Blueshirt looks just like me back in the day!
Not sure if you are on Facebook, but Skinny Joefan (not a member) but together an awesome green shirt. He was supposed to be putting together a reference guide. He had the helmet and rifle 3d printed and most of the items are bought online. Even though he isn’t a member (and I’ve tried) he puts together the most accurate costumes.
I have not reached out to him yet. Mostly because I am trying to get over being a control freak and actually reach out to him. I love the helmets and the laser rifle. That I need to find out where and how much.
Something I did notice is that it appears that the shirt may be the same color as the pants. There is a definite color variation of the top and bottoms. Affordable and Available being the mantra I was going to opt for the coyote short and olive drab Propper manufactured garb since that is what was referenced in the COBRA manuals.
I guess proper still has some spruce color ones in certain styles. If there was something a bit cheaper it might be ideal. Hard to tell sometimes with the online photos.
I thought at first, they were place holders for the animators in case they came up with a design and then just ran with it. Even in close up pictures it is just a white circle.
In the end I just did what the cartoon told me to.
