Club Obi Wan

I know it's been on this forum somewhere, but maybe someone could give me the procedure.

I have a Wested lambstouch cowhide that I would like to distress.

I have acetone, and I have very fine sandpaper.

Now what do I do?

And how do I do it?

Flash Gordon wrote:I know it's been on this forum somewhere, but maybe someone could give me the procedure.

I have a Wested lambstouch cowhide that I would like to distress.

I have acetone, and I have very fine sandpaper.

Now what do I do?

And how do I do it?

You put the harsh chems and sandpaper away... or you come to New Hampshire and I'll put you to work on some wood that needs refinishing.

Then, you wear the jacket everyday, 365 days a year. Everywhere... encluding New Hampshire where you'll be sanding like the next Karate Kid.

I'm gonna have to agree with the Renderking. The jacket worn by Harrison Ford in the movies was a new jacket that was hand distressed to look old and used. The jacket worn by Indiana Jones in the movies was an older jacket that was naturally distressed as a result of being old and used. Harrison Fords jacket wasn't inteded to last a long time, Indy's was. You have Indy's jacket, make it last along time, don't hand distress it to get the look.

See… even Dakota thinks you should bring your acetone and sandpaper up to New Hampshire and get to work.

Is this what you're looking for?
http://www.regular-guy.com/jacket.htm

Yeah Flash...no reason why you should be treated like an adult who can make decisions on your own as to how you want to treat your collection. Nevermind that distressing the jacket makes the piece look more like it did in the films and that the acetone treatment is a safe proven and proffessional means of distressing your jacket.

Thanks to ITG for providing you with the link to the information that you requested.

More examples of before and after pics of a jacket that used the method MK was nice enough to share with us all can be found here:

http://www.rabittooth.com/propreplicas.htm

-Rabittooth

Rab! What are you doing?! I was trying to get some cheep labor out of Flash!

Flash Gordon could never be enslaved or made to do your nefarious bidding!!!

Flash!! Ahhh-Ahhhh!!!



-Rabittooth

Dakota Brown wrote:The jacket worn by Harrison Ford in the movies was a new jacket that was hand distressed to look old and used. The jacket worn by Indiana Jones in the movies was an older jacket that was naturally distressed as a result of being old and used.

Well put.

HJS has had his for less than a year, and has worn it practically every day (well, at least until we moved to Arizona, where it's too hot to consider wearing a jacket right now)--and it is definitely showing signs of natural distressing (nothing too major, just what you'd expect from daily wear.) Mine, as well, though it still looks almost new, is too showing small signs of wear, most notably around the ends of the sleeves. I do prefer natural distressing over the course of time, but I know there are people who do want to go for the quick distressing, as they want to go for screen accuracy. As I've said before, everyone has a personal preference, and that's fine. The way I look at it--it's your $$ you spend on gear, and what you choose to do with it is up to you.
Regards--Maryon

Rabittooth wrote:Flash Gordon could never be enslaved or made to do your nefarious bidding!!!

Flash!! Ahhh-Ahhhh!!!



-Rabittooth

***Shakes fist*** Curses! Foiled again!

Rabittooth wrote:Flash!! Ahhh-Ahhhh!!!

Great, now I've got Freddie Murcury going through my head.

Mike

Some of you folks need to keep in mind that some Gearheads collect these items as Costumes and as Display items. In both those cases, and in others, the same level of distressing seen in the film being emulated needs to be achieved, and can only be properly achieved in a controlled manner by artificial distressing.

-Rabittooth

MaryonRavenwood wrote:

Dakota Brown wrote:The jacket worn by Harrison Ford in the movies was a new jacket that was hand distressed to look old and used. The jacket worn by Indiana Jones in the movies was an older jacket that was naturally distressed as a result of being old and used.

Well put.

HJS has had his for less than a year, and has worn it practically every day (well, at least until we moved to Arizona, where it's too hot to consider wearing a jacket right now)--and it is definitely showing signs of natural distressing (nothing too major, just what you'd expect from daily wear.) Mine, as well, though it still looks almost new, is too showing small signs of wear, most notably around the ends of the sleeves. I do prefer natural distressing over the course of time, but I know there are people who do want to go for the quick distressing, as they want to go for screen accuracy. As I've said before, everyone has a personal preference, and that's fine. The way I look at it--it's your $$ you spend on gear, and what you choose to do with it is up to you.
Regards--Maryon

I LOOKED, I LOOKED, YOU MADE ME LOOk!!!!!! ARRRGGGGGGGG!!!! Regards. Michaelson

Great, now I've got Freddie Murcury going through my head.

Would you rather the Bee Gee's?

Well you can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a ladies man... no time to talk....

Ah Ah Aha... Staying Alive! Staying Alive!
Ah Ah Aha... Staying Alive! Staying Alive!
Ah Ah Aha... Staying Alive! Staying Alive!
Aaaaah! Aaaah!

Does that help?

Renderking Fisk wrote:Would you rather the Bee Gee's?

Sorry, bored at work today.

Mike

What the...

junior

I need the large version of that pic for my desktop!

I know there are people who do want to go for the quick distressing.

Quick distressing?!?! There's no such thing! Any decent distressing job is a lengthy and carefully organized process. My Wested required 8 months of slow and painstaking work to distress in the Last Crusade style. And it turned out so much better than I ever could have hoped for. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I actually made it look that way, and that it wasn't stolen from the LC wardrobe department at Elstree Studios, circa 1988.

-Dale

By quick distressing, I meant taking acetone and sandpaper to a new jacket. Shoulda made my meaning clearer, I guess!

Mike, HJS and I just got the biggest laugh out of that picture! Goes to show that being bored at work isn't always a bad thing (or is it in this case...hmmmm?! )
Regards--Maryon

Rabittooth wrote:Some of you folks need to keep in mind that some Gearheads collect these items as Costumes and as Display items. In both those cases, and in others, the same level of distressing seen in the film being emulated needs to be achieved, and can only be properly achieved in a controlled manner by artificial distressing.

I certainly wasn't meaning to slam anyone for artificially distressing their jacket. I do indeed keep in mind that people do use these for costume and display purposes. Again, as I've said so many times before (hoping to remain neutral as much as I can)--everyone has their own personal preference and reasons when it comes to these things. My preference is my own, and the preferences of others are certainly just as valid as mine. No offense or insult intended towards anyone, if it was taken that way. Being a Libra, I just want everything to be copasetic (sp.?) and friendly. "If I have offended you, then I am sorry."
Regards--Maryon

whipwarrior wrote:

I know there are people who do want to go for the quick distressing.

Quick distressing?!?! There's no such thing! Any decent distressing job is a lengthy and carefully organized process. My Wested required 8 months of slow and painstaking work to distress in the Last Crusade style. And it turned out so much better than I ever could have hoped for. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I actually made it look that way, and that it wasn't stolen from the LC wardrobe department at Elstree Studios, circa 1988.

I had to remind myself that you hadn't stolen it, Dale. Your jacket looks that good. Excellent job, sir.
Now where's that 'tipping the fedora' smilie............

MaryonRavenwood wrote:Mike, HJS and I just got the biggest laugh out of that picture!

Glad I could provide a few chuckles. And being bored at work isn't always bad... gives me more time on COW.

And Ren, that was already blown up from some pics I just quickly grabbed off the net. It'd probably pixelate pretty badly blowing it up bigger. I'll have to spend some more time finding bigger ones if you want a desktop. But if you're on a PC, don't they have a tile background option? Might add to the "disconess" of it all.

Mike

I wish I had that pic back in the 1980's... it would have been far better then my senior year book pic.

Well, well, WELL!

I had no idea I'd open up such a can o' worms! You've all given me something to think about. Plus, (and this is the best part), I made Michaelson look!

Here's why I asked my innocent question:

I have a beautiful new Wested authentic lamb, made to my specs, which I plan to distress naturally. It's my "dress" jacket.

I also bought, on eBay (cheap, or relatively so), a lambstouch cowhide. This is the one I was thinking of distressing...so I'd have a nice one, and a distressed one. If I split my time wearing them, it would take twice as long to distress each one naturally.

So, while Flash Gordon bows to the nefarious will of no man (or woman) from the tangled, rough-hewn woods of New Hampshire to the barren deserts of the planet Mongo, I must seriously consider each of your opinions in my tortured quest for the perfect jacket.
:!:

I say, hey now.......Indy possibly got infected with a rare jungle fever in his travels, but he never, ever, never ever had Saturday Night Fever. That photo is a fake, I tell you, a fake. Fedora

A Fake?!! No way! Why, I'll even throw in a genuine "hand signed" autograph... yeah it may be spelled "Haresun Foord", but I'd guarantee that it's "hand signed", just like all those ebay autographs!

Oh, and there's this little bridge in Brooklyn I own that I've been looking to get rid of...

Mike

I also bought, on eBay (cheap, or relatively so), a lambstouch cowhide. This is the one I was thinking of distressing...so I'd have a nice one, and a distressed one. If I split my time wearing them, it would take twice as long to distress each one naturally.

My expereince with the lambtouch is it doesn't distress as easily as the lamb. Sandpaper and abrasive surfaces should work fine, but has anyone tried acetone?

I used some acetone on my lambstouch, now in the hands of another gearhead. It did take off the pigment, but took some work. A lot of dye would come off, but also spread around, so I had to go slow and repeat areas. It worked well, but I only went for a subtle "aging" as I was just trying to get it to look less black.

Looking at Renderking's Lambstouch at the first PA Summit, I was highly impressed at how it broke in really nicely... looking to me like a predestressed cow would. A cow hide jacket that is, not a nervous bovine.

Mike

How about tying the jacket to the back of a vehicle and dragging it down a dirt road? No chemicals, no Fuller's earth, and you should get a real distressed look. Probably should stop every 1/4 mile or so to check the progress.

Great idea Gary, I would imagine you'd have to weight the jacket though so it didn't just fly up and bounce about the place, perhaps putting a few big bricks in the pockets or stuffing bags of shot down the sleeves...




*waits for the horrific outcry from wested owners everywhere*

Looking at Renderking's Lambstouch at the first PA Summit, I was highly impressed at how it broke in really nicely...

...Keep in mind that I’m a HUGE fan of letting jackets NATURALLY distress. The previous owner (of whom I’m forever greatful) is even more fanatical then I am.

Let it happen on it’s own… it’ll come in time.

Renderking Fisk wrote:Let it happen on it’s own… it’ll come in time.

Amen, Brother Renderking!

Regards,

Henry Jones, Sr.

Renderking Fisk wrote:

Looking at Renderking's Lambstouch at the first PA Summit, I was highly impressed at how it broke in really nicely...

...Keep in mind that I’m a HUGE fan of letting jackets NATURALLY distress.

R.F.,

I'm trying to recall---didn't you have a bad experience with a jacket when you were in "the other camp?"

I.J.

Which other camp... I've gone both ways with two jackets before this one.

I wonder which jacket you might be referring to… the hybrid A2 that I had that was getting worn and blackened by caring out wet trash bags to the dumpster when I was dishwashing my way through college and every harsh chemical made it worse?

Or the Black “Close enough” jacket from Wilson’s that had the fake veneer and when the black was scratched off the leather underneath looked like ripped cardboard cereal box?

Also, my friend Randy from College warned me never to use bleach to distress or clean leather, it’ll break the leather down to “soap”. Is that what you mean?

R.F., stress seems to affect my recall. I'm on vacation now and relaxing and trying to recall some of your story's details. I think you had sanded down one of your hybrid jackets and it looked good for a short time until it started looking funny. But I think you had mentioned the filth of the restaurant was getting into the distressed leather and started to rot the jacket because you hadn't treated it.

Anyway, experience can be a tough teacher sometimes and I'm getting a bit nervous since I haven't treated my pre-distressed Wested cowhide. Although it looks good, I would feel like an idiot if it got ruined by me not treating it properly. Especially after you shared your experience.

I.J.

Joe, you ARE correct sir… to a point. I used a 3M green “Scruffy” on the area on the belly of the pocket to get rid of the dark patches then used it all over the jacket but never treated afterwards.

Many times I would bring trashbags from the kitchen… the tashbags would “sweat” and that disgusting mosture would get into my jacket each time I let the bags rub agaisnt my jacket. Why did I insist on wearing my jacket out to the dumpster? Who knows… I was young and stupid.

I'm mentally scarred for life from that image... it'll haunt me till the end of my days...
Expect a bill for my theraphy in the mail soon. Labeled ACME Mental Health, Dir. Wile E. Coyote.




*grinz*

You COULD try what I tried: Sleep on it... literally... it worked okay in combination with frequient wearage and the right material...