Okay, I've gotten quite a few emails over the last week reguarding the duffman costume - no surprise really given the impending halloween (interesting what email addresses people guess at to contact me though :) ). Anyway, by far the most requested item is the Duff logo. I got mine via a Google image search and a little time with Paint Shop Pro, but to make life easier on the next generation of duff, I'm posting a word document with the images in it. It's the word document I used to print the labels so everything is all sized correctly for 2x4 labels (at least I think that's the size). The image should be pretty easily extracted for the hat and shirt - if not, well, it's not exactly a high definition image anyway so you can probably just fake it.
Anyway, download the document (559 k).
And for all of you duff costume makers, it only took me about a weekend, the hardest part is probably going to be finding the gloves and boots. For the boots, white spray paint definately flakes so try white shoe polish, for the gloves I just used a pair of cheapy fake fleece gloves which still allowed me to grab things but didn't make your hands stink like rubber gloves.
hey, well yeah, I'm being Duffman this year. I was just wondering. with the heat transer paper to transfer it onto the shirt, did you have to like reverse to picture so it doesnt ge like a mirror effect. Sorry, kind of a stupid question, but well i just really wanna look like Duffman, and i just don't really know how to do the shirt.
The heat transfer stuff I used was pretty basic - it was basically just paper that would stick to thing when you heated it up, so I just printed a normal duff label (not mirrored, just large), cut away all of the extra paper and ironed it onto the shirt. Kind of like one of those old school iron on patches. The paper was pretty cheap, I think I got a dozen sheets for $3 at office depot or something. Good luck with the costume, let me know if you've got any more questions.
Just in case you read this but didn't catch my most recent post, feel free to email me at duffman at this domain.
I too will be "DUFFMAN" this year, in fact I got a late start figuring what I wanted to wear, you may be surpised to know that if you type in "duffman costume" on google your site is the first one to appear. Well anyway to do this costume like you did (which is the best i have seen) takes some time to put together as you stated. I had a hell on a time finding WHITE rubber boots and gloves. I spent hours and hours locating the best ones the will match the costume. I hope they make it here in time. If someone at these parties has a digital cam I will send them to you. Thanks for the ideas.
Wow, I'm impressed you actually found white rubber boots - I gave up on that search after about 4 hours :) Good luck and I hope you can manage to send a pic, I really want to put up a "gallery of duffmen" now. Cheers.
For all of you looking for White boots, check out any industrial supplier (such as lab safety supplies). For some reason shrimper boots are white and avalble from several sorces. The porblem I had was finding some localy. the boots are cheap ($10-15) but shipping is about $15 from most places. I found them at West Marine, so anyone living near the coast on the west, there you go (shrimpers boots $12.95). Still searching for the perfect gloves. I'll send a pic when I get it all together
I found the gloves at www.labsafety.com then type in "BEST Tuff Guard Natural Rubber Gloves" They look like they will do the job, might have to trim a few inches off then roll down.
I have a question regarding the transfer paper (i'm being duffman at ohio state, by the way) You have a blue shirt, but how do you get the white rectangle behind the duff logo?? My printer doesn't have white ink, and I thought the transfer paper comes through clear except where the printer prints. Thanks!!! This rocks! I'm probably gonna be lazier about the cans but i'm so excited
The transfer paper I got isn't what most people consider transfer paper. It is basically just paper that you remove a protective covering off of the back and then iron onto a shirt. Anything that you don't print on (that is, leave white) shows up as white. The paper I got was from office depot where they had a couple of different kinds - some for lighter colored fabrics and some for darker - and came in packs of about 15. Other people have mentioned a kind of tansfer paper where you have to print the image mirrored from how you want it to turn out and the white areas don't appear on whatever you're transferring onto. That sounds like what you're talking about, but it isn't what I used - probably a little higher quality paper than what I used :) Cheers, - Zack
Excellent catch on the shrimper boots -- i just ordered some that will hopefully arrive right on time, for only 20+5 shipping too!
OK, I couldn't find white boots so I went with the black boots/white paint trick. I got this stuff called Krylon Fusion which is supposed to paint on anything including plastics and rubbers. The good news is that it worked. The weird part is, hours later the paint is extremely sticky and shows no hope of improvement! I don't want to be picking up lint and cats all night, so now I'm open to other suggestions. My time for shopping is VERY short, so home remedies would be ideal. Kthx!
Wow, and to think that I was going to be original with my Duffman costume. Its awesome that so many people love the Simpsons. Anyway, Dave: If you go to Wal Mart they have tall rubber boots for $8.00. They are black, but they look fine with some regular white paint. If you don't mind shelling out the extra money for another pair, Walmart is your best bet. And Zack, thanks for the logo. You made my life so much easier. GO PSU!!!
JB posted these links in another comment thread, but I figure they may be useful for anyone looking for different images at the last minute - they're vector based and PDF respectively so you kind of have to know what you're doing to use them (that would exclude me :) ). Anyway, links: http://logo.nino.ru/main/?text=duff&id=135 http://nospacebar.dyndns.org/duff.pdf
Hey my roommate gave me the idea for Duffman for this year and I couldn't believe how much this site helped me in preparing for getting all the materials and helpful hints in placing together the costume. I will have pictures up after this weekend. Feel free to check out my site for our kick ass Halloween Party along with pics of our fake fraternity house and the hot roommate (according to Zack) Silke from Germany! We are officially ALPHA BETA SKATA BOOZA, the Neo Greek Resistance! http://therealworldhousedenver.com Also for any of you filmmakers or aspiring filmmakers http://www.toofy.com
http://www.therealworldhousedenver.com http://www.toofy.com
Oops - duplicate comments. I guess that's what you get when you write your own crappy comments system :) all cleaned up now.
Nice work with the Duffman suit! Just my luck that I'd find this page after finishing my suit for the upcoming halloween parties. It's actually really strange how wannabe Duffmen think alike. I also used mono foam to fill my cans and I also used way to much of the stuff. Luckily the holes were cut in the bottom so nothing's wrecked. I also used tallboy beer cans to get a more animated look. Now here's the big difference... I cut 2 holes in the cans and ran thin rope though them before filling the cans with foam. Nothing will break my belt! And the actual body suit has a sculpted chest plate I took from an old superman costume. It just wouldn't be Duffman without some bulging muscles... and other bulges too.
i took your basic idea and spent a little more money on it. ebay was great for some of the hard to find pieces. the gloves, hat, and rubber boots. i found white boots for $10. i had the body suit sewed out of spandex material so it is all one piece. i decided to go with fosters 24oz. cans for the belt. they really look good. i will send a picture when complete. you do need to get a gallery going for all the duffman lovers out there.
No worries, I'll definately start a duffman gallery. Unfortunately I can't give image upload capabilites to the world lest, well, you can imagine what some might do with that :) Just send anything you want to have posted to duffman at this domain, I'll get it all set up. Maybe a little more google image searching so that it's duff themed :)
Unfortunately, it's too late for me to buy anything so I have to make do with what I have (I just decided on the costume on Sunday night). I'm going to continue experimenting with the boots, I'm sure there's a solution out there.
Dave - I had an idea for the sticky krylon problem. It's not ideal or anything, but you could always grab some of that spray polyurethane. It'd be clear and it definately leaves a non-sticky surface (I used it to protect a desk I painted). The only problem is that it's designed to dry somewhat hard, but a light coating may work to cover the sticky paint without making the boots brittle. Just a thought.
Hey I know that I am putting this together at the last minute but I am hoping to make the costume look decent. I am having troubles finding the red belt and plain red hat? Any suggestions. I have been to the typical Wal-Mart, Target, and other stores like that I have come up empty any suggestions would be great. Thanks
The red belt I used was a luggage belt. Another guy me a picture and he'd just used a regular canvas belt from somewhere and dyed/painted it red, that seemed to work well. As for the hat, I got mine from target specifically, though it was from the young woman's department (some generic "accessory" hat). Other than that I'd say just look for a red Bucanneers or pirtaes cap with a small enough logo to cover with the duff image.
I got my hat from a small company that makes t-shirts for little league and that kind of stuff (A place that specializes in iron ons). They actually made my H.S. Class shirt. It is a Red truckers hat and it only cost me $2.50. I ironed on a duff label and it looks great. So just look for a place that makes t's and you will find your hat.
Hey Troy. The Belt does not have to be red. I used a cheap black belt and it looks fine. I attaced my cans with velcro, and they are close enough together that the belt color is hardly noticeable. As far as the hat, try a sporting goods store (or the hat store lids). THey usualy have plane hats. They can be expensive at these places though ($14-18) Good luck
I got my hat (and every other part of my costume) from Valu Village. The hat and, um, briefs were white so I dyed them red and it turned out pretty good. As for the boots, I tried spraying them with a clear coat and it looks like it's covering the stickiness, at least for as long as I'll need them. So problem solved. Idea on the belt; to attach the cans, punch a hole in the back of the can with a nail or other sharp object. Slide a bobby pin through the hole so that one end is fully inside the can and the other sticks out. The can will then just clip onto the belt and can be easily removed if they get cumbersome. I tried this after epoxy didn't work, and it's much easier.
Just put the finishing touches on my version of Duffman. Many thanks as your methods were quite helpful. Only problem was the top I used was a little too dark and the graphic turned kinda crappy. Also, I didn't make a white background for it, simply tried to use the color of the shirt which was a mistake. But only a minor detail as the rest of the suit kicks ass. Thanks again!!
Hey all we had an excellant Halloween party complete with a Heaven & Hell theme. You be the judge and tell me if these GIRLS were li'l angels or li'l devils. Check out the pics .... and Zack there are a few more pics of Silke for you! http://www.therealworldhousedenver.com/halloween.html
http://www.therealworldhousedenver.com/halloween.html
Thanks so much for the word document, worked out perfect, project almost complete, just need to get the hat and "tighty reddies". I'll be sure to send pics after this weekend.