www.madmaxmovies.com

So, about a week or so before Halloween this past year I decided I'd be Mad Max. That's when I was happy to find this site and the invaluable http://www.madmaxcostumes.com
Problem is, a week is not nearly enough time to do a proper MM2 costume, as you all know - or at least it wasn't enough for me (mostly because you're invariably going to order something off the internet or eBay and need time for the auction to end, delivery etc.).
But, I figured I'd do my best and then improve it in future years. I decided to post my process here along with some tips, pics and info for the next newbie like me that comes along and wants to take a crack at this outfit. NOTE: IF YOU'RE NOT SEEING THE ENTIRE PICTURE, TRY CLICKING ON IT

First step -
THE JACKET
I didn't have an accurate Australian motorcycle jacket (this costume will be a series of constant upgrades for me I think) but I did have an old leather jacket that I didn't need anymore. I had painted something on the back from my old goth days so the first step was to paint over that with a little black. Here's a before pic: It had an attached belt which Max's jacket doesn't have so I cut that off. Also cut off the sleeve, leaving part of the lining longer to attach to the cut off part of the sleeve (this is where Max sometimes ties off his red rag, don't know if his is part of the jacket lining, but it seemed the easiest way to do it). Also, my jacket had a snap down collar whereas Max's jacket just seemed to have a snap on each lapel. I used some black paint to hide the snaps that were in the wrong places.
Got a cheap little wrench at the hardware store that seemed to be the right size and attached it to one of the zipper pulls. His wrench was on his sam browne belt, but I didn't have time for one of those. I plan to order a sam browne belt from Australia in the future. For the red rag (which I consider optional since he only has it tied off there for about half the movie) I used a red polyester "pirate bandana" from the Halloween store. It was really big and I was able to use the rest of it for my dog's bandana. I tore up the edges so it would look worn. My hunch is that the perfect red rag might be one of those red shop towels that you'd see at an auto parts store.
The shoulder pad was a pain to make, even using the great instructions available from Karol. I won't go into detail on making the shoulder pad, except to say that part of the reason I had trouble is that I had never used rivets before. I didn't even really know where to buy a rivet kit. I looked at Home Depot (they had a grommet kit but not a rivet kit) and eventually found them at Michael's craft store. They had a kit with the tool and multiple sizes of brass and silver rivets. Had to buy a separate leather punch. This thing was already costing more than I planned... Got a fairly accurate football shoulder pad off of eBay... Finished the shoulder pad. I'm pretty handy with rivets now...

WEATHERING / DISTRESSING / AGING whatever you want to call it -
This was a really important step for me. Something about all of the other Mad Max 2 outfits I'd seen is that they always looked kinda new. In the movie his outfit is really busted up. Covered in dust and dirt etc.. I really wanted to capture that look. (I should say that in some photos, my costume doesn't look as weathered as it did in real life. So it's possible the other outfits I've seen online WERE nicely weathered, only the flash washed out the highlights on theirs like it did to mine. It's also possible that people just don't feel comfortable trashing the outfit they spent so long creating - which I can understand).

Anyway, I did a bunch of research online about how to distress leather and couldn't find a whole lot that was helpful. The best tip I saw and the one that worked the best for me was sandpaper. Just take some regular old sandpaper and scuff the hell out of your leather. Especially any seams and edges. I still think mine could have used even more scuffing. I did notice that there was sort of a blue tinge in my leather as I scraped off the outer layers. Maybe this is normal, maybe it's a function of it being a cheap leather jacket. I don't know.
After the sandpaper pass, I wanted to add some dirt. I didn't have the time or money to go to a theatrical store and get fuller's earth, or texas dirt or any of the other things they use to make props and people look dirty on stage and screen, so I did something else -
I wanted to try and achieve that red australian dust look that was all over the movie, but I also didn't want to create my own cloud as I walked around the party and sat on the upholstery. So I found a red brick, went out to the back yard and started whacking it with a hammer (wearing eye protection of course). When I'd get some smaller chuncks I'd pulverize them down into dust and then put them in a bowl with a damp sponge. I then sponged the red muddy water onto the costume and let it dry. I kept everything bunched up so that the crevices and wrinkles would collect more of the water and more of the reddish residue once everything dried. It worked pretty well.
THE RED RAG - This was a minor thing, but I remembered that Max's red rag was the same one that he used to mop up the gas in the beginning of the movie. I couldn't have it looking new. (also, with my weathered jacket a bright red rag would stand out too much). So I used the rag to wipe down my car engine. Then I rinsed it in the sink (just water, no soap) so that the dirt would go away but I'd keep the stains. Did the same thing for my dog's bandana.

Here is an after photo of the jacket: It says I'm limited to three attachments in this post so I'll continue here in a second...

Time out for a quick tip - Save all your scraps as you work, you never know what little piece of leather or whatever you might need later!

And another after photo of the jacket: THE PANTS -
Had some trouble finding these on short notice, especially without spending a lot (I know, this is a recurring theme - CHEAP). Got a pair at a second hand store that were okay. They were too long but I just cut the bottoms off (didn't have to look good since they'd be tucked into the boots anyway) and saved the leather scraps for later. Gave them the same sandpaper/brick dust treatment as the jacket.

THE GLOVES -
I live in Los Angeles. It's usually too warm here for gloves so most stores don't sell them. I found a pair of perfect driving gloves - for $50. Oh well, I decided to just wear some weight lifting gloves instead and buy the gloves later.
UPDATE - When I went back to New England for Christmas I found a discount store that had leather gloves for $5. Perfect. They had a thinsulate lining, but this was easily removed. I modified them like Max's gloves (index and middle finger and thumb cut off on the right hand, little finger, tip of middle and thumb cut off on the left etc.) No pics, sorry.

THE BOOTS -
Got these on eBay for about $30. The ones he wears are either not the same as his boots in film one, or they've been heavily modified. They definitely have a buckle and straps like what are called harness boots. At some point I'll need to add the extra straps and then mine will be pretty close. I don't think I'll bother trying to find ones with the triangular harness buckle like Max has. I've never seen that type before. Here are before and after pics of the boots with the obligatory sandpaper scuffing and brick dust (still could have used more): Continued...

THE GUN -
Found an airsoft gun for sale on the internet - (still on clearance for $6.50 as of Jan '08)
http://www.hobbytron.com/AirsoftShotgun ... 01681.html

Here's the box: Came with a lot for the money, all kinds of accessories etc - but I didn't need them. The barrel was too long, but it was in two pieces and the extension snapped right off, making it just about right. Here you can see the extension with the red ends already snapped off, and all of the accessories that I didn't need (including a cool little light up red laser sight - batteries included!) The color scheme on the handle wasn't exactly right, so I painted it to look more like Max's. I just taped it off and used some brown spray paint. Also painted the brown triggers black with a black paint pen (paint pens came in handy on this costume - look for them where model paints are sold). The flash in the pic below makes the brown paint look too light, but in real life it looks pretty close to wood.

Here's the final double barrel sawed off shotgun. Cheap, legal, and light weight. Plus you can shoot pellets at unwanted party guests:

ACCESSORIES:
HOLSTER:
I took someone's suggestion and made a holster out of the sleeve that I had cut off the leather jacket. Put some rivets down the side (tried to count and have the same number and placement of rivets that Max had on his holster) and used the scrap leather from my pant legs to make a strap to hang the holster off a belt. The belt was just an old one I had around since I knew I'd get a real Sam Browne belt at some later date. MUSIC BOX
The Wound And Wound toy company still sells these music boxes.
http://www.thewoundandwound.com/
They're here in Los Angeles at Universal City Walk, but they also have a website. I think music boxes are about 4 or 5 dollars. They WILL do mail order, but I think the minimum order is $10 or $12 so you'd need to buy three boxes. They have a variety of songs available and they do have one that plays Happy Birthday just like Max's. Problem is, they only come in brass so I needed to paint mine silver. Just used some silver spray paint, but I first taped off the moving parts because I wanted the thing to still work when I was done. DINKI-DI DOG FOOD
Someone had posted a version of a Dinki-Di label online, but I have a buddy who's a graphic designer so I thought I might be able to get a better one. I just sent him a couple of screen shots and he worked his magic. Unlike another label I'd seen online, this one even has the fine print ingredient list on the side. If the colors aren't exactly right it's because of my lame color printer.
A standard U.S. food can is smaller than Max's, so I bought a large family-size can of refried beans at the local grocery store. That ended up being about right. In fact, the label in the movie said "800 grams" so that tipped me off to the size. The can I found was 850 grams, so pretty darn close.

Here's where I went a little nuts - I wanted to be eating Dinki-Di at the party so I made my own concoction. I emptied the big refried beans can, then mixed about half of it with about half a can of corned beef hash. I happen to like both of those things... Warmed it up in a bowl in the microwave and then spooned it back into the can. At first I was eating it just to gross people out, but by the end of the night I was really enjoying it (may have helped that I was drinking heavily). The thing to know is - warmed up hash and refried beans smells A LOT like dog food. Bonus.

CONTINUING - Hope you guys don't mind this long thread (I personally usually enjoy threads with lots of pics, but maybe that's just me)

MORE ACCESSORIES - KNEE PAD
I didn't have the wherewithal to make a leg brace this go around, but I did want at least a knee pad. I used one of the extra pads from the shoulder pads I bought and cut the sides off of it with a hacksaw. This made it about the right size for my knee. I used a couple of little bolts to attach it to the belt pieces that I had cut off my leather jacket.
Not totally accurate to Max's pad, but not bad on the quick and cheap.
It's on the bottom right of the picture here, along with some other stuff that's drying outside after getting a dose of brick water: THE FUTURE
At some point, I still need a leg brace, Sam Brown belt and other accessories. I don't think I'll be buying the NSW firefighting tools for Max's belt. Too rare and expensive. I'll probably build my own as I saw someone else do. Also, for my shirt I just ripped up an old black t-shirt, but it doesn't looks sun faded like Max's. I thought of putting it in the sink with a drop or two of bleach to give it that faded black look, but I was afraid of ruining it and I didn't have a backup shirt handy.

That's all for now. Keep up the great work everybody. If I make some additions/improvements in the future I'll try to post again.

Wow, man! I am really impressed! I especially liked your method of using a red brick to weather everything. I just might do that myself.

I can relate to trying to do everything on the cheap. I am the same way... or rather I should say I WAS the same way. When I first made my Road Warrior costume, just about everything was made from half-assed items that weren't all that accurate but were cheap. Not anymore. I really don't want to think about how much I've spent over the years.. but I am very happy with everything that I have. By the way, if you ever do find a set of the NSW firefighting tools, try not to let the price give you a heart attack...

I loved your dog food recipe. I like corn beef hash and refried beans myself... I might try that as well. Is there any way I could get a copy of your Dinki-Di label? I'd appreciate it.

I've use Karol's Mad Max Costumes site myself for loads of research and costume creation ideas. He's really The Man when it comes to that stuff.

Anyway, here is my site if you want a look at my outfit. I've put a lot of work (and $$$...) into trying to make it as accurate as possible.

http://www.madmaxmodels.com/rwcostume.html

Thank you very much for sharing!

HUMVEE Driver

Humvee Driver, thanks. I'm well familiar with your costume work and your great website. It was some of what inspired me to try to pull this thing off.
As for the red brick - it works, but it's not ideal. Most of what you get are very small reddish pebbles that don't really stick to and stain the leather. I think some kind of red mud or clay might be better. Hmmm, maybe some kind of pottery clay from a craft store would work? Anyway, the brick does work all right in a pinch, and the price is right.

And I'd be happy to send you a copy of the Dinki-Di label. And if you or someone else wants to put it up on a website for general downloading, that might be cool too. (and easier than me emailing it privately to various people).

Very cool!!!!

Many thanks for posting these pics, jwrites, and for sharing your techniques - you've produced a really impressive and realistically weathered costume. These photos are an inspiration and it goes to show that you don't have to spend a fortune to achieve great results.

The jacket, especially, is a work of art - simply excellent.

All the best

DVDC

Thanks the compliments guys. Now the next thing I need to do is create it again with a more accurate Australian jacket... but I don't know if that will happen unless one falls into my lap. And once I get the money for one I'm kinda itching to start putting together a Mad Max MFP outfit...

Speaking of weathering, there is a Japanese site that most of you are probably familiar with already, and they offer what looks like a pretty accurate MM2 jacket in both new and distressed versions. Costs a LOT though:
http://www.madmax-jp.com/products/rw-jkt/rw-jkt1.htm

The thing with this jacket is, it doesn't come with the sleeve cut off, or a shoulder pad, so you still have to add that stuff yourself. And while their weathering looks REALLY good, it actually doesn't look all that accurate to the movie based on the MM2 dvd screenshots I grabbed. But I've only seen a couple of low res pics of the Japanese jacket from their site so I could be wrong. I'll post them here just in case the site above ever goes off line. They did serve as a basic starting point when I was doing my sandpaper scuffing -