The Aliens Legacy
http://forum.alienslegacy.com/

Simple patch conversion
http://forum.alienslegacy.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11376
Page 1 of 1

Author:  retrogarde [ Thu May 03, 2012 10:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Simple patch conversion

Like lots of folks starting out I have the Colonial Marines patches that are commercially available and for the most part that's just fine. But I am not recreating the uniform of Hicks or Hudson etc., so the fact that it says 'Sulaco' is a bit of a problem.

Attachment:
patch original.JPG
patch original.JPG [ 397.87 KiB | Viewed 8968 times ]


Here then is a quick fix that worked for me (and my apologies if someone else has already covered this in the past).
The first step is to decide on the name of your ship. I decided on "Conrad" for two reasons: first, it is a subtle reference to Joseph Conrad, the author of Nostromo, and second because it has the same number of letters as Sulaco so the spacing wouldn't be an issue.
The next step is to take a black Sharpie (or other permanent marker) and black out any parts of the text that can't be used. In this case I lucked out as some parts of each letter were usable. [It should be noted that seam ripping the orginal text completely out was my first plan of action, but the back of my patch has been fused together to make it an iron on.]

Attachment:
patch sharpie.JPG
patch sharpie.JPG [ 436.04 KiB | Viewed 8968 times ]


The third step is to stitch yourself a simple guide for the new letters. Since you will need to stitch through the original embroidery it would be worth getting a thimble to help push the needle through. I also found a clothes pin helped for pulling the needle from the other end.

Attachment:
patch stitch.JPG
patch stitch.JPG [ 492.24 KiB | Viewed 8968 times ]


Then you simply stitch over your guidelines, trying to match the thickness of the origianl embroidery. I would suggest doubling your thread so that you get two stitches each time, and try to do as much as possible in one go as tied-off knots are difficult to work around in such a confined space.

Attachment:
patch final.jpg
patch final.jpg [ 160.03 KiB | Viewed 8968 times ]


Once the name was done I went ahead and added a few stitches to make the bottom say "8th REGT." instead of "9th".
If any of your stitches are a little uneven you can tidy them up with black Sharpie, and if any of the original stitching is still obvious (like the diagonal line in Sulaco's "S") you can add a few black stitches to cover it up.
All told this project took about two hours to complete.

I hope this is useful to folks who don't have custom patches (or ship assignments), and I would love to hear feedback on this.

Author:  SgtTony [ Thu May 03, 2012 11:11 pm ]
Post subject: 

Quick, dirty and you've just created a new ship patch for nothing more than time and some thread!!

Now....can I order 50 of them? ;) [/sarcasm]

Love the guide. I'm tempted to try it myself on a spare patch.

Author:  retrogarde [ Thu May 03, 2012 11:46 pm ]
Post subject: 

Thanks Sarge!

Author:  Dropshipbob [ Fri May 04, 2012 3:25 pm ]
Post subject: 

That looks really good, nice work!

Author:  Doc [ Sat May 19, 2012 8:33 pm ]
Post subject: 

So how many Regiments in a Battal?

Author:  Winch [ Sat May 19, 2012 9:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re:

Doc wrote:
So how many Regiments in a Battal?

Well not sure about the US Forces but in the British Army you have several Battalions per Regiment not the other way around.

The following is plagiarised direct from Wikipedia which might help;

Wikipedia wrote:
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel. Several battalions are grouped to form a regiment or a brigade.
The nomenclature varies by nationality and by branch of arms, for instance, some armies organize their infantry into battalions, but call battalion-sized cavalry, reconnaissance, or tank units a squadron or a regiment instead. There may even be subtle distinctions within a nation's branches of arms, such as a distinction between a tank battalion and an armored squadron, depending on how the unit's operational role is perceived to fit into the army's historical organization.
A battalion is generally the smallest military unit capable of independent operations (i.e., not attached to a higher command), although many armies have smaller units that are self-sustaining. The battalion is usually part of a regiment, group or a brigade, depending on the organizational model used by that service. The bulk of a battalion will ordinarily be homogeneous with respect to type (e.g., an infantry battalion or a tank battalion), although there are many exceptions. Every battalion will also include some sort of combat service support, typically organized within a combat support company.

USMC Specific which is most likely the closest to the USCM.
Wikipedia wrote:
A United States Marine Corps battalion includes the battalion headquarters, consisting of the commanding officer (usually a lieutenant colonel, sometimes a colonel), an executive officer (the second-in-command, usually a major), the sergeant major, and the executive staff (S-1 through S-8). The battalion headquarters is supported by a Headquarters and Service Company (Battery). A battalion usually contains 2–5 organic companies (batteries in the artillery), with a total of 500 to 1,200 marines in the battalion. A regiment consists of a regimental headquarters, a headquarters company (or battery), and two to five organic battalions (Marine infantry regiments – three battalions of infantry; Marine artillery regiments – three to five battalions of artillery; Marine combat logistics regiments – two or more combat logistics battalions).

In the U.S. Marine Corps, an infantry or rifle battalion typically consists of a Headquarters and Service Company (H&S Co.), three rifle, or line, companies (designated alphabetically A through M depending upon which battalion of the parent regiment to which they are attached) and a weapons company. Weapons companies do not receive a letter designation. Marine infantry regiments use battalion and company designations as described above under World War II, with company letters D, H, and M not normally used but rather held in "reserve" for use in augmenting a fourth rifle company into each battalion as needed.

Author:  retrogarde [ Sun May 20, 2012 1:01 pm ]
Post subject: 

Apone and Company wouldn't represent the entire regiment, right? I'm not a military man (and I don't know what others have established before), but it seems like there could be multiple ships in the same regiment. Thoughts?

Author:  88reaper88 [ Sun May 20, 2012 4:03 pm ]
Post subject: 

I believe that most ships/vehicles and their crew are in their own battalions/squadrons, which are parts of bigger regiments made up of battalions of troops and command peeps.

I could be wrong but that's the way I've always seen it.

Author:  retrogarde [ Mon May 21, 2012 10:26 pm ]
Post subject: 

Okay: I don't have the Technical Manual that Lee Brimmicombe-Wood wrote (witing patiently for the rerelease), but I do have copies of the Technical *Readouts* he wrote for the UK Aliens magazine back in the early 90's.
He wrote one about what he dubbed MAU's (Marine Assault Units) each made of three companies with each company being comprised of three platoons and a headquarters squad. The 'paper strength' of each platoon is 25 personnel plus two synthetic humans, though "this is usually much less due to manpower shortages" (like in Aliens).
But where this fits into the battalion/regiment scheme still isn't clear. I'll scan the Technical Readout tonight and post it if people would find it interesting.

Author:  retrogarde [ Mon May 21, 2012 11:35 pm ]
Post subject: 

And this thread pretty much covers this question and more:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6942&p=100254&hilit=medic#p100254

Author:  retrogarde [ Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:08 pm ]
Post subject: 

I just got one of the newer 3" Sulaco patches, so I wanted to try my conversion to see if it would work with the smaller size:

Attachment:
newpatch.jpg
newpatch.jpg [ 176.89 KiB | Viewed 8754 times ]


It was a whole different ballgame as the embroidery is much finer, but I'm pleased with the end result. The only bummer is that I was three letters in before I realized I wasn't using 100% white thread. It's damn close, but if you look you can see that the new stitching is off white. I may have to take some tea or weak coffee and stain the rest of the letters to match. It wouldn't be a big deal at all except that this patch is for my new Service C's, so I didn't want to do any weathering.

Author:  Mole [ Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:52 am ]
Post subject: 

That's very impressive.

I wouldn't worry about the thread not matching 100%. I don't think anyone will get close enough to notice.

Author:  retrogarde [ Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:47 am ]
Post subject: 

Thanks Vicky! I get a little obsessive about the tiny details... 8)

Author:  Hollis DZC [ Tue Sep 25, 2012 7:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Simple patch conversion

That is awesome!!! GREAT JOB!! :delta: :delta:

Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/