Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

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Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by p51 »

SC doesn't sell pilot wings with the logo, so I got a pin I scored off ePay, bought some heavy reproduction WW2 Army Observer wings )Google the name to see what I started with) and made a set myself:
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Yes, the logo is a little off center. I didn't take into account that the pinback was unlikely to be centered on the pin itself. But it's only off maybe a milimeter or two, so I'll live with it. I drilled a hole in the center and used JB Weld to bond it all together.
This will go on my landyard this fall when i go back, making people wonder where the heck I got them...
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Hotdog »

That looks good. Any way you could gold-plate the wings so they match the pin?

What kind of wings does Space Camp give out these days? They used to give out gold wings with the logo in the middle. It would be nice to get another set!
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by p51 »

Hotdog wrote:That looks good. Any way you could gold-plate the wings so they match the pin?
That'd make it look too Navy-like to me. And as a former Army Captain, I just can't have that! :wink:
Hotdog wrote:What kind of wings does Space Camp give out these days? They used to give out gold wings with the logo in the middle. It would be nice to get another set!
The bottom set in this photo is what I got in September, still on my issued lanyard in the spot I put it on right after I got them:
Image
They're made from really weak metal, you can bend them with one hand if you're not careful...
Frankly, the wings you get at SC are sort of a joke. They look like something you'd get from a vending machine. For what you pay for camp, they could afford to make better ones like this. I think the ones I made should be a model for what should be given to campers who complete the program. I saw a few similar to the one I made that were awarded to counselors. If memory serves, they did indeed have gold wings.
I mostly used the wings I did because of the design (it's a giant "O" with recessed set of molded horizontal lines, perfect for the JB weld to get a grip on them) and they fact that they're a WW2 type. I would have used Army wings had there been an Army design that had such an inviting flat space like these ones did in the center like that.
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Conan »

I did get a set of gold wings with the logo in the center many years ago. I posted a photo of them here earlier when I posted all of my pins and shirts.
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by p51 »

Conan wrote:I did get a set of gold wings with the logo in the center many years ago. I posted a photo of them here earlier when I posted all of my pins and shirts.
Image
How sturdy are those gold wings? I really like them and wish they kept that design. What they give out right now is very weak indeed, the primary design hasn't changed in a very long time.
But that's why I made mine, they look cooler than anything you get issued (or can buy in the gift shop) and are quite sturdy, You couldn't bend these without a vice!
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Hotdog »

I've never seen the wings with the orbiter in the shield before. What year and program are those from?
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by p51 »

Hotdog wrote:I've never seen the wings with the orbiter in the shield before. What year and program are those from?
I thought I read elsewhere here that they were counselor wings. I know for sure the counselors I met last September almost all had an embroidered version of that wing on their flight suit nameplates.
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Saint »

The wings with the orbiter in the shield are used for two different things.

Pin-on wings are for Pathfinder (short program). The embroidered ("soft wings") version of it is worn by Crew Trainers in silver or gold, based on personal preference. Me? I'm a Navy man. Gold.

Wings very similar to what p51 made (great ingenuity, BTW), are the pin-on Crew Trainer wings. It''s also used for something else when embroidered: the Hall of Fame soft wings (which are gold)
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Hotdog »

Those are awesome! That's how they all should be! I say give Campers the silver ones and Advanced graduates a gold version. Just don't put the aquanaut logo on there!
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by p51 »

Hotdog wrote:Those are awesome! That's how they all should be! I say give Campers the silver ones and Advanced graduates a gold version. Just don't put the aquanaut logo on there!
Darn right, I agree with every word of this!
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Dyna-Soar »

p51 wrote:
Hotdog wrote:That looks good. Any way you could gold-plate the wings so they match the pin?
That'd make it look too Navy-like to me. And as a former Army Captain, I just can't have that! :wink:
Hotdog wrote:What kind of wings does Space Camp give out these days? They used to give out gold wings with the logo in the middle. It would be nice to get another set!
The bottom set in this photo is what I got in September, still on my issued lanyard in the spot I put it on right after I got them:
Image
They're made from really weak metal, you can bend them with one hand if you're not careful...
Frankly, the wings you get at SC are sort of a joke. They look like something you'd get from a vending machine. For what you pay for camp, they could afford to make better ones like this. I think the ones I made should be a model for what should be given to campers who complete the program. I saw a few similar to the one I made that were awarded to counselors. If memory serves, they did indeed have gold wings.
I mostly used the wings I did because of the design (it's a giant "O" with recessed set of molded horizontal lines, perfect for the JB weld to get a grip on them) and they fact that they're a WW2 type. I would have used Army wings had there been an Army design that had such an inviting flat space like these ones did in the center like that.
My grandmother received a pair of the gold wings when she attended one of the Educator programs back in the 80's.
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Hotdog »

Yes and I got a pair of the gold wings as well. That was back in the heyday of Space Camp which was anytime after the SC movie (1986) to about 1994-95. After that, things went downhill. So now the wings are back to looking like something you buy at the flea market. At best we can now look forward to wings with the crappy new aquanaut logo.
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by p51 »

Just scored these off ePay, I bid on it when I was actually going through space camp.
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Still hope to nab a pair of the counselor wings someday...
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Saint »

Hotdog wrote:At best we can now look forward to wings with the crappy new aquanaut logo.

Vincent and I were talking a few months ago, during the International Camp opening ceremonies. He came up with a new name for the logo:

"Disappointed Astronaut Dad"

:lol:


p51 wrote:Just scored these off ePay, I bid on it when I was actually going through space camp.
Image
Still hope to nab a pair of the counselor wings someday...
Pathfinder wings! That's one of our short programs.

Good luck with the Counselor wings. We can't even get a new pair if we lose ours.
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by p51 »

I just got this shot for the heck of it today, I'm not 100% what some of these wings were for...
The top wings in each collum are ones I have personally earned at SC.

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Last edited by p51 on Fri May 30, 2014 5:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by p51 »

If you look at Saint's post about with the photo of his nameplate and the trainer wings, compare them with the new wings apparently being given out at SC now (thanks to Hotdog for finding this shot):
Image
Sure would like to know what those are in the row third from the right... :?:

I know someone who makes the velco-back flight suit nameplates for military aircrew, and they told me that they could make me a set of Army Astronaut wings on a nameplate. Got to thinking, as SC sells nameplates to camper with USAF wings, I wonder what would be the big deal? But I never was aircrew when i was in the Army and never earned those wings. But then again, in the context of SC, it's all simulated anyway. I might take them up on it, it's not like I have to wear them if i have them...
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Vincent »

Here's a closeup of the new counselor wings and the new Robotics 'wings'.
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by p51 »

Vincent wrote:Here's a closeup of the new counselor wings and the new Robotics 'wings'.
oh, so the camper wings haven't changed, huh? Darn.
As for the robotic wings... man, ugly.
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Hotdog »

I like the new Robotics wings! And no, I didn't design them. :lol: The robotics program is so different from the other programs, and a radically different style of "wings" is fitting in that regard. Perhaps if we refer to it as a "badge" instead of wings, folks will be less likely to look at them as such?
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Re: Well, if you can't buy it... make it!

Post by Saint »

Yeah, that table of wings is from new Crew Trainer grad. They've updated the CT wings with the "Disappointed Astronaut Dad" logo. I need to nab a pair of the newones for the collection. And if I can get them, an extra pair of the old ones.
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