Club Obi Wan

What type of leather do you think makes the best Last Crusade styled jacket? Post pics if possible.

I'm sure it isn't SA, but I like the look of a nice small grained cowhide for LC (though dark-ish...)

thick auth. lamb.

Though unavailable now, my vote goes to Indy IV leather.

Maybe not the best shot (since one's day, one's night), but here is a comparison modelled by none other than Indy himself:

I have to agree with the CS leather. Striking resemblance to the movie jacket, much more so than 'authentic lamb' I'd like to see someone distress authentic lamb to look like the jacket in the movie. I have doubts it can be done successfully.

I have to agree that a dark cowhide seems to work best although we've been told that the original was lamb.

RCSignals wrote:I have to agree with the CS leather. Striking resemblance to the movie jacket, much more so than 'authentic lamb' I'd like to see someone distress authentic lamb to look like the jacket in the movie. I have doubts it can be done successfully.

http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=44388

Kyle

Heh, that does look pretty close actually Knibs! I'd forgotten about that one. Doesn't look like you could move your arms very much though; that's a lot of layers!

I don't know what it is about the LC jacket leather that makes it stand out. It looks like cow, yet it's not, and it looks like lamb, yet it is not your usual thickness of lamb. I suppose the distressing helps to make it look almost more like cow than lamb? Interesting hide...?

All the hides come back to COW!

I think this need a better photo comparison CD, Raiders and LC are production/ publicity shots and TOD, KOTC appear to be "screengrabs".

In this compilation of photos, Ford looks younger in the LC picture than he does in TOD or Raiders pictures.

Probably because he's had a shave!

scot2525 wrote: In this compilation of photos, Ford looks younger in the LC picture than he does in TOD or Raiders pictures.

Probably because it is really Vic Armstrong

Kyle

knibs7 wrote:

RCSignals wrote:I have to agree with the CS leather. Striking resemblance to the movie jacket, much more so than 'authentic lamb' I'd like to see someone distress authentic lamb to look like the jacket in the movie. I have doubts it can be done successfully.

http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=44388

Kyle

It's close Kyle and you did a nice job of your distressing. I still think the leather is off.

Texan Scott wrote:I don't know what it is about the LC jacket leather that makes it stand out. It looks like cow, yet it's not, and it looks like lamb, yet it is not your usual thickness of lamb. I suppose the distressing helps to make it look almost more like cow than lamb? Interesting hide...?

Is it Lamb? I realise it has been said to be, but it has also been said to be Cow.

The jacket that was the apparent inspiration was Cow was it not?

I would go for predistressed cowhide. (wested's "worn look hide")

the LC jackets were all soaked. which makes the leather bloat. now, if you allready have a thickish lambskin. imagine what it willl look after soaking.

I still think it was lamb but I must admit that in some scenes it looks like cow.

I know you guys all love the lamb, in its many iterations, but....

Nothing captures the look of the LC jacket for me like cowhide....

Regards!
Indydawg

Indydawg wrote:I know you guys all love the lamb, in its many iterations, but....

TMFR

Indiana Holt wrote:the LC jackets were all soaked. which makes the leather bloat. ......

that info comes from where?

I think it looks like lamb - but just a differently processed version of lamb to Raiders and ToD. In the 1980's over here, you could get lamb jackets that were made with a very thick lamb that was heavier and almost goat like. People were always calling it cow hide. It had a very similar look to the LC jacket.

Can we PLEASE not turn this into another lamb/cow debate?

Kyle

The proto. that Keppler & G&B had produced, pre-LC, was it cow or lamb?

knibs7 wrote:Can we PLEASE not turn this into another lamb/cow debate?

Kyle

well, since the original jacket did not look like either goat/horse/roo/pig/dogskin...

we are pretty much stuck with lamb/cow since the LC jacket looks either like lamb or cowskin used.

so, since you put the brakes on this discussion, I ask myself, what should we talk about then?

you tell me.

Holt, please go ahead. No harm in debating these issues as long as we keep it on the rails.

Fine keep on with the debate, even though the original was lamb.

Kyle

It gets a but fuzzy when you are looking at stills all the time.

If you step back an watch the movie again you'll see that at some points it does look really thin. ie when it is off his shoulders after the tank chase, or blowing in the wind after the birds in the air. But the jacket never looks as thin as say, in Raiders, where Sapito grabs his arm outside the temple, that jacket almost looks like puffy latex.

Thick lamb, thin cow. Could have been either.

I know he had the lambtouch cowhide at the time. I LOVED that stuff!!

Regards! Michaelson

I think too that part of the reason is that we are trying to convert a two dimensional medium, on TV, screen, etc. into three dimensions in the mind, as we would normally view a jacket in real life. This and the optical illusion created by the distressing. Something gets lost in the translation.

Something else that strikes me about that photo montage is how much the distressing and wear on the jacket is almost reversed compared to the timeline of the movies.

CS- jacket looks brand new !

LC- jacket still looks new but broken in !

ROTLA- jacket looks like it has seen many adventures but is still serviceable !

TOD- the jacket is on it's last leg and needs replaced !

Michaelson wrote:I know he had the lambtouch cowhide at the time. I LOVED that stuff!!

Regards! Michaelson

Kinda sounds how the Sarge is describing his naked cowhide doesn't it?


Travis

scot2525 wrote:Something else that strikes me about that photo montage is how much the distressing and wear on the jacket is almost reversed compared to the timeline of the movies.

CS- jacket looks brand new !

LC- jacket still looks new but broken in !

ROTLA- jacket looks like it has seen many adventures but is still serviceable !

TOD- the jacket is on it's last leg and needs replaced !

You see, this is how subjective this is... I think of the LC as overly distressed (therefore worn a lot) and the ROLA jacket as being less worn than the LC. It's what we see not what it... I agree about the ToD jacekt in some shots.

I don't think of the LC jacket as "overly" distressed...I think of it as more "precisely" distressed....in trying to distress it, the jacket has the look of a jacket that has been...well, artificially distressed.

Now, for film, that seems ok, and due to "willing suspension of disbelief" (you know, that mental condition that allows us to actually believe for a few minutes that James Bond can walk across the wing of an airplane in flight)...we buy it.

But you see a jacket distressed like that in real life, and it just looks fake to me.

And yes, Travis...I've been thinking the same thing about the naked cowhide....I'm so looking forward to it!

Regards!
Indydawg

Indiana Holt wrote:

knibs7 wrote:Can we PLEASE not turn this into another lamb/cow debate?

Kyle

well, since the original jacket did not look like either goat/horse/roo/pig/dogskin...

we are pretty much stuck with lamb/cow since the LC jacket looks either like lamb or cowskin used.

so, since you put the brakes on this discussion, I ask myself, what should we talk about then?

you tell me.

exactly Holt, it is a discussion.

scot2525 wrote:Something else that strikes me about that photo montage is how much the distressing and wear on the jacket is almost reversed compared to the timeline of the movies.

CS- jacket looks brand new !

LC- jacket still looks new but broken in !

ROTLA- jacket looks like it has seen many adventures but is still serviceable !

TOD- the jacket is on it's last leg and needs replaced !

that's because he's been through a lot of jackets.

After ToD it needed to be replaced. (technically replaced by the Raider jacket) etc

the CS doesn't look 'brand new' to me, but also does not look on it's last leg by any means

Indydawg wrote:I don't think of the LC jacket as "overly" distressed...I think of it as more "precisely" distressed....in trying to distress it, the jacket has the look of a jacket that has been...well, artificially distressed.

But you see a jacket distressed like that in real life, and it just looks fake to me.


Regards!
Indydawg

I couldn't agree with you more.

Indydawg wrote:
But you see a jacket distressed like that in real life, and it just looks fake to me.

Agreed!

Travis

Indydawg wrote:.......
But you see a jacket distressed like that in real life, and it just looks fake to me.

..........
Regards!
Indydawg

While I agree the the distressing of the movie Lc jacket is not very 'natural' looking i don't think a proper job looks bad in person.
Look at some of the jackets posted here, including tunrariders. It looks good to my eye, and the jacket without this type of distressing just looks like any other jacket. In other words the LC distressing is a huge part of the LC jacket and it's look, it's essence.

With that in mind, I'd like to see a distressed US Wings jacket, since they're fairly LC looking already. The darker vintage cowhide would look great distressed like
the Last Crusade jacket.

You know, I'm reading this thread and I can't figure why anyone would think the CS leather is a good match to the LC leather. Yes, it's thick enough, and the styling is right. But the CS leather is VERY light in color compared to the LC leather, and evenly distressed all over, in a non-period, almost "factory" way. Looks great, but not even close to the LC look. LC's should have a dark coloration, and be distressed in the "precise/artificial" way that been mentioned. Regardless of what hide the film jacket was, the look won't be right unless the color is darker.

That said, I would like to see a dark brown Wings jacket, hand distressed, rather than the CS hide. I think that would nail the look perfectly.

Chewbacca Jones wrote:You know, I'm reading this thread and I can't figure why anyone would think the CS leather is a good match to the LC leather. Yes, it's thick enough, and the styling is right. But the CS leather is VERY light in color compared to the LC leather, and evenly distressed all over, in a non-period, almost "factory" way. Looks great, but not even close to the LC look. LC's should have a dark coloration, and be distressed in the "precise/artificial" way that been mentioned. Regardless of what hide the film jacket was, the look won't be right unless the color is darker.

That said, I would like to see a dark brown Wings jacket, hand distressed, rather than the CS hide. I think that would nail the look perfectly.

Take another look at the LC jackets that were made in the CS leather. Pretty much all were made using the dark CS version. They certainly pass the look muster. A very good LC jacket match, which itself in the movie sometimes looks darker, sometimes lighter .

I don't agree the CS leather is VERY light. The jackets for the CS movie were all varying shades, no two exactly the same in colour, but I don't know of any that could be called VERY light. It's subjective though.

I do agree, as I said before, the distressing style is part of the LC jacket 'DNA'

RCSignals wrote:

Indydawg wrote:.......
But you see a jacket distressed like that in real life, and it just looks fake to me.

..........
Regards!
Indydawg

While I agree the the distressing of the movie Lc jacket is not very 'natural' looking i don't think a proper job looks bad in person.
Look at some of the jackets posted here, including tunrariders. It looks good to my eye, and the jacket without this type of distressing just looks like any other jacket. In other words the LC distressing is a huge part of the LC jacket and it's look, it's essence.

Tundraiders jacket look much better than the move LC version to me. The distressing is just better done, that's all. IMO.


My favourite jacket is the LC, but I have always disliked the fake wear. I think it looks bad. I saw the first pictures in a mag when the film came out and immediately thought someone had taken sand paper to the jacket. I thought then I was an idiot for thinking that until I joined here.

Chewbacca Jones wrote:You know, I'm reading this thread and I can't figure why anyone would think the CS leather is a good match to the LC leather. Yes, it's thick enough, and the styling is right. But the CS leather is VERY light in color compared to the LC leather, and evenly distressed all over, in a non-period, almost "factory" way. Looks great, but not even close to the LC look. LC's should have a dark coloration, and be distressed in the "precise/artificial" way that been mentioned. Regardless of what hide the film jacket was, the look won't be right unless the color is darker.

That said, I would like to see a dark brown Wings jacket, hand distressed, rather than the CS hide. I think that would nail the look perfectly.

People often draw a parallel to LC/CS jackets due to the similiar configs., snaps on the storm flap, etc. Maybe that is a trend of late, that a jacket of this type is made with cowhide, and called the LC/CS jacket. The severe distressing on the LC is its calling card. The leathers in film appear very different.

What I find interesting is the distressing of the LC jacket. It looks good on film, but a jacket does not naturally distress that way, creating a distressed boarder around the seams, etc., sort of a highlighting effect.

RCSignals wrote:Take another look at the LC jackets that were made in the CS leather. Pretty much all were made using the dark CS version. They certainly pass the look muster. A very good LC jacket match, which itself in the movie sometimes looks darker, sometimes lighter .
I don't agree the CS leather is VERY light. The jackets for the CS movie were all varying shades, no two exactly the same in colour, but I don't know of any that could be called VERY light. It's subjective though.

I've never seen an LC jacket made from CS leather, specifically. I must have missed that one.

All I know is, the US Wings CE is made from the same leather as the film jackets, and it's so light that people grumble about it all the time. I have one, and it can only be described as "light brown." Maybe it doesn't look that light on screen, and maybe there are variation in darkness among those used for the film. But it still seems too light and too evenly distressed to me.

I withhold judgement completely, though, until somebody can point me to this LC made from dark CS leather...

What I find MOST revealing about the CS leather is the drape and behavior of it in comparison to the LC. It makes a strong visual argument for using cowhide to replicate the LC.

Carmel color it appears.

Hi,

I am not a LC jacket expert BUT the leather used is not thick at all.
In fact it seem realy thin. Watch the beach scene and you will agree with me.
It drapes like a lamb jacket... So it should be lamb, shouldn't it?

Best regards,

Nico

Chewbacca Jones wrote:

RCSignals wrote:Take another look at the LC jackets that were made in the CS leather. Pretty much all were made using the dark CS version. They certainly pass the look muster. A very good LC jacket match, which itself in the movie sometimes looks darker, sometimes lighter .
I don't agree the CS leather is VERY light. The jackets for the CS movie were all varying shades, no two exactly the same in colour, but I don't know of any that could be called VERY light. It's subjective though.

I've never seen an LC jacket made from CS leather, specifically. I must have missed that one.

All I know is, the US Wings CE is made from the same leather as the film jackets, and it's so light that people grumble about it all the time. I have one, and it can only be described as "light brown." Maybe it doesn't look that light on screen, and maybe there are variation in darkness among those used for the film. But it still seems too light and too evenly distressed to me.

I withhold judgement completely, though, until somebody can point me to this LC made from dark CS leather...

What I find MOST revealing about the CS leather is the drape and behavior of it in comparison to the LC. It makes a strong visual argument for using cowhide to replicate the LC.

Quite a few have been shown in the CS leather Chewie. You've probably seen them. tundrarider's jacket is one.

Texan Scott wrote:

Chewbacca Jones wrote:You know, I'm reading this thread and I can't figure why anyone would think the CS leather is a good match to the LC leather. Yes, it's thick enough, and the styling is right. But the CS leather is VERY light in color compared to the LC leather, and evenly distressed all over, in a non-period, almost "factory" way. Looks great, but not even close to the LC look. LC's should have a dark coloration, and be distressed in the "precise/artificial" way that been mentioned. Regardless of what hide the film jacket was, the look won't be right unless the color is darker.

That said, I would like to see a dark brown Wings jacket, hand distressed, rather than the CS hide. I think that would nail the look perfectly.

People often draw a parallel to LC/CS jackets due to the similiar configs., snaps on the storm flap, etc. Maybe that is a trend of late, that a jacket of this type is made with cowhide, and called the LC/CS jacket. The severe distressing on the LC is its calling card. The leathers in film appear very different.

What I find interesting is the distressing of the LC jacket. It looks good on film, but a jacket does not naturally distress that way, creating a distressed boarder around the seams, etc., sort of a highlighting effect.

Yes people confuse the two, maybe because Wested sells theirs as an LC/CS
The two jackets are actually quite different.

Texan Scott wrote:What type of leather do you think makes the best Last Crusade styled jacket? Post pics if possible.

I think that one of the things to keep in mind is the fact that TS asked what type of leather makes the best Last Crusade styled jacket? Not, what was the Last Crusade jacket made of? To my eyes and touch cowhide just feels like what my minds eye tells me is a LC jacket.

Travis

..all things LC jacket. Hit it, fellas!

I like cowhide for LC leather, but here's the issue. If you wear a heavy jacket, you automatically think...heavy, so it is warm, but not necessarily with just the liner.

I was hoping to cover things we already know as well as things we don't necessarily know to date. I'll just throw that out there....

A step further, I think it would be possible to create a soft touch cowhide leather by shaving off the top grain of the jacket, eliminating the pebble grain and making it relatively light weight. It would have a smooth top grain.

I had Tony make my LC jacket in the dark CS hide (his suggestion when I asked him what would be the best leather to go with) and I personally think that it's a good match to the LC jacket. Good color and great undertones.


And the LC distressing does look artificial, but I would argue, more than any other Indy jacket, the distressing on the LC is a part of the look of the jacket, because of the distinctive distressing. There have been several jackets posted here that have been close to the LC specs, but without the distressing, it just doesn't look the part to my eye.