DragonFyre Dawn Studios - Independent Soldier Costume (76th Independent Battalion)

76th Independent Battalion - Libertas Sumptus

I am a fan of a TV series called Firefly. For those who aren't familiar with it, it was a short-lived and ill-fated but very good sci-fi show from Joss Whedon. Despite its untimely demise, its dedicated fanbase continues to grow. That same fanbase the reason why the movie Serenity came to be - how many TV shows that got cancelled in their first season do you know of that managed to land a movie deal?

As I said, Firefly has a dedicated fanbase. They show their love in many ways. One individual, "Tristan O'Tearney", came up with an idea. That idea was to have a group of people dressed alike as Independent soldiers from the series. Late in 2006, the 76th Independent Battalion was born with Tristan as its Colonel. I was one of the first fifteen or so to join the ranks in December of 2006. By August 2007 we had more than 200 members. We are the first and largest Firefly costuming group of our kind in existance. Our first public appearance as the 76th took place at Dragon*Con 2007, where we had 35 members dressed in full uniform march in the parade - including a member from Australia and another from South Africa. Prior to D*C we had three small 76th-only gatherings at Tristan's house, one of which I managed to attend.

The main parts of the costume are designed by Tristan, and a good portion of the coats and vests owned by various members of the 76th were made by him personally, including my own. The rest of the costume is a combination of purchased military items (canteens, knives, holsters, etc), airsoft guns (both the G36 rifles and various sidearms) and hand made accessories like pouches. We use US military ranks on our uniforms, but invert them so there's a distinction between us and real military. It is also out of respect, as some of our members are either in the military or served in it in the past.

The biggest item I built for the uniform were my boots. Because I couldn't find anything that looked properly like it belonged in the Firefly universe and still be in my price range, I decided to build a pair over an old pair of hiking shoes I had on hand. Some of the design was based on Mal's boots from the series, but I opted to keep the toes of the boots as a simple cap rather than the fancier design on Mal's. The pattern was obtained by making a duct tape dummy of my leg while wearing the hiking shoes. I used 4.5 oz weight stoned oil leather, which was machine sewn and then glued and sewn to the base shoes.

In January 2008 I found a perfectly 'Versey pair of boots in store, and bought them due to needing a pair on short notice to go with the uniform (as I didn't have the pair I had made on hand). These boots were first worn with the uniform at ChattaCon 2008 and will most likely replace my built up pair permanently.

Pictures:

A big thank you to those who took these photos.