Showcase of Non-Indy Federations

[kaosharper1]

We've talked about this in the past, and I know that there are members out there with Feds that don't have Indy bashes. As great as the Indy bash is, let's see what else we can do with a Fed, or even a DM Adventurer. Here's my entry. The grey is a Fed 3 with a Maltese Falcon inspired bash. The brown is a DM Adventurer with a Foyle's War inspired bash:

 

[Not-Bogart13]

Nice Maltese bash. I'll have to get a shot of my newly rebashed Fed 3. It's a work in progress, leans further towards a western style.

 

[UWS Cowboy]

Mine was originally a center dent but since the crown on mine is shorter than it's supposed to be it looked like it had a bit of taper. After getting soaked through in a rainstorm last week I changed it to a diamond bash, and now there's no taper. I'm getting a carbon grey in a few days.. Oh man I have no idea how I should style it. Here's a picture I just took after walking in the snow.

 

[kaosharper1]

Looks great with a diamond!

 

[kaosharper1]

Anybody home?

Come on! There has to be more than this out there. Take a break from holiday stuff and show us what you've got.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

OK, here's my last remaining Fed III, recently rebashed. I just wanted something different.

 

[kaosharper1]

That's the widest brim porkpie I've ever seen NB. Can we see how it looks when you wear it?

 

[JohnnyB53]

Tawny Fawn Fed IV and DM Adventurer

Kaosharper1, I'm all too happy to contribute to this thread. I've been meaning to express my appreciation for you explaining to me how you did the Maltese Falcon bash on your carbon grey Fed III. I received my tawny fawn Fed IV on Nov. 12 and since then have bashed it something like 6 different ways. First an Indy bash, then a C-crown. The C-crown was very wide and vertical, giving me a bit of a "coffee can" look, so I steamed out the creases and re-bashed it as a center crease, front pinch optional, so I was going back and forth between a Jet bash and a front pinch center dent. After you explained how you did the Maltese Falcon, I gave it a try:

Side view w/top, and Profile:

Front, Rear:

The day after Thanksgiving I visited the David Morgan showroom about 8 miles away. Just inside the door were some shelves of "rejects." Most had blemishes, but some are manufacturer's samples, where there's nothing wrong with the hat, but it isn't the final version that went into production. They had an Adventurer in my size for just $50. As you can seem the crown is much lower and more tapered than the final product, and has that gorgeous red liner. It works for me, however. The shape is a natural fit for my head shape. I steamed and bashed a C-crown in it.

I love this hat. It has the feel of an Italian fedora--soft, with a somewhat low crown and broad brim. I wish I could get the exact same thing in a light or medium grey. Then it would totally look Italian. The DM brim is 3-1/4" front and back, and 2-3/4" sides. Works for me.

DM Adventurer Top Front, Front:

DM Adventurer Side Profile, Rear:

And the two together:

 

[JohnnyB53]

That's the widest brim porkpie I've ever seen NB.

How about the porkpie of saxophone great Lester Young? He was so identified with this hat that when he died, Charles Mingus wrote a song to his memory called "Good-bye Porkpie Hat."

Certainly no stingy brim here!

 

[RBH]

I have a diamond crease in my Federation, it looks great!
It started life as a kinda 'Young Indy' fedora. But has evolved into a diamond....
I will post a photo soon.

 

[citRon]

Ok, you MUST provide the directions for the Maltese bash!

 

[kaosharper1]

The "Quasi-Maltese Falcon" bash

Ok, you MUST provide the directions for the Maltese bash!

OK. Here goes:

I remember that I wet the top of the crown pretty good so that the felt was very soft. Not the sides, just the top.

1) I started with a center dent so that the front and back would be at the right height which would be about the same.

2)Then I shaped the sides by pushing the dent over in the middle. I chose the height I wanted on each side and press the crown down on each side. Each side on my Fed (which is a Fed III so it has a 6" crown) is about 4 3/4" and the front and back about 4" or so. This should give you the side ridges and the v in the front. I kept the back rounded.

3)The last step was to pop up the top of the crown by pushing up on the inside while holding the edges down on the inside with the fingers and thumb of your other hand. This is so the crown doesn't just pop all the way up again.

4) Make sure that each side is the same height. The felt should still be wet (you can wet it again) and shape the sides so you get a nice arc to them.

5) The front crease is really just a crease with no dents, or at least not much of one. In the pictures of the movie it looks like the crease doesn't have dents to me so that's what I did.

I always wet the top of the crown and not the sides so I don't get any taper.


There you go. It's really a quasi-Maltese because the original looks like a thin felt, soft hat which would better suit California than a Fed. But the Fed really holds a bash. So its really inspired by the Maltese Falcon hat, and not a reproduction, but I liked it on its own.

 

[kaosharper1]

How about the porkpie of saxophone great Lester Young? He was so identified with this hat that when he died, Charles Mingus wrote a song to his memory called "Good-bye Porkpie Hat."

Certainly no stingy brim here!

I always loved Lester, and the Mingus inspired tune. "Ah Um" is just about a perfect album.

 

[citRon]

k1, thanks! :eusa_clap My Fed 4 currently sports the center dent, but my egg shaped head requires a shallower dent that results in the rear being the same height as the front. -which I don't like the looks of. I had a pretty nice C crown in a Fed 3 but that had a 6 inch crown, but the Fed 4 needs the 'noggin holster' center of your creation.
...where's my spray bottle...

 

[Not-Bogart13]

That's the widest brim porkpie I've ever seen NB. Can we see how it looks when you wear it?

I don't think it can really be called a pork pie, at this point, but I'll take it. I was thinking "telescope." I was inspired by a hat I once saw DeForest Kelley wear, but it had more brim curl.

I'll work on more pics.

 

[Chuck Bobuck]

Here's my Fed IV with a diamond...

 

[MattJH]

The two in the front are Akubra Federation IVs in Dark Brown and Carbon Grey, both with a sort of diamond / teardrop / shield crease hybrid:

 

[kaosharper1]

The two in the front are Akubra Federation IVs in Dark Brown and Carbon Grey, both with a sort of diamond / teardrop / shield crease hybrid:

Chuck, Dumbjaw: Looks great. Dumbjaw, what kind of boxes do you use for your Feds?

 

[MattJH]

Dumbjaw, what kind of boxes do you use for your Feds?

Brooks Brothers boxes. I have four. They're my favorite. Two for each Akubra Federation IV, one for a Stetson Whippet, one for a Herbert Johnson. Then my Dobbs goes into a Dobbs box, my Knox into a Knox box, and my MacLachlan into a MacLachlan box.

 

[Ande1964]

Black Fed III

Haven't posted a photo of my Fed Deluxe III since I trimmed the brim 1/4". Bashed with a deep diamond.

Sorry about the photo. I need to figure out a good way to capture the black hats.

Anj