Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Pro Shots Added July 16, 2014!

Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

It's okay.



Messin' with yah, this is incredible! The details are fantastic, absolutely "stellar"! See what I did there? Continue doing fantastic work, mate!
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

DarkJedi1500 said:
I took the suit to Geek Media Expo in Nashville a few weeks ago and took home second place in the costume contest. Here is the shot taken during the contest.
Click to expand...

Second??? Did the winner make a fully functioning Megatron or something. How the frick could this not win first place?

Simply amazing work.
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

DarkJedi1500 said:
I am hesitant to post a picture of the letter out of courtesy, but I also want to mention that received a message from Jim Lovell himself stating the suit looks just like his!
Click to expand...
Did you contact him to start with, showing the suit, or did you just hear from him out of the blue?
Apollo astronauts are a mixed bag, some can be uber stand-off-ish (Armstrong was the worst of them when he was alive) but some can be downright friendly, more than any man who's ever walked on the Moon needs to be. I contacted Al Bean a couple of weeks ago about a book project I was pondering, and asking his opinion, and he called me at my home to encourage me to write the thing. You can imagine how shocked I was to get that call!
I've heard that Lovell is one of the more approachable of the Apollo astronauts. So great that he liked the suit, I bet that meant more than your win at DCon!
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

This is amazing.

Why'd you weather it to appear as if it has been to the moon, being Lovell's suit and all?
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

Great suit! I see only one problem. And that is weathering painting that is not enough random (it will get better in time, when suit gets naturally more dirty). Will you get real gold coating to your visor?
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

Wow... that is just some craziness!
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

p51 said:
Did you contact him to start with, showing the suit, or did you just hear from him out of the blue?
Apollo astronauts are a mixed bag, some can be uber stand-off-ish (Armstrong was the worst of them when he was alive) but some can be downright friendly, more than any man who's ever walked on the Moon needs to be. I contacted Al Bean a couple of weeks ago about a book project I was pondering, and asking his opinion, and he called me at my home to encourage me to write the thing. You can imagine how shocked I was to get that call!
I've heard that Lovell is one of the more approachable of the Apollo astronauts. So great that he liked the suit, I bet that meant more than your win at DCon!
Click to expand...

I sent him some photos though his family's resurant in Lake Forest. Honestly I was not expecting a response, but I figured if someone was cosplaying as ME I would want to know, so I figured he would have the same thoughts. I currently have the message framed and in my office at work.

JBradley said:
This is amazing.

Why'd you weather it to appear as if it has been to the moon, being Lovell's suit and all?
Click to expand...

Weathering makes it look real compared to a store bought costume. We were really nervous about applying the weathering but the grey really makes the details pop out and give a certain level of authenticty. Plus I wanted MY suit to be full of moon dust. The only thing I regret is we did not get a "clean room" shoot beforehand where guys in bunny suits are putting me in it. Also I didn't get to joke that it is the real suit when people say it looks real.

Theacherinspace said:
Great suit! I see only one problem. And that is weathering painting that is not enough random (it will get better in time, when suit gets naturally more dirty). Will you get real gold coating to your visor?
Click to expand...

Weathing a moon suit is tricky. The fabric on the real ones is a type of glass covered teflon so things dont want to stick to it. But since moon dust is very sharp, it does tend to form a thin layer on the suits because it is getting in the weave of the material. Additionally, it wasnt untill later missions where astronauts got really dirty after long EVAs. The layer on my suit I feel shows the proper dusting for an early flight. I should also mention that the amount of weathering does tend to look different depending on the lighting and camera exposure.

As far as the real gold coating, when I rebuild the helmet later down the line (after I build a better vacuum former) I will airbrush a special chrome paint to mimic the look of the real thing. Until then the painted one Im using now has been working out better than I could have hoped.

Art Andrews said:
Wow... that is just some craziness!
Click to expand...

Thanks Art. This has been a real game changer for me, and I think the timing with the new rush of space films worked out great. I think it's going to be hard to top this, other than building a real working pressure garment ;-)
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

Joosh said:
Second??? Did the winner make a fully functioning Megatron or something. How the frick could this not win first place?

Simply amazing work.
Click to expand...

I lost to a pretty good Fall Out group costume:


gmxv5costume-27 by GMX Photos, on Flickr

I heard I lost by 1 vote.

Oddly enough, 1st prise was $1000, 2nd was $250, so when you factor in they had four people we all got the same thing:lol
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

DarkJedi1500 said:
I currently have the message framed and in my office at work.
Click to expand...
Makes sense, I would as well. :thumbsup
Heck, I took a photo of my caller ID when Al Bean called me!
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

That is such a great replica I'm almost speechless... just have enough words to say whaaaaaaa!?!?! hoooooolllyyyy.... insane... yeah.
I think the fact that you got the kudos from Lovell himself speaks volumes.
Well freakin done.
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

I, too, must admit that I "got something in my eye'" watching the DCon video of your skit. The music helped sell it for me as I am also a huge space geek. I could watch Apollo 13 every day and never get tired of it. Well done on the suit and props to you for getting the 'Lovell seal of approval', that alone would be worth it in my book.
Just amazing work.
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

SenseiFetter said:
I, too, must admit that I "got something in my eye'" watching the DCon video of your skit. The music helped sell it for me as I am also a huge space geek. I could watch Apollo 13 every day and never get tired of it. Well done on the suit and props to you for getting the 'Lovell seal of approval', that alone would be worth it in my book.
Just amazing work.
Click to expand...

I don't know if it shows up in the video, but I was doing everything not to cry when I was running my fingers on the ground.

This is an interview I did at D*Con. You can see I got some dirt in my eye while explaining why it is Jim Lovell's suit.
Dragon Con 2013 Interviews: Jim Lovell (astronaut cosplay) - YouTube
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

DarkJedi1500 said:
I don't know if it shows up in the video, but I was doing everything not to cry when I was running my fingers on the ground.

I had a similar feeling when I found out Deke Slayton finally got to fly on the Apollo Soyez project.

Looking forward to whatever enhancements you make to the suit!
Click to expand...
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

I recently made two minor upgrades.

First, the edges of the sleeves were unfinished at Dragon*Con, which wasn't a huge issue because they are covered by the gloves. However, to keep them from fraying over time I added some bias tape in the colors of the connectors.


IMG_0953 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr

Next, I finally added the OPS activation pin and line to the side of the control box. This is the line that runs from the box to the OPS system on the top of the PLSS pack. This has been the only detail I have been "called out" on so I am really happy it is on the suit.


IMG_0952 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr

Finally, I ran into another RPF member yesterday who's been following this build and is also working on his own space suit. He was a pretty cool guy and we got to trade some ideas. I think his name was Adam and he works on TV or something ;-):lol


960245_694221313944764_390206253_n by 2StoryProps, on Flickr
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

Wow! That must have been great! Your suit is far more realistic than Adams (in his video, but is he making another one?).
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

Theacherinspace said:
Wow! That must have been great! Your suit is far more realistic than Adams (in his video, but is he making another one?).
Click to expand...

I think he is making one or upgrading the one we saw on mythbusters. He was a really cool guy to meet in person. We were setting up a show and tell for our local Make shops before the Behind they myths tour when he came in to see what we had. When I started to explain the construction of the suit, he exclaimed:

"Dude! I know this suit! I've been downloading all the pictures you've been putting on the RPF"

He tried on one of my gloves and actually put the helmet on. It was a really cool experience.


55-56581-astro-1387840506 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

Nice job.i want to see it finished.keep the good job.
 
Re: Apollo A7L Jim Lovell's Moon Suit, Winner in Dragon Con 2013 Masquerade!

I am very proud of the suit I build, but I found a lot of things I can improve on, so I am going to start a rebuild in the near future. To ensure I can be as accurate as possible, the staff of the US Space and Rocket Center allowed me to visit the archives and handle some of the REAL Apollo moon suits!

I'll be writing a blog entry about the experience and some notes on 2StoryProps.Blogspot.com within the week, but here are some of the highlights.


IMG_0563 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr


IMG_0560 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr


IMG_0570 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr


IMG_0596 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr


IMG_0620 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr


IMG_0654 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr


IMG_0661 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr

IMG_0664 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr

IMG_0681 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr

IMG_0626 by 2StoryProps, on Flickr
 
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