Firefly Browncoat Costume (non 76th Overlander) WIP

[Browncoat15]

So last year at Wizard World Nashville I tried my hand at a Browncoat costume and had some fun. This year Captain Reynolds himself will be there so I'm bringing back the Browcoat! But I'm revamping it so it doesn't look thrown together. This will be my area for the WIP.

 

[Browncoat15]

Here we go! A little background on this piece....I LOVE the M3 Tanker shoulder holster, every time I watched a WW2 movie with my dad I always loved seeing those.SO I decided I needed a similar styled set-up but Firefly style! So I came up with this

I decided that Since the M3 had a US stencil I wanted the Independents Logo in it's place everything was going great until my new-old sewing machine decided to be a B***h and keep missing on the timing (do priests perform exorcisms on these?). BUT I have seen many pictures of CW Confederate gear that was repaired by the troops so I did the same here and I kinda like the results




So there we have it! My first piece, I am carrying two pistols, the SAA (hey, Monty carried one!) and a Moses Frontier Model B (more on the second later)

 

[Browncoat15]

Next piece is my NCO Belt which was highly inspired by Kaylee's on here http://www.therpf.com/f24/firefly-independent-nco-belt-3319/. Mine has some differences though...The paint job SUCKS! this is one of the major changes that I plan to make, I only had enough time for one coat the night before the con


I also put some bigger rings on it because I plan to hang some equipment from them

 

[Browncoat15]

I decided to totally rebuild the NCO belt as I unhappy with the last one (advantage of being a leatherworker is that I ALWAYS have scrap!)


Decided to forgo the stripes of the Independent symbol

at this point I basically fully copied Kaylee's pattern (I still kept the large rings but went with some round ones I found at work)

I was also wanting to add some pouches and after scrounging through my stuff I remembered my Yugoslavian Mauser pouches that my wife bought me, they fit the look I was wanting so I went with them



Next up: sidearms!!!!

 

[Browncoat15]

First up is my Single Action Army, the holster mold that I had was already black so I dry brushed a few coats of Folk art Gunmetal over and sealed it up with a coat of Krylon. I really like how this turned out overall, it has an aged/ weathered look to it






Next up is my 47A, this is an Arsenal mold and I'll be honest I saw this through rose colored glasses at the con last year. I am not a fan of the paint job and I am planning on repainting it and it won't be colored like Mal's since I replacing this with a more accurate prop soon

 

[Browncoat15]

And lastly for now is my coat and boots. The boots are some frye campus boots, I had been searching for these forever, and just happened to stumble on these at my local goodwill for $11!


The coat started out as a trench coat that I scored at goodwill, I modified the coat by shortening it, adding the dark brown cuffs and the jacket patch, and then I decided that I wanted to add some taping. I took some inspiration from Civil War jackets when I came up with the pattern


I also made my holster for the 47A

 

[Kaylee]

THAT LOOKS AWESOME!!!!
I love what you've done with the leather - it looks GREAT!

 

[Browncoat15]

Thanks! You're belt design is hands down the most comfortable I've used. it doesn't bind or twist with the weight or movement

 

[Browncoat15]

47A IS DONE! With before and after shots:


I stripped the old paint off and started with a coat of Rustoleom High heat paint and then two light coats of gunmetal grey, the grips were painted with burnt umber

 

[Kaylee]

Looks MUCH better!

regarding the belt - I like what you've done, but on the off chance you were looking for the buckles I used on the sides (I see jas changed changed their site and the link busted) it was something like these:

http://jas-townsend.com/special-brass-buckle-3154-p-779.html
or "CF" here -
http://www.najecki.com/repro/BucklesBrass.html
(be sure to double check the widths - those are only the style I used, no promises they're the right size!)

.. and sawed off the part I didn't need. It wasn't the best solution, but it worked.

That said, I like yours -

And I can't wait to see your whole setup together!

 

[Browncoat15]

Thanks! I think I'll check those out for my wife's belt if she decides to make an NCO belt

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Nice to see another Independent keeping the Browncoat tradition alive.

Small detail to point out though: You shouldn't call your Mal pistol a "Model 47a" because they are not official designations and were only used to name the two all-metal replicas made by a fellow called "Badger" on fireflyprops.net. 47 was his first version (about 16 exist) and the 47a (about 40 exist) was the second. If you refer to your copy as such, you risk spreading confusion and if you ever decide to sell it under that name you also risk getting into trouble if someone thinks they are getting something completely different.

 

[Browncoat15]

Nice to see another Independent keeping the Browncoat tradition alive.

Small detail to point out though: You shouldn't call your Mal pistol a "Model 47a" because they are not official designations and were only used to name the two all-metal replicas made by a fellow called "Badger" on fireflyprops.net. 47 was his first version (about 16 exist) and the 47a (about 40 exist) was the second. If you refer to your copy as such, you risk spreading confusion and if you ever decide to sell it under that name you also risk getting into trouble if someone thinks they are getting something completely different.

Thank you for clearing that up! I actually had no idea that Badger's pistols are the reason for the 47A, I honestly thought the "Frontier Model B" was the movie version and the 47A was the TV show, I will refer to it differently from here on out, don't want to upset Badger

 

[Browncoat15]

Eight years, I let this project stagnate for EIGHT YEARS! I never did get to finish the original concept and Captain Reynolds had to cancel his con appearance for Castle Reshoots. I’m back at it though with some fairly drastic changes

 

[Browncoat15]

I made a modification to my old cartridge belt. Removed the loops and added a panel over the old stitch holes

 

[Browncoat15]

Captain Nathaniel (Nate) Heller of the ship Vanguard. Formerly a Corporal of the 7th Overlander Cavalry, he served up until the Battle of Serenity Valley. After the defeat he and his former squad mates became something of a guns for hire crew. To the Alliance they were just old soldiers laying low and looking for work on the edge of the Verse. In reality, they were biding their time just waiting for the chance to rise again.

 

[Browncoat15]

Captain Heller and part of the Vanguard crew (my wife, daughters and my buddy Christian) all visited Chattanooga last weekend and even acquired a strange tank for the Independent war effort

 

[ssdesigner]

Shiny!!

You can’t stop the signal.

 

[Browncoat15]

God help me, I just found the coolest buckle for my Wartime look. I’m revisiting my old (long gone) NCO belt and as such the inside will be painted like the Independent Flag

 

[Browncoat15]

When the war started calling us an army was a bit of a stretch, any man with a brown duster, a haversack and a gun was suddenly a soldier. In the end it didn’t matter much, those of us on the rim made the Alliance realize they’d pay dearly to suppress our independence.

I’m not totally sold on the helmet for the wartime look, I may go with the hat since it’s more “cavalry like” but I’m digging the look. Just waiting on the buckle so I can make my new belt