Mandrake

I've just visited the specialist shop near me and unfortunately it wasn't something they were familiar with However I'm not giving up just yet,so I'll contact the company above, along with throwing the question out on to the net to see if the hive mind will be able give us a answer!

For reference this is the shape of the teeth, although the gap between them is far wider on the picture than on the armour! Also the teeth are far more pronounced in the picture than IRL. The picture was taken from here https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/Belts-Toothed-Belts-Wedge-Tooth-Profile-H-Profile-Wedge-Toothed-Belts-12.7mm-(1/2-inch)-Pitch/c4601_5046_5064_5068/index.html?selection=Synchronous+Toothed+Timing+Belts

I got round to measuring the strapping yesterday and it's as follows Width of strap = 45mm / 4.5.cm / 1.79 inches Length of strap =230mm / 23 cm / 9.05 inches Height of tooth = 4.5mm / 0.45cm / 0.177 inches Gap between each tooth= 5mm / 0.5cm / 0.196 inches ( from edge to edge ) or 10mm / 1cm / 0.393 inches when measuring from the centre of one tooth to another I believe I have found some that may fit the bill, although they are slightly narrower in belt width and slightly less tall , only 2mm by though! I have noticed that the belt needed trimming down to fit into buckle recess, which is 40mm on mine,so a smaller width belt would probably be a better fit 🤷‍♂️ I will visit a local specialist shop in the next few days and see if they can narrow it down ,as my only concern now ,which dart pointed out, is the belt being reinforced. Thank you very much for replying Mr poopie, without me having to contact you 😂

I've just had a thought,I imagine that each armour maker / designer ( Mr poopie,Walt's and armour prop shop) may have designed the opening / hole that the straps fit into, slightly differently to each other ,in both height and width. So for anyone reading this in the future,my findings are for the prop shop armour,I will contact Mr poopie and ask if he will so kind as to give the measurements for his design on this thread, for future reference. If anyone reading this who has Walt's armour,please feel free to add measurements for it,so it can be used by others when needed, thank you 🙏

After your suggestion,I've done a little more digging and found out what type it is,It's a wedge tooth profile .. unfortunately I still haven't got round to measuring the current straps , I'll do that soon ,so I can identify exactly what specification it is.

You won't regret having mesh panels there, trust me 😉,you can even fit a laptop cooler and power supply in the back part of the armour for extra cooling! I can point you in the right direction for making your own adjustable speed,helmet cooling system when the time comes 👍all the parts are from AliExpress, apart from the batteries!

My enquiring mind has always wondered what was used and due to the fact that parts for this costume are rare,and may need replacing at some point,I thought I'd Google lens it ,the first results were for toy tank tracks, which looked correct but are obviously to small,so I Google lensed that picture and one of the suggestions was for a timing belt . To be honest I've only spent a hour or so researching online and haven't got round to even taking measurements yet, although I am tempted to visit a local specialist shop to see if they can help,as I'm not familiar with the specifications of timing belts and how they are defined.

Just thought I'd throw it out there,I think I've figured out what was used for the shoulder straps ..and the answer is a timing belt! Ive got to figure out what pitch etc is exactly needed but I think I'm on the right track! I'll keep everyone updated when I find out the details. Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

For reference Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

Piping cord ,fabric piping and Sewing piping seem to be the 3 most commonly used names for it 👍

I'd advise adding some mesh material somewhere,if you can, it's going to get hot in costume !!!

The ribbing material is easy enough to get, you can get it from eBay etc or hobbiecraft if you want to go into a shop,I imagine haberdashery would probably stock it too 👍

I should be able to help you out!! I've got surplus COVID face shields for my girlfriend's bo katan build,I've also got green window tint , I'll get them out of storage and post them here to see if you think they are suitable 😉

I By literally explaining the situation.. Informing them of charity work that the 501st do,and that you are looking to have a certain characters jacket made and due to it being obscure , you can't get one from anywhere . Also telling them you will provide all the relevant material needed , should help. One thing to also bare in mind, when you do find someone who enjoys a challenge,is to remind the maker that it's a jacket for a costume and not a piece of proper clothing ! Providing pictures of the character,and any pictures of construction / finished jackets , should, give them more of a idea of what you're after. It will be a collaborative process and more than likely a few fittings will be needed.

Have you tried ringing round seamstresses in your area? I found carol purely by ringing round until I found someone willing to take it on, for what it's worth she specialises in wedding dress's. To be honest I think someone who is creative and also a confident seamstress would be happy to take the challenge on.. you've just got to find them... providing them with as much detailed information as you can will make their job that little tiny bit easier 🤣 Another thing to try would be people who make costumes for theatre,or possibly university / college students that are doing relevant courses. As for the mesh, use the first link,I'm sure that's the place I ordered mine from,the more cooling you can get the better and it's also sweat wicking. I really can't remember how much I ordered, sorry, I'd err on the side of caution and say you probably need 4 or 5 metres .

"it's a minefield this lark" ... welcome to my world 😁 First link isn't any good imho, material doesn't look right . Second one looks ok, but I don't know if the 'fit / cut ' is right, doesn't seem correct somehow.. looks a bit too 'relaxed' . Hopefully Mr poopie etc will give their professional opinion soon !

Yeah, the bottom bit is made from mesh wicking material,the jacket is also lined with it inside

Looks suitably leathery looking to me ! As long as it's got a little bit of give / it's ever so slightly stretchy it should be ok.. I think. Another thing to test is that the 'leather' isn't going to flake,so give the material a bit of a scratch to check it's not going to mark easily. I sourced everything myself and just gave it to carol to work with . As requested a picture of my lovely ladies trousers [emoji1]... For future reference, my armour pieces are permanently velcro'd on to the jacket and have stayed in place for a year, I recommend using official velcro as it's unbelievable strong! Another thing to bare in mind is the positioning of the wicking material on the stomach area, depending on what armour your using I think you'd probably have to adjust it's position,so it's not visible,I noticed on Mr poppies jacket he has used a lot less than I have [emoji2369] Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

If you need any more information, just ask Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

After consulting with the better half, I can confirm the jacket is made from the material I posted earlier . It's a softer faux leather so has a small amount of give/stretch and was used for the top half of the main body and sleeves. To create the ribbing in the sleeves, carol added a layer of padding to the back of the material before stitching the rib design to make them more prominent . The sports material used for the bottom of the jacket was also used to line the jacket throughout . Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

It IS a case of trial and error,I bought some material that ended up be something similar to the picture [emoji23] , even though it was sold as faux leather . Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

She's not very quick to reply tbh,so it'll probably be a day or 2 before she gets back to you. Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

I believe this is the material the jacket is made from, so when you get your sample it should be a good reference. That website link you posted does look familiar,so it may Very well be one of several I used. I'm sure there's a WIP on here where someone made his own jacket,and did a damn good job, there might be some nuggets of information in that could prove useful. I'll post more detailed pictures of the construction of the jacket etc soon [emoji106] Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

The shirt ribbing I can help you with,you should of said before 🤣 I Would imagine the same technique could be applied to making the jacket , although mine was hand stitched and didn't use piping. I only stumbled upon this after needing a replacement collar but decided I'd leave it to a expert to do,so I contacted imperial seamstress on Etsy,who kindly unstitched and replaced the collar with one of her own creations. I've unearthed the left over materials from the make, I'll post some pictures soon, for future reference , hopefully it'll be of some use.

carolgregorydesign@gmail.com