Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Star Trek Cosplay: Nexus Vest

Note: This post originally appeared on my Comcast Personal Web Page, but they've discontinued and deleted all of those sites so I'm moving most of the content here.

The "Nexus" vest was only ever seen on Kirk when he was in the Nexus during "Star Trek Generations." It was not seen with the belt worn over it, nor were rank pins or pips & squeaks worn on it. Some liberties were taken there so the pins and belt could be used and so there would be somewhere to put the field gear. I had originally intended to make a tricorder that was actually a purse but didn't have time so I just made an actual purse "Starfleet Field Gear" by putting the emblem on it. It was large enough to double as my camera bag.



Above is a photo of the completed Nexus Vest, Tunic, and Belt with empty phaser and communicator holsters.



Detailed image of the Starfleet Badge, Pips & Squeaks. The badge was just plated so it was painted the correct colors from the movies. Pips & Squeaks were silver (Enlisted) and were painted gold (Commissioned) and one of the "five year" round pins was changed to a "ten year" by using the Dremel Rotary Tool to carve a Starfleet Delta in the surface.




My "Starfleet Equipment Bag" - it was a cheap "messenger bag" style purse from Target and I hand-painted the Starfleet Command insignia on it.



Finished belt with my phaser and communicator holsters. I'm well aware that in the movies they didn't have holsters, but I didn't want to attach things to the belt with Velcro, so I designed and sewed the holsters shown here. The badge on the side of the phaser holster is a small badge from Roddenberry.com that not only dresses it up, but doubles as a way to keep the holster strap in place (which is what holds the phaser in the holster).

The communicator prop has a thin, black elastic band sewn in at the top of the notch to help it "hug" the communicator. Initially the purpose of the notch was simply to not cover up so much of the communicator because I wanted to show it off. Both holsters are made out of a heavy upholstery-grade leather-grain vinyl that was flocked on the back. The belt was made out of a much thinner vinyl with a "waistband" stiffener material used to help it keep its shape. The buckle was purchased from Roddenberry.com and is fully functional, not just for looks.


UPDATE 4 Oct 2017: Here is my best attempt at making a Pattern for the Phaser Holster (PDF).  I didn't actually use a pattern so this document is based on measurements taken from one of the four holsters I made.  The material I used was scrap vinyl for a motorcycle seat, which had a felt-like backing.

If you want the same Starfleet Badge pin as the holster clasp Roddenberry is no longer selling them, but I believe THIS ONE from Intergalactic Trading Company is very similar.  You can probably find it other places online as well, the main thing to know is that it's smaller than the badge for the "Monster Maroon" uniform.


More:
 Assault Phaser
 Communicators

4 comments:

Unknown said...

That assault phaser holster is fantastic, love it, I would really like to make one so I can hold an assault phaser on my trek5/6 captains uniform! I'd like very much to know how you made it and see any costume designs you have from this era of trek! Do tell!!!

OffWorld Girl said...

Hi Jonathan, if you look at the post above you'll see I updated it with a link to a PDF with the Holster pattern. Or at least as good a pattern for it as I could make. I didn't actually have a pattern when I made it, I experimented (and through away prototypes that didn't work) and when I finally got one right I just used IT as the pattern to make three more.

It's a pretty simple design. Basically it's just two loops sewn to each other with one turned 90 degrees, and one has a 6 inch "tail" (the Safety Strap).

The pattern in the PDF is based off measurements taken from one of the completed holsters (I didn't want to disassemble it). So I can't guarantee the accuracy of the pattern - I'd advise anyone who uses it to make a test one out of some scrap material first and adjust if necessary. The seam allowances might either be overkill or inadequate depending on thickness of the vinyl.

It relies a lot on the stretchiness of the vinyl to fit the phaser snugly in the holster pocket, and on the friction of vinyl sticking against vinyl to keep the strap from coming loose.

Afraid I don't have any other costume designs for this Trek era. My "Monster Maroon" jacket never got completed either and I haven't been able to go to a convention in years. I'd actually forgotten I even posted this stuff on my blog. *O_o*

Unknown said...

Thats great OffWorld Girl, I'm going to try and make one or two for my Trek 2-6 movie outfits, nice work!

OffWorld Girl said...

Link to PDF file has been updated.