3RRR FM 2010 RADIOTHON: MY GOD, IT'S FULL OF TRIPLE R - ON AIR (OR AT LEAST, OXYGEN)

"I HAVE THE FULLEST CONFIDENCE IN THE MISSION.."
As is my personal tradition I like to dress for my show during the annual Triple R Radiothon. (Costuming for radio, righto, makes perfect sense if you're me!)

With the 2010 theme being "Make Contact!" there was really only one logical option....

Trouble is, I didn't actually HAVE a 2001/2010 Astronaut Dave Bowman cossie handy.

No worries, she''ll be right.

See, as an experiment, a while back, I knocked up a quick 2001 helmet, more of a three dimensional doodle than a finished prop. Just playing around with various techniques really...laminated plastic sheeting bulked up with timber filler. It was an educational experiment, but one I thought was not really successful in terms of the 2001 space helmet, I really felt like I was pushing the materials beyond what they were capable of. (Certain types of helmets, though, the laminating method works really well on.)

Still, it's been sitting on a shelf in the workshop gathering dust, so....why not?

By the way, the neck ring and visor sealed less well than on the upgrade I did for the 2010 World Science Fiction Convention...which is ironic, 'cos on this more primitive 'take' the visor doesn't fog up at all !!

Another time I played around with a basic spacesuit jumpsuit, that ended up being re-purposed as a diving suit. A quick coat of fabric paint and a bit of jury rigged mucking around with a vinyl yoke and collar assembly, along with some gold vinyl cuffs pulled it back to a vacuum suit. (Sir Arthur C. Clarke might have approved...from the ocean to the stars!)

I threw in a pair of painted gloves, a control box bashed together from bits in the spares box (including a prototype 'In Periscope' module; see that photoset!), and a hand carried PLSS...Portable Life Support System; just an Army Surplus ammo box and a length of old vacuum cleaner hose.

Not visible in this shot are a pair of rapidly perishing 1970s grey moonboots, which I also had in the dress-up box.

Amusingly enough, I was able to view an original 2001 EVA suit up close and at great length recently so I now have very detailed notes which I've been slowly assimilating with the intention of doing a full-on replica suit in due course.

No hurry, and in the meantime this barnstormed quick sketch was a lot of fun and has actually given me the answer to a couple of practical issues that it's best to solve on a wearable mock-up rather than on a more permanent rig.

Besides, sometimes you just have to muscle up and seize the artistic moment, y'know?

Speaking of which, here's the photoset that contains the Worldcon upgrade I did if you want to check out the next phase of this suit.

www.flickr.com/photos/83287853@N00/4958657898/

Anyway, it was a satisfying touch to what was a mind-bogglingly energised Radiothon that really did have me floating in Zero-G for one fast paced hour.

Ta to everyone who offered me vital life support assistance on the day! U-beaut, mateys!

And of course, many thanks to the Radiothon volunteers , Station staff and obviously, all the subscribers who Made Contact during my show, and indeed during the ongoing Radiothon. A-Okay!!

Photo by Suzie Morris-Ashton.

Taken on: August 16, 2010

Tags:

2001: A Space Odyssey

spacesuit

2010

Make

Contact

Dave

Bowman

astronaut

space

spaceman

Rob

Jan

Robert

Zero-G

3RRR

Melbourne

Australia

Red

Age

Helmet

God It's

Full

Stars « less

Sets appears in: • SPACESUIT - 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - MARK I BUILD • 3RRR FM 2010 RADIOTHON: MY GOD, IT'S FULL OF TRIPLE R - ON AIR (OR AT LEAST, OXYGEN...)

Groups appears in: • Science Fiction • Costume Party more » • !Catchy Colors • asylum escapees • Hats, Helmets & Headwear • SciFi Catchall • #Eclectic • Weird But Wonderful • This is me... • Stanley Kubrick Freaks • Science Fiction Unleashed • Cinematic Moments. • Pop culture • I made this • Starship of the Imagination • W.E.I.R.D. (WalkEnergeticallyInRubberDungarees) post 1 award 666 • Radio Heads • Costumes • australian flickr {2 pictures a day} • Junk art • rED cLOTHES • Scorpio Zodiac Sign • 3001 • Stuff that looks like stuff from science-fiction movies • *Really Unlimited* • ANYTHING & EVERYTHING PHOTOGRAPHIC / NO SL/AI • stuff stuff stuff • Props • WeAr DIY • Spacemen!! Astronauts!! Rocketmen!! • So Intergalactic! • i MADE this!!!! • wonderful costumes • EVERYTHING'S RED • Freak&Geek • Sci Fi or Die! « less

Camera: Pentax K100D Super, f/4.0, 1/30 sec, 33mm (=49mm), ISO 3200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Pentax K100D Super
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.033 sec (1/30)
Focal Length:	33mm (35mm equivalent: 49mm)
ISO:	3200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Portrait
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Scene Capture Type:	Portrait
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 7.0
Show full info

Stats: 4,351 views / 7 comments

go back

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: