Guest Axelay Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Upon studying the forum and comparing a lot of what I've learned to the photo provided in the official 501st reference guide, I'm curious about a few technical details. - The very front of the hard belt ("buckle" for simplicity's sake) is joined by two smaller hard side pieces ("thighs" for simplicity's sake). In this photo, the rivets are white. I have white rivets, so is this OK to use? I'm not trying for Lancer on my first assembly. Ohhhh no. Waaaaay too much work to do here. - My belt appears to be misassembled. The "thighs" are placed on top of the "buckle." In this photo, the "buckle" is on top of the "thighs," which I think looks substantially cleaner. Is this correct? - My belt has been assembled with rivets in the webbing for the "thigh" boxes. I'm assuming that this is flat out wrong. It doesn't look very aesthetically correct. - How wide should the webbing be for the "thigh" boxes? Is it the same width as the webbing which passes around the back of the belt and thermal detonator? - Finally, I have no idea why, but the "thighs" on my belt have 3 rivets at the very back where they join the webbed belt and pass around the back of the suit. I'm guessing that there should only be 2 rivets in each section, but I think I read in one forum post that the original costume only had 1 rivet in each section. Which is correct? Thanks to everyone for the continued help. I'm learning a LOT more about this costume than I had ever imagined. I am fascinated with all of the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainfly Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Axelay, I just finished working on my belt and I think I can answer some of your questions. 1. If you can glue the thigh pieces to the front hard belt it will look even better. Use some E6000 and, if you want, follow pandatrooper's SC build thread on how to make them super secure. 2. The reason why it looks cleaner in this image is because you dont see any edges, just the top of the overlap. I think it looks better this way so that is how I assembled mine. I dont know if there are specific regs for that. 3. I am not sure what you mean when you say that there are rivets in the webbing. Post a picture of your belt? 4. I THINK that my thigh box webbing is 1.5" of canvas. This is NOT the same kind/size webbing for the back end of the belt. 5. I posted about this here earlier. One rivet is technically correct but I went with two for extra security. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jyjellyfish77 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 With my limited time as a pathfinder, it looks good to me. My question is, what size is your waist? The rear strap coming up to the waist belt from the thigh box should be toward the back. If you have a thin waist I can see that the plastic part of the belt would wrap toward your back and you'd need to attach it where you did. It'd be better if we could see the belt on you for reference. Good Luck I'm a 38 inch waist so you can see what I'm working with in my signature picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 - My belt appears to be misassembled. The "thighs" are placed on top of the "buckle." In this photo, the "buckle" is on top of the "thighs," which I think looks substantially cleaner. Is this correct? With the SC Belt, it's 3 parts. So you have to join it. There is no 'right or wrong' answer to this because the screen used belts were one piece. Having the them underneath so the join faces rearwards is cleaner, so I'd go for this. - My belt has been assembled with rivets in the webbing for the "thigh" boxes. I'm assuming that this is flat out wrong. It doesn't look very aesthetically correct. The rear webbing straps for the drop boxes, 'should' attach at the rear near the TD, hiding this away. I normally sew mine on. - How wide should the webbing be for the "thigh" boxes? Is it the same width as the webbing which passes around the back of the belt and thermal detonator? The drop box straps are 40mm, the belt should be 50mm. - Finally, I have no idea why, but the "thighs" on my belt have 3 rivets at the very back where they join the webbed belt and pass around the back of the suit. I'm guessing that there should only be 2 rivets in each section, but I think I read in one forum post that the original costume only had 1 rivet in each section. Which is correct? The screen used belts were only secured at the rear with ONE single rivet. This was left silver too. How you do it is up to you. But Lancer would only accept ONE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Axelay Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 OK, here are some more photos! - Rivets in the webbing. I just don't even know why. I'm going to have to replace all of the webbing. - The front of the belt is on the left side of the image. As you can see here, the back sections overlap the front. Looks like I'm going to have to drill out these rivets and punch new ones with the back pieces underneath the front. - The very back of the belt. Again, I just cannot explain why there are 3 rivets here. And they're not evenly spaced, which just drives me nuts. Any advice on how I might fix this after I drill them out? The third hole is the only real problem - I was intending to do 2 anyway. I almost feel like I might have to do something kinda ghetto and go with a thin strip of white electrical tape to cover all 3 holes, and then repunch the two good ones with white rivets. And, as you can clearly see, the webbing here is just a wreck. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated, as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 It hurts everytime I see that eBay seller's auctions. If I were you, I'd just pick up new cotton webbing (like from Jontay.com) and replace it. Also, IMO...I'd try and trim the ABS and rivets off the back. Then, get some 2" nylon webbing and secure it with a single rivet on each side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandatrooper Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Agreed. Replace the webbing and do it right. The rear webbing with all those rivets is a mess! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Axelay Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 OK, just so I'm clear, for the thigh boxes, go with 1.5" cotton regular weight webbing? And for the back of the belt go with 2" nylon webbing? http://store.jontay.com/regular-weight_cotton_webbing_1-1/2_inch-wide_white_retail.aspx I've already got the 2" nylon, fortunately. Found that at the craft store. Let me see how much of the back of the belt I would lose if I cut off the 3 bad rivets... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 That's how I did mine Eddie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Axelay Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Man, that looks so sharp. How far back on the belt do the straps for your thigh boxes attach? Also, are your waist pouches functional? I really hope that mine are. I can't stand to go anywhere without my keys and phone on my person. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 At the back, they want to sit pretty much under the Thermal Det. I know on this pic, there isn't a thermal det in place, but you get the idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Yep, mine is done just like the image Chef has posted. I even have Chef boxes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chunk Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 In the pic Chef posted, the straps at the rear are attached on the outside of the nylon belt. I attached mine on the underdisde. To me this looks more "clean" You have plenty of spare plastic from your pic if you trip off those holes. You can even make a nylon belt the entire length. Secure with some velcro to the backside of the plastic belt to keep hidden. This way your really wearing a belt & it supports all weight. Not just a few inches on the ends. Mine is done this way on both my Biker Scout & Snow Scout. For the 1.5" theigh boxes. Use one continues strap. Weave it through the front plastic belt so it looks like catfish whiskers, now place you buckle(both ends snapped together) faceing up in your left hand, with your right push the webbing down on the end that is closest to your plastic belt center, & up out the other end. This will give the look of seperate pieces of webbing. It's easier to adjust you hip boxes too. Let me now if you need pictures & I can post some later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Axelay Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Thanks for the excellent guide photos. I am ordering new cotton webbing right now. I think I am going to attempt to trim off the section of the belt where the 3 rivets currently are. It's such an eyesore. Hopefully I will still have enough plastic to go about halfway around my waist (like how it looks in the screen-worn suit above). Time to see if I can start drillin' these rivets out and reassembling the front of the belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Axelay Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Successfully cut off the most rearward parts of both sides of the belt where the 3 rivets were. Looks like I do indeed have room for the hard belt to go slightly over halfway around my waist. Have also drilled out the rivets where the sides join the front, but have found that my 1/8" 3mm white rivets are much too small to use for the panel-overlap-switch rejoining. Cut off all of the ratty old cotton webbing and salvaged the buckles. Also did some MAJOR cleanup trimming and sanding of the holes in the thigh boxes. I'm increasingly optimistic that this will be a huge improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancelot Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Sounds like it'll be a big improvement! I don't remember where I read this tip, but I also glued the webbing to the back part of the belt. It takes the stress and wear off of the rivet point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Axelay Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Sounds like it'll be a big improvement! I don't remember where I read this tip, but I also glued the webbing to the back part of the belt. It takes the stress and wear off of the rivet point. Absolutely agreed! I did this too, and it seems to have strengthened the belt overall. I did a sort of double-loopback with mine to try to make the back as strong as possible for the detonator. I will try to get some photos ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treehuggerscout Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 It hurts everytime I see that eBay seller's auctions. If I were you, I'd just pick up new cotton webbing (like from Jontay.com) and replace it. Also, IMO...I'd try and trim the ABS and rivets off the back. Then, get some 2" nylon webbing and secure it with a single rivet on each side. I'm looking to refurbish my armor with more "Natural" webbing since I like the Natural look better than Dress white. I found the webbing but do you know if it would be the heavy duty or the standard thickness? I'm assuming standard but I've spent too much money without purpose by assuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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