...So as part of my A L I E N uniform project run on the RPF, I decided to try my hand at replicating the crew shoulder patch. And as anyone who is involved enough in the intricacies of this patch, knows that many have tried, some have come close. I have spent the past few months obsessing over every detail of these costumes and decided that if I was going to try and replicate the shoulder patch, it had to be very, (very) accurate. Getting close was just not going to cut it in this case, so it was pretty much all or nothing.

If I wasn't 99.95% happy with the result, I would not have moved forward with this. All of the details of this patch had to come together. The design, colors, fonts, proportions, design features and even some "imperfections" that were a signature of the way patches were made back in the day.

A few photos of original production made patches:




REPRODUCTION

Shape
The correct 'half oval’ in accordance with the original. Meaning that the extreme left and right borders of the patch are not straight. They are bent in a slight oval shape.



Variants
Light background - Faded Grey/Blue
Dark background - Very dark navy blue

Color Pallet
Here I owe a huge thank you to my fellow RPF forum member Isaac, for taking the time to analyze all of the photos of the verified original patches we have, all of which were taken at different times, under different lighting conditions, using different cameras, with verifying resolution… he took all of that info and managed to come up with a pretty impressively close color pallet for these patches.


Stitch Direction and Style
Extreme attention was given to mimicking the stitch direction of the original. This was crazy hard and took literally weeks of revisions, going through different manufacturers until I landed one that had the right machinery that could deliver the right detail.


Thickness/Backing
The originals were fairly thin, cloth like. I opted to have mine made as sew-on with no extra backing. The Iron-on layer thickens the patch and makes it too rigid in my opinion.



Next Post...

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Adam Ezekiel.
I mostly try to make nice ALIEN uniforms. ...Mostly.

http://www.nostromocrew.com/

Photos of my final version of the patch:

Overall patch size - 10.5cm X 7.5cm or 4.13” X 3”





Additional Photos of Production made Patches:





Thanks for looking!

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Adam Ezekiel.
I mostly try to make nice ALIEN uniforms. ...Mostly.

http://www.nostromocrew.com/

Amazing work I'm sure someone on here is gonna geek out when they see this and wish they could fist bump you!

Adam was kind enough to show me his reproduction patches and I am blown away by the quality and authenticity of them. Have a look:



We've all seen lousy repros of the patches, and maybe some of us have even seen good repros, but nothing has come close to these. I am in awe of them.

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Thank you retrogarde ! Did you notice the tiny threads connecting each and every numeral to the yellow border next to it? I love that I managed to get that detail in! Some embroidery digitizers and manufacturers were like "we can clean this up real quick for you!" and my response was "No, I want it in!" I know for sure some of them think I'm insane.

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Adam Ezekiel.
I mostly try to make nice ALIEN uniforms. ...Mostly.

http://www.nostromocrew.com/

The "running stitch"!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Was thinking there needs to be a list of which characters had what. This isn't definitive, but it's a pretty good start.

ASH

• Flightsuit - light blue patch x2? [*1]
• Officer's shirt - light blue patch

BRETT

• Cap - light blue patch [*2]
• Shirt (not screen used) - light blue patch

DALLAS

• Mk3 jacket - light blue patch x2
• Officer's shirt - light blue patch
• Prototype jacket (not screen used) - dark blue patch

KANE

• Chestburster white t-shirt - light blue patch
• Mk3 jacket - light blue patch x2
• Officer's shirt - light blue patch

LAMBERT

• Jacket - light blue patch x2
• White t-shirt - light blue patch x2 [*3]

PARKER

• Shirt - light blue patch
• Leather jacket - dark blue patch x2
• Prototype jacket (not screen used) - light blue patch 1 or 2? [*4]

RIPLEY

• Flightsuit - light blue patch x2
• Officer's shirt - light blue patch

Notes:
I've supporting pics for all of the above [cept *2], but haven't posted them here, as I don't want to blow the thread out.
*1 - Ash's flightsuit ... I need to watch the movie again to confirm the colour and count of patches ...
*2 - Brett's cap patch, some photos it looks the std light blue, others, it looks like a completely different mid-blue ... controversy! Might have to spawn off a seperate thread so I can post up the 1/2 doz ref pics I have
*3 - Lambert's t-shirt having a patch on each shoulder ... odd, but cool.
*4 - Parker's Proptype jacket. Not sure if I made this up or not; can't find supporting pics for it now ...


Clothing that doesn't have Nostromo patches -

• Brett's jacket
• Dallas' green t-shirt
• Parker's green t-shirt

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Cpl Aron "septic" Williams
A10/TQ0.0.82146E1

Thank Aron, that's a good idea!

I would add:
1. ASH - Flightsuit - 2 dark blue patches.



2. BRETT - Cap - From what I gather they used several caps. Notably, publicity photos on set were taken with the light blue patch for the death scene they used a combination of dark blue patch and dark blue paper print for the tear through the patch snip scene.



3. PARKER - Shirt - It changes yet again! In the chestburster scene he is wearing shirt with a light blue patch but in the "acid for blood eating through the hull" scene he is wearing a shirt with dark blue patches.


4. PARKER - Prototype jacket - Had a single light blue patch on the middle of the left sleeve




5. RIPLEY - In only one scene, when she goes down below to check on Parker and Brett, She is wearing jacket similar to the one Lambert wears at her death scene. Its very easy to miss, but its there...

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Adam Ezekiel.
I mostly try to make nice ALIEN uniforms. ...Mostly.

http://www.nostromocrew.com/

Beautiful work as always Adam. I highly recommend his Nostromo wings as well; can't decide to leave them framed of sew on to my jacket!

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Click banner to my site:

Amazing attention to detail! Awesome!

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."