I have just finished spray painting my elbow pads which i think have turned out excellent
Now i have one question, to give the pads more of a accurate GB1 look, how have the fans here achieved the black patch on the seams ?
Sewn on a patch or used something easier, would just using a black marker be just as effective?
I’ve been debating about doing this to my pads as well…I think masking off a square and spray painting it black would work fine, but I’m not entirely sure that the paint would stick properly to the material, so I’ve been a little reticent to try it…anyone tried spray paint for the square on their elbow pads?
I think a sort section of 2" wide black elastic would be best to use - just stitched at the sides. Doesn’t need to be too tight if the pad isn’t stretched out.
Is it possible that due to cutting the pads to shape, the ones used in the movie frayed or stretched out so badly that elastic was added to join them back together?
C.
I don’t think it’s elastic or fabric sewn on.
I used a fabric paint on mine. Slap several layers of black fabric paint over it, letting each dry, after masking that area off and it should look about right.
Also, use black fabric paint on the pads themselves. I used charcoal because the pads in the movies aren’t super black like a black elbow pad. But then I found out that after you wash the pads they lighten up a lot, so they’re only half as dark, and adding fuller’s earth on top of that to make them look dirty lightens them even more. So black fabric paint for both the pad and the patch on the back is the way to go, IMO.
Also I replaced my bands with gray fabric I sewed. I ended up having to dye it with RIT pearl gray dye to get it to match the film though because what I got was much too light. It’s hard to tell until everything’s sewn together and you take a photo of it against your suit if it’s right or not. You can dye the fabric after it’s sewn on the pads, btw. The dye won’t really change the pad color 99% of the time from what I’ve read here.
I used black spray paint on mine. It’s held to this day. The Defender pads I believe already have a “square” there. That’s what I used and masked off. I stretched it over a big piece of pipe to paint. Like 4 inches or something. To get the parts all stretched out. :whatever: As long as it has time to try. 
The reason I replaced my bands with fabric is cause if you cut the elastic bands down to size they fray a ton and that looks awful IMO. Also when I attempted to dye the elastic because the elastic is made of differnt types of thread that take dye differently instead of a consistent gray color I got bands of dark and light.
I used Markwort pads though. Your mileage may vary with other brands.
Thanks for all the replies people, i think ill mask of a area as someone mentioned & take it from there
I masked off the area and airbrushed it dark grey/black. Turned out great. Good luck with yours
Thanks for the photo OCP, ur uniform & elbow pads look spot on, how big is the area of the black square just so i can have a rough guess of the size square id need to look effective?
Also of a side note but looking at the key chain on your belt, that looks correct to GB1, where did u get yours as i cant seem to find one of those over here, its the bottom part im refering to ?
Hello, sorry for the late reply ;o) The black area i did is 65mm by 55 
It’s actually a pattern that was already stitched into the material, i just used that as a guide. The belt clips were on the belt when i bought it, i think they were made by gb_dan but dont quote me on that.
Hope that helps :o)
MT
Zack, do you happen to remember what kind of spray paint you used? I would imagine a matte finish would be ideal for fabric, but I don’t want to mess up my only set of pads by guessing…
I believe it was matte black. Looks almost exactly like OCP’s. I used the same square that was stitched in the defender pads. I was glad to see it there as a reference. :o Stretching it over something big to get the paint in all the holes so when it’s stretched out, you won’t see paint where it stretches. :boogieman:
Yeah, I have Defender pads as well, so I’ve been eyeing that convenient square for a while…I think I’ll have to give it a try now! I had a two liter bottle I was using to try and stretch the pads a little after I dyed them (those things are tight!), I’ll go dig it out tonight. Thanks for the advice!
Just FYI, the paint i used was tamiya flat black, with a little slate grey mixed into it, worked out ok on the material
I thought the reason the black square was there was because the original pads were dyed black to turn them grey (50% cotton and 50% elastic material dyed black will turn a mid-grey colour) and that was simply a section of pure cotton put there for the comfort of the wearer, which took all the dye and turned black? I also thought that was why the edging of the pad itself was black, since this was cotton also. Bear in mind, we are talking about pads made 25 years ago, so this may not hold true any more, due to design changes in the intervening years
Here’s how some of our team members pads look.
The edges were trimmed, the middle of the elastic was cut out and replaced with black elastic. Makes the pads alot more comfortable. The black edge is from where a border was sewn in to prevent fraying. Color was a combo of dyeing and airbrush.