Getting started

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:24 pm

After reviewing a lot of the posts for the past month I figured it was time for me to register and play ball. I was 13 when Last Crusade came out and bought my first, and only Fedora. It was black, I wore it once and stopped once I saw Michael Jackson wear it in a video.

Now, I'm 32 and my wife, son and I are going to Disney during October and will be celebrating Halloween there. I was reluctant at first until she told me I could dress up as Indy. Now I know anywhere else that might sound odd, a 32 year old man dressing up as Indy, but here I feel akin to long lost friends. I've wanted this outfit since I was 7.

I've bought the Mark VII bag repro. I will be ordering the strap asap but I have a few questions you all might help with.

1. Is Todd's shirt the correct color, it looks dark on his website?

2. How long does it normally take for the adventure built Federation to ship?

I also though I'd let you all in on a tip I discovered. If you go to your local army surplus store you can pick up an uncut white web belt for cheap ($3.00 - $4.50). Just ask for the silver buckle, they normally have no problems changing them out. Then go to wal-mart pick up some dark brown rit-dye. follow instructions on bottle for belt. The final step is to get some sand paper and sand off the brass coating on the tip. It'll turn as silver as the buckle.

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:30 pm

Not sure why you want to go through all that effort on the belt. Indy's buckle wasn't silver in any of the three films, it was worn/distressed brass. You can purchase the correct belt/tip color at the military surplus store for the same price with the correct buckle, or at least I have at every military surplus I've gone to.

The last one I purchased was only $3.

Still, it is an alternative to make note of.

To make a confession, I, too, thought it was silver, and you CAN buy silver buckles on black belts as well.

Regards! Michaelson

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:39 pm

After I reviewed this site the pic of the Raiders Belt showed a dark brown belt with siver tip and buckle. I called around at all the local shops and they did not sell a brown belt, they sold a kaki, not a brown. So I did what I thought was the best idea and thought it could help somebody.

Herr Jones · Post by **Herr Jones** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:42 pm

I'll be at Disneyland in Oct also.

I think Disneyland has a policy about people over 13 not being able to be in costume on Halloween, but it's ok at Ca Adventure. I've not had much trouble on other days. You may want to check if you were going in gear that day. I think there's still a member here who works there.

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:47 pm

We're going to DisneyWorld for the trip and two nights a week the Magic Kingdom has evening Trick or Treating. The encourage adults as well as children to dress up, you have to by special tickets for those evenings.

Thanks for the concern though.

Indiana G · Post by **Indiana G** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:50 pm

1. Is Todd's shirt the correct color, it looks dark on his website?

2. How long does it normally take for the adventure built Federation to ship?

1. the wpg, which is what todd sells, has a good colour but be forewarned that the sizing is extremely wonky (on the large size) and the material is very, very, very coarse. i would not recommend this shirt.

2. adventurebilt hats make the fortune and glory hat and akubra makes the federation. ab hats are about a 6 month wait whereas akubra feds from hatsdirect delivers under 1 or 2 weeks.

hope this helps

Bufflehead Jones · Post by **Bufflehead Jones** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:50 pm

Erin, check around online and you can find places that have the web belt in brown with a brass buckle. Here is a link to a place that I have dealt with before. I hope this saves you some time and effort.

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:51 pm

"akubra feds from hatsdirect delivers under 1 or 2 weeks."

Thanks, that's the one I meant to say.

ob1al · Post by **ob1al** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:56 pm

Just to add, the Federation is a very good starting point for an Indy hat. As I'm sure you have read here.

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:58 pm

Erin, I wasn't tossing any stones in your direction at all, but from the tone of your reply, you appear to think I was. QUITE the contrary.

Next time you're heading to Chattanooga on I24, jump off the exist at the top of Monteagle and go to the military surplus store up there. They had them for sale for $3.

Regards! Michaelson

ob1al · Post by **ob1al** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:05 pm

Yup, Michaelson has been known to throw quite a few pearls of wisdom around but never stones, to my knowledge.

Check out Buff's link above, alternatively a post in the for sale/wanted section here usually produces a good result.

Good idea on the custom belt, nonetheless.

Al

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:07 pm

I appreciate that a lot. Honestly, I was a bit discouraged that the first reply and I guess I read it wrong and for that I apologize. I honestly thought it was a silver tip by the pics.

Thanks for the reply.

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:11 pm

No need to apologize.

This two dimensional medium we call the world wide web does that more often than not.

To date I STILL wear a silver military buckle and black belt, as it wasn't until YEARS later when we DID have more access to better photos did I discover my mistake.

That said, I'm too set in my ways, and have never changed the buckle OR belt color. (grins) I guess I can honestly say, wrong or not, my silver buckle is the oldest piece of Indy gear I personally own.

Regards! Michaelson

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:44 pm

Now that I am getting started on my ordering, is there a major difference in the shirts available? Who has the ones that are the most screen accurate and moderate in price? Is there a store bought shirt that's even close (I saw the Old Navy Post but the website only had it in olive and navy). I tried to search this question but if you type in "shirt" you get 4,000 threads.

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:42 pm

here are the links to the Mark VII repro bag I got. I used Todd's method to distress it. I think it came out alright.

-Castor posted my pic below- Thanks Castor!!!!

Perceval · Post by **Perceval** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:19 pm

Hi Erin!
It's great to see a new face here on the forum!
I would love to see your MK VII, but the link says "page not found"

Best,
~Perceval

Castor Dioscuri · Post by **Castor Dioscuri** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:05 am

Ah, the rite of quite a number of new COWers... Miscommunication from the first post

Was that MKVII repo when you first got it? If you distressed it yourself, I must say that's quite some work. I've never been a fan of distressing myself, but that bag looks like it's been around since the 80's at least!

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:36 am

Thanks for posting my pic Castor.

I had quite the time trying to do it myself

... but yea, it was brand spankin' new when I got it. It looked like brand new duffle bag material and was quite a stiff, I assume it's made from the same type of material.

All I did was soak it it water then followed Todd's method of distressing. I was amazed at how good of a job it did. I really like the way it developed a tiny stain of rust around the buttons. It gives it that lived in quality.

Now I just have to order a new strap. This pleather strap ain't gonna cut it.