My NASA Mercury Space Suit
- Thread starter Mr. Nagata
- Start date
Mr. Nagata,
The below link is to a product called Veskimo. They make self contained micro climates. The link is for a totally wearable self contained unit. You fill up the back pack with ice and a small pump distributes the ice water through the vest for up to 6 hours on a charge. If you want to go the suitcase roller unit route, they make a cheaper version where the cooler resivour/pump/battery pack can be placed inside the suit case. The umbilical would be hidden with a fabric tube. The bonus of this system is that you can just refill it with ice from wherever and pop in a fresh battery. I personally would not put the cooling unit in the PLS as it will weigh a fair amount and pull up and back on the PLS RCU. But by judging on your eye for detail, you will probably replicate an accurate harness and weight will not be a factor.
PM me if you want and Ill be more than happy to share construction ideas/failures that I used on mine.
The below link is to a product called Veskimo. They make self contained micro climates. The link is for a totally wearable self contained unit. You fill up the back pack with ice and a small pump distributes the ice water through the vest for up to 6 hours on a charge. If you want to go the suitcase roller unit route, they make a cheaper version where the cooler resivour/pump/battery pack can be placed inside the suit case. The umbilical would be hidden with a fabric tube. The bonus of this system is that you can just refill it with ice from wherever and pop in a fresh battery. I personally would not put the cooling unit in the PLS as it will weigh a fair amount and pull up and back on the PLS RCU. But by judging on your eye for detail, you will probably replicate an accurate harness and weight will not be a factor.
PM me if you want and Ill be more than happy to share construction ideas/failures that I used on mine.
Details, details, details.
http://www.veskimo.com/cooling-hydration-backpack-system.html
http://www.veskimo.com/cooling-hydration-backpack-system.html
Just amazing work, Ryan. I'm in awe...
Sean
Sean
Thanks again for the compliments. A couple people have asked me specifically about the neck ring, what is was made of, and whether or not it was an original part. I had a Navy Mk IV helmet casting from Stephen210, so I used that casting to get the proper dimensions for the suit neck ring, which the helmet sits in. It was a 2 step process. I first made a rough version out of chipboard and EVA foam. I then made a mold and cast that roughed-out ring in resin. I cleaned up the resin ring, added the details, sanded and primed the surface to be clean and smooth etc., then molded it again. The final casting is resin with metallic pigment brushed into the mold. Since the helmet comes in direct contact with the ring, I wanted a more durable finish than paint. The ring doesn't function exactly like the real ring, which had moving parts. It's just a simple twist lock system. The ring then connects to the suit with velcro, which you can see in the last photo.
And here is an in-progress photo of my Apollo coveralls, which I hope to have done by Halloween. I found a fabric that is very close to the 100% teflon fabric used on the originals.
And here is an in-progress photo of my Apollo coveralls, which I hope to have done by Halloween. I found a fabric that is very close to the 100% teflon fabric used on the originals.
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks. I actually came across that exact vest in my searches. I'm building the suit to be pretty cool to wear, so I hopefully won't need a cooling vest. I'm not going to use batting to get the bulk. I'm actually going to make my own reinforced tubing for the shoulders, arms and legs, just like the real pressure garment had. But my tubing won't be rubber, it will be some sort of lightweight breathable fabric. So theoretically, the suit itself won't be any hotter than wearing a couple layers of light clothing. The problem is the bubble helmet, which will need a constant flow of air inside or else it will fog up immediately. The back panel on the real bubble helmets has an air channel the disperses air through the helmet, and it connects to a tube in the helmet ring which is fed O2 from the OPS inflow valve in front. My plan is to basically do the same thing with my suit, albeit simplified.
ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS!!! WOW! you the man! you have stated how long you researched/finding parts and fabric for this BUT how much time did you spend sewing this masterpiece?? ive got a billion questions for you but im sure others will ask before me, like the neck seal, which you just answered. im looking forward to all your "next works". i actually clapped out loud for this projects results. "i bow to you good sir!!" :cool
Mr. Nagata. From my experience, I would test fit my suit wearing only a tshirt and shorts (no under padding). I could last about 20 minutes inside the house before I started to overheat. My only long term outing was walking around West Hollywood for the Halloween carnival. I wore a long sleeve Tshirt, Cargo shorts and my home made cooling vest. That set up worked well. The vest gave it the puffyness and provided the cooling.
Im not sure about the type of fabric you are going to use, but my suit is made out of white non breathable dense synthetic material. It doesnt breathe at all. So all the body heat gets trapped inside once its zipped up. On my helmet, I didnt get the chance to play with any sort of cooling and would just flip up the visor to defog.
Im not sure about the type of fabric you are going to use, but my suit is made out of white non breathable dense synthetic material. It doesnt breathe at all. So all the body heat gets trapped inside once its zipped up. On my helmet, I didnt get the chance to play with any sort of cooling and would just flip up the visor to defog.
I started sewing the suit in July. I have work and a new baby to deal with, so that slowed stuff down significantly. But thank you!
I'm doing the launch configuration with the bubble helmet, so there won't be any visor to flip up. So moving air is a necessity. If I feel like I need extra cooling, I'll consider a vest, or possibly doing a replica of the constant wear garment.
I'm doing the launch configuration with the bubble helmet, so there won't be any visor to flip up. So moving air is a necessity. If I feel like I need extra cooling, I'll consider a vest, or possibly doing a replica of the constant wear garment.
p51
Sr Member
LOVE the suits, great work on the Apollo in-flight coveralls. Just spent a lot of time photo documenting Jim Lovell's used set on Apollo 13 two weeks ago, it was amazing how much wear it had...
There used to be a company who made replicas of these two-piece suits, probably made out of cotton. I've handled my share over the years and seen several of the Apollo and Skylab ones. That beta cloth probably wasn't too comfortable.
FYI, here's Pete Conrad's set, from not so great shot I got a couple of years ago:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/willysmb44/NASA Jackets/PeteConrad.jpg
There used to be a company who made replicas of these two-piece suits, probably made out of cotton. I've handled my share over the years and seen several of the Apollo and Skylab ones. That beta cloth probably wasn't too comfortable.
FYI, here's Pete Conrad's set, from not so great shot I got a couple of years ago:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/willysmb44/NASA Jackets/PeteConrad.jpg
Just finished the coveralls and posted them here:
http://www.therpf.com/f24/my-apollo-astronaut-costume-inflight-coverall-garment-227474/
http://www.therpf.com/f24/my-apollo-astronaut-costume-inflight-coverall-garment-227474/
james kirk
Active Member
Great Job Fantastic Work...
Graeme Phillpot
New Member
Hi would you be interested in making one of these for me cheers Graeme
TheBryanScout
New Member
Where'dya get the NASA patch for the Mark IV? Was it custom embroidered? Come to think of it, I saw a similar patch at the US Space & Rocket Center. Did you get it there? I've never seen a white-bordered meatball for sale anywhere else.
It's from a store in the UK. I'll try and dig up the link if I can find it. It's technically a replica of the Gemini meatball (skinnier typeface). There's no Mercury meatball replica anywhere. I was thinking about getting some custom made.
- - - Updated - - -
Here you go:
http://www.space-boosters.co.uk/nasa-logo-gemini-era-embroidered-patch-3-version-2352-p.asp
- - - Updated - - -
Here you go:
http://www.space-boosters.co.uk/nasa-logo-gemini-era-embroidered-patch-3-version-2352-p.asp
