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By kind2311
#115300
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

"Where can I get those elbow pads like in the movie?"

"I got them but they're white, how do I make them look like in the movie?"


These two questions come up quite a bit here on the GBFans forum so I thought I'd try and clear up some of the confusion.

As some of you may already know, the original pads were customized volleyball kneepads made by Markwort and are no longer available from them in that style. Thankfully there are a few substitutes out there that are very close in style to the original pads. If total accuracy is a factor, then it is important to purchase the large or "adult" size pads for both accurate size and comfort regardless of whether the seller states that "the kids/youth size makes an ideal elbow pad for an adult". Medium/small/youth sizes tend to be very tight on the arm when worn with a uniform and the bubble is smaller than those used in the films. When customizing your pads to match the film, gray dye is most commonly used but many fans have opted to use gray fabric paint instead of dye, the reason being that the elastic/fabric armbands and the foam bubble sometimes do not take dyes very well. Another solution to changing the color of the bubble is using gray spraypaint or primer. Those with airbrushes can concoct a mixture to give an even closer match. Since these pads are meant to be used in physical sports with a lot of movement involved, they have several extra inches of elastic fabric on each end, designed to keep the pad in place during play. This needs to be removed for accuracy's sake. The simplest solution is to roll and tuck the excess fabric under the armband. The most accurate method is to cut the excess material off and either hem the edges or singe them with a lighter and apply some sort of anti-fray solution such as Dritz Fray Check. The small black patch on the inside of the armband is black elastic fabric. It is unknown why the patch is there in the films, possible reasons include covering a hole or brand emblem.



Here are a few shots of the armpads taken from the first Ghostbusters:
Armpad.png
Armpad1.png
Armpad2.png



There are three different companies at this time that offer accurate pads:



Century Judo Kneepads

ImageCentury Judo Kneepads can be purchased either directly from Century Martial Arts, or from KarateDepot.com. Although the item page at Karate Depot shows a clean pad with no logo, it does have the same small latex "Century" logo as shown here. This can be removed with a razor blade (slowly and carefully, don't hack it off) leaving no noticeable scarring after the pads have been painted. The armband on this brand takes gray fabric dye better than the Pro Series 3Pc. pads but perhaps not as well as the Defender pads.

UPDATE: Karatesupply.com has these pads for $15.99+shipping: http://www.karatesupply.com/Judo-Knee-Pads_p_801.html
UK residents can get them here: http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/MMA-Fight ... QQ_armrsZ1


Pro Series 3Pc. Volleyball Kneepads

ImagePro Series 3Pc. kneepads can be purchased from Cannon Sports either directly or through their sale on Amazon.com. These pads, while having an accurate bubble and being comfortable on the arm, have a hole on the inside of the armband and the band does not take gray dye well(see picture below). Fabric paint on the armband and a black patch to cover the hole is the best way to bring this brand of pad to a screen-accurate appearance.



Defender Volleyball Kneepads

ImageDefender Volleyball Kneepads closely resemble the pads used in the film but can be difficult to find. They are currently sold only by an eBay seller known as typj. The most accurate size is large but they have been out of stock in that size for quite some time. They do have large black pads but these have proven difficult to get to a screen accurate appearance. The armband on these pads takes gray dye very well.



Martin Volleyball Kneepads

ImageMartin Volleyball Kneepads can be purchased from KM Sports' eBay store or from Recreation technology LLC. These pads are accurate as far as appearance but the Martin logo has proven very difficult to remove and is very noticeable when painted over.




Here are some examples of the pads I own and have customized:

Image

Image

Image

Image


This picture is to show the size difference between medium/youth and large/adult:

Image



For the rest of yous guys, feel free to post pics of your own pads and a little background on how you painted/dyed them
Last edited by kind2311 on August 5th, 2009, 4:35 pm, edited 9 times in total.
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By ode2kenobi
#115826
Yeah I did get the medium, they are slightly tight but not too the point of being uncomfetable

Once i've cut the excess off and stretch them over a bottle they should be a lot better but im not too fazed.

I'll dye them over the next few days and post a pic
#116731
Im extremely pleased with the way my elbow pads turned out last year!
I trimmed off quite a fair bit of the elastic material so they were screen accurate, i also find that they fitted better around my elbows after they were trimmed down
I tried dyeing them at first but like alot of the other guys found out on here the material just doesnt take to the dye very well so i opted for using light gray spray primer paint & i gave them both two coatings, spraying very lightly one bubble at a time

The only thing i havent done is include the black patch on the inside but this is something im ok with, am i right in thinking none of the elbow pads in GB2 had the black patch? If that is correct then definately leaving my pads as they are :cool:
By ode2kenobi
#117067
Here are my Defender pads after dying

I found if I rinsed them in water after the dye the colour wouldn't stay in the bubble so I just went straight from the dye to in front of a heater for a few hours, the colour stayed in but not as grey as I would have liked.

I was thinking I might try some black ink in the creases and around to give them that dirty look, Any other ideas?

Hey Hasford how did the pads take to the paint, where they sticky afterwoods or rub off in anyway?
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By AMC78
#117108
ode2kenobi I have a theory about the pads. They are dyed like you have done, the padded area is sprayed seperately with gray primer or fabric paint with the rest of the elastic covered as to avoid bleeding.. Then I think possibly gone over with something darker in the grooves possibly but it could just be the lighting on film or maybe different pads worn during the filming,

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N_ozKEpiQps/S ... h/GB06.jpg
Ray's pads look like they MAY have been darkened a bit in the grooves but the pads black centres look larger in this pic that the topics pics a few posts above. I'm about to do my defenders and have been umming and ahhhing as to what course of action to take but that's what I'm going to try.
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By kind2311
#117362
I have found that applying black or preferably a very dark gray to the white of the crevices and then lightly misting the raised portions of the bubble with a lighter gray helps to make the details really "pop". The experimental stages of this method can be seen in the pics I posted. Try and apply the dark color only in the very bottom of the crevice, any more and your attempt to darken them will become obvious, this is all about subtlety.
#117595
Hi Ode2kenobi, in answer to your question a few spaces above, yeah after i spray painted my elbow pads they were sticky/tacky for quite a few days afterwards but none of the paint has rubbed off, they still look as fine as when i first sprayed them

I wouldnt wear them for at least a week or more after you spray them (if you decide to do that, that is) but again just lightly touch them to feel how sticky they are before wearing them :-)
By neo_virus
#124225
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

I have just found a possible UK source on eBay, I don't know how regular they have stock but they don't seem to bad. The only bit I don't like is the hole in the centre, but you could put some black tape over it and it will make it more accurate :)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Knee-pad-pair ... dZViewItem
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By kind2311
#124253
Good find! those are the right style but you're gonna have to paint them heavily if you want screen-accurate gray pads. Also, that hole on the inside armband is the perfect reason to sew the acreen-accurate black patch on the inner arm.
By thulsado0m
#124969
i'm absolutely horrible with spray paint, i just got my white defenders and was going to dye them with 1 box of pearl grey

any recommendations for newbs when it comes to spray painting the pads?
Last edited by thulsado0m on June 4th, 2009, 2:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By Jairus
#125011
thulsado0m wrote:i'm absolutely horrible with spray paint, i just got my white defenders and was going to dye them with 1 box of pearl white

any recommendations for newbs when it comes to spray painting the pads?
Keep the can about 2 feet away from the pads and mist them with a dark grey primer. MIST. Don't coat them in paint.

90% of spray paint errors occur because the paint was applied too thickly. Thin, even coats are what you want on most things; even thinner for elbow pads.
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By DarkSpectre
#125079
Vinny, Jordan's(niceshootintex) first set were the martins and he said that the "Martin" is impossible to remove. Also the lettering is really noticeable when painted. so while they look the part, they are a pain in the ass in the long run. We both have the cannon sports ones now.
By thulsado0m
#125421
hmmm i just got my defenders in the mail

should i try dying them first, putting them in front of a heater after

and after all that is settled THEN hit them with dark grey primer?

or should i just hit them with the dark grey primer and skip out on dying them?
By Sledge
#125777
DarkSpectre wrote:Vinny, Jordan's(niceshootintex) first set were the martins and he said that the "Martin" is impossible to remove. Also the lettering is really noticeable when painted. so while they look the part, they are a pain in the ass in the long run. We both have the cannon sports ones now.
hey did you try using a sanding drum on a dremel? I have a pair of gloves i use on my Clone costume and had writing that was a PITA to remove till zip very lightly with a sanding drum.

we just ordered a couple pairs of these so will let you know.
By neo_virus
#127276
Sledge wrote:
DarkSpectre wrote:Vinny, Jordan's(niceshootintex) first set were the martins and he said that the "Martin" is impossible to remove. Also the lettering is really noticeable when painted. so while they look the part, they are a pain in the ass in the long run. We both have the cannon sports ones now.
hey did you try using a sanding drum on a dremel? I have a pair of gloves i use on my Clone costume and had writing that was a PITA to remove till zip very lightly with a sanding drum.

we just ordered a couple pairs of these so will let you know.
Just some follow up feedback on the eBay auction for the ones I found in the UK. To me they seem like a rebranded version of the 'Martins'. The logo was absolutly impossible to remove and whilst trying to pick it apart with a small blade it started to pick out the stitching leaving holes. So the 'bulbous' side is kinda ruined although if you turn them inside out they are still quite usable with no logos. The only downside to that is you don't quite get the bubble as you would have the other way around.
Unfortunatly the only camera I have is my iPhone one which isn't brilliant, so I can't get any decent pics up.
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By kind2311
#127281
yeah, in my experience the only decent ones to order from are the Century pads and the Pro Series 3Pc.

as for stretching out the medium ones, you can try stretching it out over something big like a 2 litre cola bottle or an american football and letting it sit in the sun for several hours, that usually helps a little.
By ode2kenobi
#128364
here's my finished pads
thulsado0m wrote:hey kenobi, could you tell me how did you stretch your elbow pads and for how long please?
They feel alot less tight once the excess is cut off but i'm still going to put them over a 2ltr bottle for a week because I think a whole day of wearing them will still pinch a bit

I rubbed some charcoal from the fire over them to give them a bit of a dirty look, I figured at least this way if I do too much I could wash it off and try again
By ode2kenobi
#128751
Slimers Buddy wrote:How badly does the elastic start to fray/unwind when you cut off the excess? That's the thing that worries me the most. :)
Just make sure you use a sharp pair of sissors and then fold the edges over and sew them up straight away and you should be fine

My black square is also a piece of elastic and only sewed on the 2 shorter ends so that it can stretch with the pad
By Honker
#131980
Sledge and I picked up the martins as well and what we did was take an old Iron set on cotton NOT STEAM and you can iron off the majority of the martin logo. It takes a couple minutes to start to affect the ink but it starts coming off in little black rolls. Then we tried dying them to no avail. Maybe the material just didn't like the rit? Even using Black dye for over 24 hours straight in the bath the dye didn't take well at all so we went with the spray primer route and when going in multiple very thin layers they came out beautifully. Just need to add the black patch to the inside of the arm to cover the hole in the armband and I can tell you I'll have these babies for a while. Funny thing is they were painted/primered the night before 2 back to back events and I had no issues what so ever with the primer rubbing off...probabaly because of the fact I went in VERY thin coats and now 3 days later they are not hard or gritty to the touch at all and to run your fingers across them you'd think they were dyed. All in all I'd recommend them. Just make sure to use the iron on the cotton setting and not try to steam them off...we ended up with a nasty burn hole in the fabric surface almost instantly on one pad so if you wanna try it just use the cotton setting and the ink they used for the logo will roll right off. Make sure you are using an old iron because the ink may stick to the surface of the iron and you'd either A) have to try to scrape it off or B) ruin your iron. So be sure it's an old iron :cool:
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By kind2311
#134750
I have dyed and used both fabric paint and spray paint. It helps to wash you pads after coloring them in order to remove any loose paint residue that might rub off.
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