Looking like Virgil Hilts For Under $250.00, Can it be done ?

[Clark J]

Hells Bells not bad Burt !! Send it down To Sellers for new knits and it would make a great beater upper !!

 

[Clark J]

A set of red knits !!

 

[London Cabbie]

I think we should all promise to watch ‘The Great Escape‘ (again) before Burts big reveal...

 

[B-Man2]

I think we should all promise to watch ‘The Great Escape‘ (again) before Burts big reveal...

LOL! I’m afraid that the “big reveal’ will be a “big let down” if you guys do that!

 

[Brettafett]

I want to see you sell the ensemble for double on Ebay after the fanfare!!!

 

[Clark J]

I want to see Burt try to jump the barbwire fence !!

 

[B-Man2]

I want to see you sell the ensemble for double on Ebay after the fanfare!!!

Brett
Yeh.... me too!
What size are you again? LOL!

 

[Lord Flashheart]

Just awesome. A great read. And a great A-2 for the money - I'm with you on the market for them too.

 

[London Cabbie]

Bert there will be a barbed wire jump too, won’t there...?

 

[B-Man2]

Bert there will be a barbed wire jump too, won’t there...?View attachment 42428

Ok I wasn’t going to show this to you and Clark because it screams “Oh Look at me “
and I’m not that kinda of guy .. Honest...
But just for a laugh .. this is me circa 1973 at a Moto X track outside of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania called Murrysville Race Track.
No BS........

 

[B-Man2]

Update:
Well this is the end result . Can you get away with a particular look or impression without spending a pocket full of money to accomplish the task at hand . You guys be the judge .

View attachment 42498View attachment 42499

 

[B-Man2]

Conclusions:
Like I said earlier, there’s no way I would ever attempt to pull off a Hilts Impression at this point of my life . I would look like a complete idiot, showing up at a show and trying to pull it off. So why did I bother with this whole deal? Well , if you remember from the very first paragraph , I had Pandemic boredom and it seemed like a good idea at the time. It helped me get through another 10 or 11 days sitting home without much to do . Secondly I thought that just maybe some of you guys might enjoy following the progress of this venture and it would kill some time for you as well. Lastly , for the younger guys who might think about doing something like this , it shows you can get by without the $139.00 WWII Chino repro pants and the $100.00 Hilts sweatshirts. One last thing, as I mentioned earlier , with the exception of the baseball glove , all of this stuff can be worn and used down the road . I had actually thought of putting the jacket back up for sale on EBay and seeing if it would sell as a Hilts replica jacket. But when I saw how nice of a condition it was in , I thought why not turn this jacket into a tribute jacket that I had always thought about doing , and so I’ve decided to keep it and do just that . Strip off the patch and name tags and other stuff and make it into something more meaningful to me personally.

Thanks for your service Dad.
God Bless you and may you Rest In Peace.

 

[Flightengineer]

Burt, this is a great result! It was interesting to follow this novel. Great photos and you are in great shape. Of course, don't sell this jacket.

 

[Micawber]

A grand project with an excellent end result Burt

 

[Smithy]

Burt, you're a bloody legend mate

McQueen was cool but he was a prick in real life, but Burt you're cool and a damn nice bloke to boot so you've kicked McQueen into a cocked hat!

 

[jack31916]

The Great Escape's 57th Anniversary ! A very good impression and the colorresemblance of the sweatshirt is striking ! Put the 507 patch on the jacket as a tribute to your father and as a conversation piece. Maybe some red or other color knits... Well done and thanks for this amusing thread!

 

[London Cabbie]

Thankyou for the past few weeks of excitedly waiting for the next instalment of the McQueen Lookikliey...Not only did you achieve your goals, we were entertained and you got to honour your Dad once again, Brilliant. I love this forum...

 

[mulceber]

The conversion into a tribute was a great (and unexpected) final twist in this whole saga. Very nicely done, Burt.

 

[ausreenactor]

A set of red knits !!

Yes! Red knits are all the rage at the moment!

 

[ausreenactor]

Conclusions:
Like I said earlier, there’s no way I would ever attempt to pull off a Hilts Impression at this point of my life . I would look like a complete idiot, showing up at a show and trying to pull it off. So why did I bother with this whole deal? Well , if you remember from the very first paragraph , I had Pandemic boredom and it seemed like a good idea at the time. It helped me get through another 10 or 11 days sitting home without much to do . Secondly I thought that just maybe some of you guys might enjoy following the progress of this venture and it would kill some time for you as well. Lastly , for the younger guys who might think about doing something like this , it shows you can get by without the $139.00 WWII Chino repro pants and the $100.00 Hilts sweatshirts. One last thing, as I mentioned earlier , with the exception of the baseball glove , all of this stuff can be worn and used down the road . I had actually thought of putting the jacket back up for sale on EBay and seeing if it would sell as a Hilts replica jacket. But when I saw how nice of a condition it was in , I thought why not turn this jacket into a tribute jacket that I had always thought about doing , and so I’ve decided to keep it and do just that . Strip off the patch and name tags and other stuff and make it into something more meaningful to me personally.
View attachment 42507

Thanks for your service Dad.
God Bless you and may you Rest In Peace.

Great Work Burt!
Consider just the pocket patch less the Airborne tab....