[Parflagush]

I got the interactive MT-500 from Spongeface. It was a little more than I originally wanted to spend, but it is really cool. I love it! Even though I grew up in the 80's, I'm still amazed at how big electronics were back then.



The antenna was originally longer. I cut it down to be more screen accurate. Wasn't sure on the exact length, but eyeballing it looks to be about right.



I really want to get a holster from Franchesky, but my accountant (Mrs. Gush) was starting to express her concerns on my expenditures, so I'll have to save that for a future upgrade.

I couldn't find any other immediate options that were available and affordable, so I decided to make one myself for the time being. I started with a half yard of some fake leather fabric (from Joann fabric).



Boy that was a weird experience! Never bought fabric before, and I felt so out of place in a store where you find mostly women. Yeah, I need to watch some football now...

Ahem. This stuff is probably a little more "scaley" than I'd want, but this was just temporary anyway. I just wrapped some cardboard around the bottom of the walkie-talkie for size, with a little extra room inside. I then made the surrounding box by taping it together with duct tape, then hot-glued the fabric around it.



The 1" strapping I had left over from my fobs was a little too small for this holster. I needed something wider, but I couldn't find anything locally, so I ordered some 1 1/2" strapping from strapworks.com for pretty cheap. I had snaps leftover from the fobs project, so it all worked out.

The strap just wraps around inside the back of the box, glued in place, then sewed together at the top.





I could probably add some rivets on there to make it look more authentic, but it's not too bad for a temporary, DIY budget radio holster.

[bishopdonmiguel]

Very creative holster! And feel no shame, Jo-Ann's is great. I go in there often. Lots of doodads & supplies for projects. Like Hobby Lobby, be sure to use their app. Usually a 40% one item coupon you can use once per day.

[PssdffJay]

Just keep washing the gloves inside and out with dish soap. It'll eventually come off. And use a cloth to help brush it away.

[Nicholszz]

Spray a little goo-be-gone on the gloves.
Let it sit for about 15-20 seconds.
Rub off with paper towel.
Rinse off with soap and water.

The wrinkle is normal. Put em on, you'll see they fit to your hand just fine...
As for the powder on the outside... Not sure...
You can try Goo-Be-Gone too, it might justa got stuck there. The powdery stuff is usually inside.

Jay hates the powdery stuff... But its there so they slide on easier, and so your hands don't stick to the inside of the glove.
Good thing though, these come with the Cotton white gloves you can use,

[Parflagush]

Thanks for the tip! I tried with just soap an water initially, and it didn't come off. Then I tried again because Jay said I should, and I realized that I needed to scrub really hard and it started to come off. But it was killing my hands so I'll try some of that stuff you recommend next. The "powdery" stuff that is pictured looks like powder or dust, but I'm guessing it's some paint splash from the manufacturer because it comes off the same as the lettering. I'll get some more powerful cleaner and fix 'em up good.

[Nicholszz]

Thanks for the tip! I tried with just soap an water initially, and it didn't come off. Then I tried again because Jay said I should, and I realized that I needed to scrub really hard and it started to come off. But it was killing my hands so I'll try some of that stuff you recommend next. The "powdery" stuff that is pictured looks like powder or dust, but I'm guessing it's some paint splash from the manufacturer because it comes off the same as the lettering. I'll get some more powerful cleaner and fix 'em up good.

Goo Be Gone.

Stuff is amazing.
It's what Jay and I used for our gloves.
It should work on that 'splash' part too.

[PssdffJay]

It's just Goo Gone now. It's good stuff.

[Parflagush]

Haven't done much updates to the the uniform, but I did grab some of this stuff...



And cleaned off the painted lettering and paint speckles from my gloves.







Still required a little scrubbing, but with much less effort using the Goo Gone. Thanks PssdffJay and Nicholszz for the tip!

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my uniform color. Been looking on eBay for an appropriately sized nomex flight suit with the appropriate price, but haven't seen anything yet. I checked a couple of my local military surplus stores, but all they have are Rothco and Fox Outdoor brand flight suits. I have to say that after seeing those in person, it made me appreciate my Tru-Spec a little more even though the color is off. The Tru-Specs seem to be significantly better quality.

[Parflagush]

Finally got around to adding the black patches to my GBFans elbow pads.

Bought this 3" elastic from Jo-ann Fabric for around $6. It would have been cheaper had I remembered to bring a coupon. At 2 yards, it's way more than I need, but it beat waiting for someone to cut some off the spool.



Cut and sewed it on:



I only sewed the sides of the elastic as the top and bottom of the elastic doesn't stretch, and when wearing it you can't tell as it looks great.

Also as I was sewing these on, I noticed that the elbow pads have one end that is more square, and one end that is rounded. The movie elbow pads appear to be round on each side. But how do you guys like to wear your elbow pads from GBFans? With the square side facing up towards the upper arm, or facing down towards the lower arm?

[PssdffJay]

I don't really have a preference, as long as they are the same orientation.

[Parflagush]

Here's a little project I'm starting that I thought would be fun to share.

I have the MT500 Interactive radio that Spongeface sells, which is very impressive. I realized that the sound chip inside is the exact type that the GBFans sound board uses, so I asked Spongeface if it could be re-programmed using the chip programmer sold in the shop, which I also have. Doug was kind enough to provide me with the details on how to re-program the audio on the interactive MT500.

What I really want to do is convert all the samples to sound more like radio chatter, rather than just clips straight out of the movies. Below you will find a demonstration of this idea. I began by extracting the center channel from the 5.1 audio on the blu-ray disc, then removed/reduced the background noise and music, and then filtered the sample with EQ and added radio static. I've also included the original samples that come with the radio in the video for comparison. Let me know what you think!

[Ecto_1X]

Sounds pretty good man!

[Venkman's Swagger]

Sweet

[bishopdonmiguel]

Fantastic!

[Parflagush]

I decided to take a crack at a GB2 uniform this year. I started with a Navy Tru-Spec from the GBFans shop. While I really like the color, I thought it was a little dark compared to the way they look in the movie. I wanted it to be just a little lighter in color.

Original color (with flash):


Somewhat following Jairus' guide (here), I first washed it using normal detergent and then threw it in the dryer with 3 or 4 dryer sheets. Then ran it through the washer using two packages of RIT color remover and 1/2 cup salt and dried it afterwards.

It turned grey (with flash):


I then ran it through using the RIT Kelly Green. I was paranoid about it turning too green, so I only used 1/3 of the bottle as opposed to 1/2 as mentioned in the guide.

Here it is wet (with flash):


Then I ran it through again, using a full bottle of RIT Royal Blue and 1 cup of salt.

Wet (with flash):


Dry (with flash):


And here is an outside photo:


In the outside photo, it looks like it might be a tad on the light side, but I think it's close enough for my liking.