MadKidJedi
New Member
File this under the "Damn, I'm good at this" column:
With the recent discovery of a 'so-close-to-accurate-it's-silly' Rick Grimes Season 4.5-5.5 'brown suede jacket with shearling collar' (Pic 1, below) at the thrift store yesterday (yes, I know... those chest pockets need to go...), I now wanted to "flesh out" the rest of the accouterments for that particular costume. Which, in all honesty, didn't leave much. I have pretty much all else, which has carried over from the previous incarnations of the character's look; costumes I've already build from Seasons 2-4. From the waist down; the pants, boots, gunbelt... all the same as before. As we all know, Rick's look took a change when the Claimers raided the house they were crashing in while Rick recovered from his injuries (Episode 4-11, "Claimed"); after they were routed from the Prison and his beating at the hands of the Governor.
The brown suede jacket (Pic 2) with the shearling (wooly) collar was taken from the Claimer he surprised and subsequently killed; leaving him as a 'zombie-bomb' for the other claimers to contend with. He has since, and now wears the jacket when necessary over what started as a plain white tee-shirt (undershirt?), which has since become a very dirty shirt, now more greyish-brown than anything.
Replicating that was easy, as I already had a well-stained tee from the Season 3-4.5 incarnations of the Rick-look. The recently found jacket... perfect. Like I said, not much else. But, in the watching of the show, and studying of new stills from the AMC show website, I couldn't help but notice that the now infamous "red-handled machete" that he promised to (and shortly thereafter, did) kill Gareth with, looked nothing like the Gerber Gator machete he had used in the previous seasons (to clear the prison of zombies with; split the skull of Tomas; etc...). So... I began to research what brand this new blade was.
I knew from the close-ups in the show that the 'red' in the handle wasn't the handle itself, but made so from colored tape wrapping it; one would assume for better grip for the wielder. After finding some decent close-ups from the show of the thing (which revealed some unique traits of this particular machete; Pics 3, 4), my Google image search for "machete" shortly revealed the answer to me. An answer that apparently, no one else in the costuming community had yet discovered; not even here on the revered chat-boards of the RPF!!
I discovered that unlike many other previous props from the show, this new blade was a very easy-to-get item, still stocked in fact, at a national hardware chain store. Harbor Freight carries it (Pic 5), and it is crazy-cheap too; currently on sale (seasonal) at a paltry $5.99!!
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-in-machete-with-serrated-blade-69910.html
Regularly a mere $12.99. It even comes with the sheath that Rick uses to hang it from his gunbelt. Just need some red grip-tape, and you've got Rick's latest signature blade.
In the process of my search, I also stumbled across some images, definitively putting to rest the long-lingering question of which Gerber DMF Manual Folder knife he carried through seasons 2-4. The truth became known when I discovered two promo photos taken by Art Streiber for Entertainment Weekly (Pics 6 & 7). For the record: it's NOT the Tanto blade, but the standard DMF Manual Folder, with curved upper edge on the blade.
So, I guess it's now MY turn to share this information with you all here on the RPF, and become a 'hero' of sorts to you other guys like me who like to dress up and play the increasingly unhinged Rick Grimes. Just don't **** us off when ya see us wearing it.
With the recent discovery of a 'so-close-to-accurate-it's-silly' Rick Grimes Season 4.5-5.5 'brown suede jacket with shearling collar' (Pic 1, below) at the thrift store yesterday (yes, I know... those chest pockets need to go...), I now wanted to "flesh out" the rest of the accouterments for that particular costume. Which, in all honesty, didn't leave much. I have pretty much all else, which has carried over from the previous incarnations of the character's look; costumes I've already build from Seasons 2-4. From the waist down; the pants, boots, gunbelt... all the same as before. As we all know, Rick's look took a change when the Claimers raided the house they were crashing in while Rick recovered from his injuries (Episode 4-11, "Claimed"); after they were routed from the Prison and his beating at the hands of the Governor.
The brown suede jacket (Pic 2) with the shearling (wooly) collar was taken from the Claimer he surprised and subsequently killed; leaving him as a 'zombie-bomb' for the other claimers to contend with. He has since, and now wears the jacket when necessary over what started as a plain white tee-shirt (undershirt?), which has since become a very dirty shirt, now more greyish-brown than anything.
Replicating that was easy, as I already had a well-stained tee from the Season 3-4.5 incarnations of the Rick-look. The recently found jacket... perfect. Like I said, not much else. But, in the watching of the show, and studying of new stills from the AMC show website, I couldn't help but notice that the now infamous "red-handled machete" that he promised to (and shortly thereafter, did) kill Gareth with, looked nothing like the Gerber Gator machete he had used in the previous seasons (to clear the prison of zombies with; split the skull of Tomas; etc...). So... I began to research what brand this new blade was.
I knew from the close-ups in the show that the 'red' in the handle wasn't the handle itself, but made so from colored tape wrapping it; one would assume for better grip for the wielder. After finding some decent close-ups from the show of the thing (which revealed some unique traits of this particular machete; Pics 3, 4), my Google image search for "machete" shortly revealed the answer to me. An answer that apparently, no one else in the costuming community had yet discovered; not even here on the revered chat-boards of the RPF!!
I discovered that unlike many other previous props from the show, this new blade was a very easy-to-get item, still stocked in fact, at a national hardware chain store. Harbor Freight carries it (Pic 5), and it is crazy-cheap too; currently on sale (seasonal) at a paltry $5.99!!
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-in-machete-with-serrated-blade-69910.html
Regularly a mere $12.99. It even comes with the sheath that Rick uses to hang it from his gunbelt. Just need some red grip-tape, and you've got Rick's latest signature blade.
In the process of my search, I also stumbled across some images, definitively putting to rest the long-lingering question of which Gerber DMF Manual Folder knife he carried through seasons 2-4. The truth became known when I discovered two promo photos taken by Art Streiber for Entertainment Weekly (Pics 6 & 7). For the record: it's NOT the Tanto blade, but the standard DMF Manual Folder, with curved upper edge on the blade.
So, I guess it's now MY turn to share this information with you all here on the RPF, and become a 'hero' of sorts to you other guys like me who like to dress up and play the increasingly unhinged Rick Grimes. Just don't **** us off when ya see us wearing it.
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