Bought a new vest and need help...

[Uriah]

Anyone know where these patches come from?  Currious if the patches (the vest for that matter) are from a source we've seen sold before of if this is a new batch.  I also have a Mondotee's vest and can do some comparisons when this new vest arrives.  You out there 9th Delegate?

[Ninth Delegate]

The vest and patches are the classic shah meeran made in pakistan.  The same ones that supplied A1 and Charlloots.  I don't know if the individual sellers are making the dye and pocket modifications or if the Meerans have altered their product before they ship them to the middlemen.  I know charlloots used to dye them himself.  The patches havn't changed in the past 3/4 years. Thats the larger generation 2 patch.  Generation 1 was the same design but too small on the vest.

If I remember right, another member had both A1 and mondotees vests and said that the A1 medium size is the same size as mondotees large.

[Uriah]

Thanks 9th Delegate!  Knew I could count on your vest analytics.

This makes one of my worries go away: I feared the rocker had a white background instead of the off white/gold color.  Good to know that isn't the case.

Raises another fear:  that I bought too large a size.  The vest I purchased is a large.  If that means it is the equivalent of a Mondotees XL then it will be way too big.  My Mondotees is a medium and I would be OK with a slightly larger vest but this one may be way too big.

Did the A1s have two interior pockets?  I think this one does.

[Ninth Delegate]

Heres the thread that mentions the size difference.  Unfortunatly, the picture links are dead.
http://warriorsmovie.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8186.0

Your rocker will be white background as pictured.  Thats how they all come as standard.
Use a very small amount of gold acylic paint and water it down.  Apply clean water to the white parts of the rocker so the cotton is damp.  Dab on the watered down gold paint and it should only bleed into the damp parts of the rocker.  Once dried, it dulls down the rocker just enough to look aged and the metal pigmants catch the light.

[4nik8]

Your rocker will be white background as pictured.  Thats how they all come as standard.
Use a very small amount of gold acylic paint and water it down.  Apply clean water to the white parts of the rocker so the cotton is damp.  Dab on the watered down gold paint and it should only bleed into the damp parts of the rocker.  Once dried, it dulls down the rocker just enough to look aged and the metal pigmants catch the light.

Fearing my painting skills, here was my variant: tea-staining!

I boiled up 30 bags of tea (30th anniversary, natch!), into enough gallons of water to fully cover the whole vest (to play it safe, i boiled up another 30 bags, to make sure to get total coverage)
I let it cool, and then submerged the whole vest in this concoction over night!

I also strategically placed the bags down directly on the patches and let them just sit

The next day after it dried, damn if the rocker didn't look three decades old!

[Uriah]

I recently used the same acrylic paint technique to weather the patches on my Mondotees vest.  Used watered down black and love the result.  I was already planning to do some weathering on the new vest when it arrives - guess i'll have to apply some gold first.

I'm bumbed about the size issue.  If the fit isn't right, the vest will quickly be back on ebay for a larger bloke to purchase.

[triscender]

hey uriah, if your vest doesnt fit i'm looking to sell one of mine. it's a size medium - brand new never worn. i posted pics a couple weeks ago. we can set it up on ebay if youre interested

[Uriah]

Never did post back about this vest.  It was shipped, folded in a USPS paper envelope with no protection.  Luckily it wasn't damaged but when you spend over $100 on clothing you expect a little more care in shipping - especially when shipping costs charged were higher than the shipping costs on the envelope (handling mark up I guess).

The vest is size Large and is much fuller than my Mondotees medium (fits more like an XL).  Oddly, even though the fit is larger, the length is shorter on the new vest (comes to just above waist where the Mondo fall just below).  The color is very maroon and has a bit too much sheen - but that is easy to take care of with some dull sealent spray.  The piping looks great and the seams are movie accurate but the patches are no where near as nice as the Mondo patches.  If you could combine the best of both you would have a killer vest.

I'll probably take it to a local tailor to see if the fit can be fixed.  If so, I'll probably hang on to the vest and replace the patches with my extra Mondos.  If not, I'll be putting it back on Ebay for resale.

[Scaley]

Judging by what Uriah has said about the delivery of the vest it looks like I've got mine from the same guy, I thought that they could at least of had the vest wrapped in a plastic bag however the vest arrived with no problems. I'm 6ft 2" and ordered an extra large which length wise fits me fine, I would say that width ways it may be a couple of inches too wide but not enough to warrant any adjustments. I'm keeping the top rocker as the letters don't touch but I am going to replace the Warbird with one that I have ordered from CC Wizard (4 sets left on ebay USA). I'm going to try out Ninth Delegates acrylic paint technique on the rocker though I'm not sure how much paint to water down, think I might have to practice on my CC Wizard rocker!

[Ninth Delegate]

Scaley: I don't think practicing on the ccWizard rocker would work, as its already a shade of gold.
You hardly need any paint.  Just a small blob on the end of a #4 size model paint brush.  Don't make the paint thick.  It needs to be on the watery side so it bleeds into the damp cotton and soaks into it.  It acts more like a weak dye rather than a coat of paint.  Let it dry naturally.  Don't rush dry it with blow dryers or outside in the sun.

[Scaley]

Thanks for that Ninth Delegate, I'll have go at it over the weekend.

[Godfather]

Hey Uriah, any pics of the final outcome of your vest.  Just curious to see, because there was a guy on here (Mr Green) who did something similar.  http://warriorsmovie.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8236.0

[Ghost-Hardware]

Where there ever any pics posted of work done... only ask as am thinking of doing the same seeing at present there are not that many vest available and i am curious to see what can be done to it...

[Ninth Delegate]

I've not seen Uriah on here since the forum crash last year.
Heres a couple of shots showing the difference between my 3 vests. I've not done anything to change the shade of the vests; i've only modified the patches on the mark 2 Shah Meeran vest.

From left to right: Mark 3 Shah Meeran (from Triscender) Mark 2 Mondotees and mark 2 Shah Meeran (from A1 American flags)



I think the tan shade of the mark 3 vest is closest to the real thing. The height of the rocker on the mark 2 (far right) is shorter than the mark 3. The mondotees vest is way off in colour and is made from a softer leather. Left and middle vests are size large. The vest on the right is medium but is identical in size to the one on the left (I ordered a medium but I have a feeling Dale only had large size in stock and just wrote the letter M in biro on the inside label before selling it me)

And heres a size comparison between the two brands. The mondotees fits better at the front but is too long at the back. The shah Meeran vest is too short at the front.

[4nik8]

I've not seen Uriah on here since the forum crash last year...[/img]

Although he's not posted since Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:42 pm, Uriah Last visited: Mon Sep 20, 2010 6:34 pm, so there's still hope he may update...