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Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 01:16 PM
I was asked in the Wilco models thread, to do a thread on assembling the Warrior's Gunbelt. Not your traditional model, so if it's int he wrong place, please move it. :)

This is the Laser and gunbelt I got from BSG.org about 9 years ago.
http://images21.fotki.com/v759/photos/4/451189/1589330/BSGholster1-vi.jpg
http://images105.fotki.com/v448/photos/4/451189/1589330/BSGholster-vi.jpg
What it consists of is a Blue Parade belt (similar to the older Army equipment belts) with brass colored fittings, the 3 Recharge cylinders (in this case resin casts of the markers used in the show) and the brown plastic holster (this one lined with brown felt)
BSG.org went with the theory that the original gunbelts were blue. I always thought of the belts as black. It's been shown that the originals might have started out as white, and were dyed black, resulting in a dark grey color.

So, what I did was I went about making a new gunbelt with a black belt as a base.

I ordered a new belt from here: http://www.paradestore.com

http://www.paradestore.com/images/PistolBelt173.jpg
If you like the blue belt, you can get that, if you like the idea of a black belt, you can get that as well, or you can go completely accurate and get the white one and some black dye.
The listed price of the belt is $10.95

Now, on the gunbelt I ordered, the holster was riveted to the belt. IT used the eye holes to run the rivetys through. I'm personally not a fan of Rivets, I prefer Screw posts. I get mine from Tandy Leather
www.tandyleatherfactory.com

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Hardware/Screw-Posts/1290-051.aspx?feature=Product_2
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/image.aspx/media/images/product/1290-01-L.jpg-250x
these are the ones I got, they are brass, so they match the rest of the hardware on the belt. I had to drill out some of the eye holes on the belt to allow the screw bases to fit through. but The holster is now removeable. (and on the black belt)

To attach the Recharge cylinders to the belt, The series used Velcro. and later in the season you can see zip ties on the cylinders to keep them from falling off. So, my purchased belt and when I redid it used screws to attached the cylinders. I used 2 on each cylinder. you can use a single one, and let it move a little. this might help when you sit. they do dig in a little. lol How I did this was, I used self tapping screws (ask at the hardware store, they can help you out). I drilled a starter hole (MUCH smaller then the screw diameter) then then started screwing through the belt, When I could see the tip of the screw, I positioned the starter hole on the screw and then just tightened up. the self tapping screw enlarged the hole and seated itself in the resin. the second screw worked just the same.

now, Like in the original Star Trek, the Languatron and Communicator also attached to the belt with velcro. there should be a square opposite of your holster on you hip.

The biggest problem will be getting a holster. I don't know of any place that offers brown plastic for you to cut and then mold for the holster. SO, if you want to make your own, you will need to paint the plastic.

There is one person i know offering holsters on ebay. I know the seller Katarra8 does not have the best feedback from people who have ordred from her before. But I have noticed that items that are not custom, and are offered in her ebay store have been delivered reliably. (http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Katarra8__W0QQ_armrsZ1)

she offeres a complete gunbelt for $99.99 (Concider what you can do it for yourself, way over priced!)
a molded holster (just the plastic, no felt lining) for $27.99 (if you can't heat plastic and mold it to your laser, this is not a bad price, but adding the fflet will be an issue)
And a unmolded, cut holster blank for $19.99 (this is what I got for my second gunbelt)
She also lets you choose right or left handed models for the molded holsters.

I'd completely discount the Completed holster, since even buying all the parts and doing a little assembly, you can do it for less then $70.

You will also have to supply the leg tie of you get either the molded holster or the blank. What they used in the series and what most replicas have is an 1/4 inch eleastic strap. It's attached with velcro. I changed this on both my gunbelts. I stuck with the 1/4 inch tie down, but I used Nylon, it doesn't stretch, so it holds the holster more securely. It's a little harder to sit, but this entire set up sucks for sitting, watch the actors in the show, they always slouch it seems. I ordered it online, and a simple google search with bring up either the eleastic or nylon webbing. And I also used a plastic buckle, found on the same site as the nylon.

If you have any questions, post here, and I'll answer them. Hope this helps.

Mieal Deneb
February 28th, 2009, 01:33 PM
I got my pistol/gun belt from Amazon.com for about $2.50. They don't come in large sizes, but this fits me. I plan to dye mine.

Chris Pappas (http://www.chrispappas.com/) Sells holster blanks as well as finished belts. (Or at least he used to...I can't seem to click on anything on the site right now. It's under the "Buy Repicas" section.

(I Know it has nothing to do with gun belts, but you can also order the collar insignia pins from Parade Store, I believe it's the military intelligence with the black painted blue and turned upside-down.)

Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 01:43 PM
one more thing I forgot to mention. Another modification I made when I redid the holster. I never liked how the plastic holster was split roght down the side. I put alot of time and effort into the porps and didn't like the thought of the pistol coming out that easily.

So what I did was drilled 2 small holes very close to each other, and 2 mirror holes on the other side of the holster break. (think of it like the holes on a button) I then laced some thread (I have heavy duty leather thread that I used) through the holse, closing the gap, and making sure that no matter how fast and hard I holster a pistol, I won't open the holster too much and the resin pistol falls to the floor. you barey notice the thread (it corsses the break on the inside) and I feel more secure about it.

Mieal Deneb
February 28th, 2009, 01:57 PM
BTW Reaper, do you have pictures of your completed belt after you put it on the black belt and made your mods?

Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 02:41 PM
just took these pics for you. :)

http://images17.fotki.com/v311/photos/4/451189/5742755/holsters-vi.jpg
This is both holsters I currently have. The top one (black one ) is the one I intend to use for costuming. The blue one I did just cause I had the spare belt and recharge cylinders. (I also have 2 and a half blasters right now)

http://images47.fotki.com/v1464/photos/4/451189/5742755/holster-vi.jpg
This is the primary Holster, the one I got from BSG.Org way back when. You can see the brown leather thread. On this one, I actually only used 2 holes and a simple loop (must have upgraded the process in my mind lol)

http://images47.fotki.com/v1464/photos/4/451189/5742755/spareholster-vi.jpg
This is the spare holster. I now remember I used 4 holes cause I had to reheat the plastic and extended 2 of the holes when I originally did this one up. I didn't think it would have held. There is also no felt in this one, since I am not sure I'll be using this much at all.

http://images44.fotki.com/v1470/photos/4/451189/5742755/Clasp1-vi.jpg
this is my primary clasp on my costume rig. It's a smaller buckle, and I think it looks better. It will blend a lot more. It shouldn't have to hold much stress, but I was worried about it breaking (it's not very big)

http://images44.fotki.com/v1470/photos/4/451189/5742755/Clasp2-vi.jpg
So, This is the second clasp I got, more of a traditional insertion lock. It looks like it's stronger, and would last longer, but it would also stand out more. The benefits of having a spare. :)

So that's my 2 rigs, did you want any other picture requests?

Mieal Deneb
February 28th, 2009, 02:46 PM
Thanks for posting those.

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 04:02 PM
Of course Parade store now has a black belt with brass hardware!!! I already have two white belts waiting to be dyed because they didn't used to carry one! lol Actually that is pretty cool. You could get the black one and just fade it out a bit. I'm just going to dye the ones I have though. I want to get the "steel gray" look.

Soon we should start a thread on the dress uniform! I'm not quite there yet...but soon I want to throw a dress belt together.

Great thread!

Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 04:18 PM
I too plan on doing a dress uniform as well. A thread on that would rock! :)

I think we have the makings of a costuming section here. All this could be the basis for the costume resources :)

And yes, as soon as you got tyhe white ones, They probably introduced the black ones lol. That's Murphy and his stupid law for you. I should know, Murphy is a good friend of mine lol

Mieal Deneb
February 28th, 2009, 05:02 PM
Yeah, I know Murphy pretty well too...:errr:

I plan on making my regular uniform so that I can wear it as my dress uniform. I plan to make a cape and "necklace" and keep my eye open for the belt and boots too. Not sure about the watch...suggestions? I've been looking online at belly dance jewelry, because the dress uniform "necklace" makes me think of a belly dancer's necklace. The cool thing is, everyone's necklace is slightly different, so you don't have to match anything precisely.

We really need a Costumes section on this board...

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 05:41 PM
I found some german military boots a while back for cheap that could work well for a dress uniform. However those of us with "Popeye" calves might have a hard time getting into them. I'm trying to figure out how to modify them.

Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 05:50 PM
I found some german military boots a while back for cheap that could work well for a dress uniform. However those of us with "Popeye" calves might have a hard time getting into them. I'm trying to figure out how to modify them.


oh yes, the bain of getting costume boots!!! I have tree trunks for legs, I can barely fit into boots.

the best solution would be to find someone who can do some serious leatehr work (an old fashioed shoe repair place should do the trick) and add in some extra material. Add it to the inside of the boots.

Another solution, given to me by a friend who does leather work (but can't sew in things like zippers lol) is to wet the leather, and using an inflatable football, slowly, over the courzse of a week or more, inflat the ball to stretch the leather. you will need to keep wetting down the leather, and only stretch it alittle each time. This will avoid ripping the leather.

Mieal Deneb
February 28th, 2009, 06:07 PM
I was going to suggest the wetting and stretching thing for the boots. It's amazing what just a little water and some patience can do.

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 06:21 PM
Sounds great to me! I actually have a good shoe repair place just down the stree. I was thinking about having them add some material. I might try the stretch method first.

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 06:23 PM
They're not entirely accurate...but here are some boots. I think the screen used dress boots were custom made.

http://www.tridentmilitary.com/Boots.htm

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/search/search.asp?r=Page%3A%2FDefault.asp+KW+Box&s=SEARCH&a=search&k=German+Boots

Mieal Deneb
February 28th, 2009, 06:27 PM
Which ones were you thinking of? If you go with the ones that have heel irons, you'll need to take those off or convention centers will sue you for scratching up their floors! :nervous:

Were the dress boots black? All this time I was assuming that they were brown...:?:

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 07:28 PM
They're definitely brown. Cordovan is what I've used on my battle boots. I might go with something a tad lighter for the dress boots. Not sure if they were the same color as the sidis.

The ones I have are leather soles. I'm not tromping around a convention with heel irons or hob nails! The Sidis are enough!

Mieal Deneb
February 28th, 2009, 07:39 PM
I have yet to paint my Sidi boots. I went the Sidi - Joel Robert replica version because I just love the look of those boots, even though they're tough to walk in and the ladies also wore just plain ol' riding boots. :girl: The Sidis just look "Battlestar Galactica-ish" to me. :cool:

StarshipTrooper
February 28th, 2009, 07:50 PM
I'm happy that you love the look of the boots (do you mind if I call you Anne?). I always put a Band-Aid on my right big toe before marching hard for one hour (blisters and all). And I think other people like the sound (compared to the look) of the boots. I always get funny looks from the mild-mannered folks. I think they expected a SWAT Officer marching up behind them!

:girl:

Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 08:00 PM
I have yet to paint my Sidi boots. I went the Sidi - Joel Robert replica version because I just love the look of those boots, even though they're tough to walk in and the ladies also wore just plain ol' riding boots. :girl: The Sidis just look "Battlestar Galactica-ish" to me. :cool:

Actually Some of the Female Warriors did wear the SIDIs as well. Athena had the SIDIs when she was in battle gear, and I believe Serena did as well. The only warrior who wore the plain brown boots was Sheba. The bridgecrew and other Galactica crew wore plain boots as well (black only when in the blue uniforms)

What I'm doing for boots is I got a pair of modern Motocross boots on Ebay (O'Neill Boots, don't know the model) They have 4 plastic rocker clasps. But I'm sending them to my leatehr workign friend. He'll add more buckles and Make them look more like the center bar buckles on the repros. (These are also black, so he'll paint them brown for me) I'm thinking I'll get a damned good looking pair of boots for $150 total. Including the custom work.

when he's done with my boots, I'll post pics and contact info for people. Including before and after pics.

When I get around to Dress boots, I'm thinking I may see if he can take a pair of ankle high boots and make the custom upper. I'ts the best way to fit my tree trunks. lol

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 08:33 PM
Reaper, which size Chicago screws did you order? I ordered some rivets a while back but they were super small. Apparently I need it spelled out for me!:D

Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 08:38 PM
1/4 inch Brass finish.

The diameter of the screw posts are all the same, it comes down to the length. the 1/4 inch will be just a tad too long, but the best fit overall.

over the years, I've used all three offered screw posts. The black works well from the Star wars tuff I do, even the silver ones for a contrast, but for Galactica, it's Brass baby :)

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 08:53 PM
Wow...they kinda bite you on the shipping don't they!

Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 08:55 PM
I usually have a bigger order, never ordered just the screw posts. There's leather and dye and a bunch of stuff I get there.

Never notice the bite that way lol

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 09:12 PM
Agreed! If I knew the size of the dress belt and buckle I'd order those along side the screw posts. Truthfully I haven't done a lot of research on those.

By the way, this is the paint I've been using on boots. http://www.shoetreemarketplace.com/Meltonian_Nu_Life_Color_Spray_p/1003.htm

636 Cordovan is my preferred choice for the battle boots. Depending on the light they look black. However in direct or bright light they are definitely brown. I was thinking of going with the 605 Medium brown for the dress boots. Its a bit lighter. I tried a pair of the Sidis in the medium and it just didn't seem dark enough.

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 09:14 PM
Holy frack! I broke six hundred today and didn't even notice! This has been a post worthy day!

Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 09:22 PM
congrats my friend, it's been a big posting day for both of us!

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 09:26 PM
No kidding! A lot of fun though for sure. Next thing I'm after is the microphone they wore on the bridge and in the pilot when they're looking for leaks!

Reaper
February 28th, 2009, 09:28 PM
It was also what they wore when flying the shuttle! I'd love a replica, allows you to be a pilot without the viper helmet lol

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 10:43 PM
I'll do some digging to find out what mic was used. There is already a thread about it over at ASAP but no info on the mic. I agree, it is a nice finishing touch.

monolith21
February 28th, 2009, 11:04 PM
I totally missed the thread over at the rpf about this! Apparently the mic is still being produced today! Some changes have been made to the band and the temple pieces...but otherwise here it is.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Shure-SM10ACN-Headset-Mic?sku=270114

Reaper
March 1st, 2009, 08:37 AM
When we find a home for all the costuming stuff, and the Squadron, we'll need to compile all this into one place. A single post resource thread.

So we should continue putting all this together. :)

also, when I was big into the Star Wars Rebel pilot scene, We took the patterns one of the people developed and set it up so anyone could use them. If Mieal want to share the patterns she's developing, we can do somethign similar to that. And I believe there is someone still working on Jacket patterns on ASAP.

We can turn the Squadron into the ultimate costuming resourse.

Reaper
March 1st, 2009, 12:12 PM
I just watched War Of the Gods, and I paided special attention to the Brown belts. They look to be either 2 inch or 2 1/2 inch leather belts. There is a single Rivet or screw post on either side of the buckle.

I would suggest making the belts 2 inches. I think it will have a better overall look to it. Plus, Tandy Leather has a Rectangular buckle blank in stock for 2 inch belts. I used it for My Imperial Belt for my Star Wars costume.

Here is the buckle - http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Buckles/11688-00.aspx?feature=Product_9
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/image.aspx/media/images/product/11688-00-L.JPG-250x
The buckle is designed to have a covering over it, so you can see the weld marks from the hardware on the back side. But since it's Silver, you'd have to at least paint it for either bridge or dress warrior costumes.

Bridge buckles are silver metallic in color. not really a mirror shine, but clean. The Rivet/screw post would also be silver in appearence. The Warrior Dress Belt has a shined Brass look to it, and the rivet/screw post would be brass as well.

Now Tandy also has a belt black we can use.
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Belts/4523-190.aspx?feature=Product_6
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/image.aspx/media/images/product/4523-190-L.JPG-250x
It comes in 50 inches and 72 inches. The belt has squared off ends. (as said above, I'd suggest using the 2 inch width) It's a nice thick strip of leather, so it'll last. The way this belt and buckle work, you really can't put the leading edge back through the belt to res on top of the belt, so you can put a false Screw post into the belt and then not cover the other side.

I use this for my Imperial costume. Even with my beer gut, the belt stay in place and in that costume, does hold my blaster nicely. Once you get the belt fitted to your waist, you can trim off most of the rest of the belt. So the post fits into the designated place and there is not much tail to it.

If you order the leatehr dye from Tandy, I'd suggest the USMC Glass Black for Bridge uniforms. I use this for making Star Wars belts. It keeps a nice shine to it, and has that nice dark black look.


For the Warrior's Dress belt, i'd go with Monoliths suggestion on the color. Matching it to the dress boots would be best though.

Mieal Deneb
March 1st, 2009, 01:30 PM
(do you mind if I call you Anne?)

You can call me Anne, but I probably won't respond...my name is Rachel. ;) :salute:

Mark, if you need anything from Tandy, but don't want to fork over the cost for shipping, just add the cost of the items to the cost of what you still owe for the costume and I'll go pick it up for you. There's a Tandy VERY close to my house. I'd just send them along with your costume when I get it finished, I'm sure it won't add too much to the weight or bulk of that package and it'd save you some money.

Mieal Deneb
March 1st, 2009, 01:33 PM
When we find a home for all the costuming stuff, and the Squadron, we'll need to compile all this into one place. A single post resource thread.

We definately need a separate forum space for talk about costumes.

If Mieal want to share the patterns she's developing, we can do somethign similar to that. And I believe there is someone still working on Jacket patterns on ASAP.

I'm also going to be working on a jacket pattern, but I think Keith on ASAP is done, or nearly so, isn't he?

monolith21
March 2nd, 2009, 01:05 AM
I haven't checked on Keith's thread in a while. I need to do that! I just might take you up on that offer for the Tandy stuff!!! I'll take a look at the belt reaper posted about above (awesome by the way) and see about adding that on. Very cool!

If nothing else, perhaps you can put a link in the store here so people can buy your patterns when you are done. I know we were posting about something like that in another thread, not sure if it was about the patterns.

I'm digging this. The Klingon General and I hung out today and brainstormed about some of the possibilities for this squadron. I think it'll be a blast! Great way to promote Battlestar and represent the original series.

Naming it is going to be a real pain. We need something memorable and catchy with some fight to it. I like the idea of going with something similar to "Silver Spar Squadron" yet with our own stamp on it.

Reaper
March 2nd, 2009, 06:43 AM
How about Black Star Squadron ;)

we should all schedual a time in the chat See what a little real time brain storming can come up with :)

Mieal Deneb
March 2nd, 2009, 12:13 PM
We're all in different time zones...Mark is in Pacific and I'm in Eastern. What are you Reaper (are you the same Reaper I know from the Rebel Legion and Midwest base? If so that'd make you Eastern too...?)

Reaper
March 2nd, 2009, 12:21 PM
We're all in different time zones...Mark is in Pacific and I'm in Eastern. What are you Reaper (are you the same Reaper I know from the Rebel Legion and Midwest base? If so that'd make you Eastern too...?)

Yes Ma'am, I'm the former Rebel Legion LCO and the one from the Midwest base forums. I'm in New Jersey. So I am eastern.

My suggestion, if you could make it Mieal, would be a weekend day, where the 3 hour difgference won't matter. This week staying up past midnight doesn't bother me since I'm working 12 to 8, so 11 till 1 am works for me too.

How about next Sunday at say 5 PM EST (2 pm PST) for a large scale chat.

Mieal Deneb
March 2nd, 2009, 12:35 PM
I'm a stay-at-home mom so any week day from 2pm-10pm Eastern works for me. Sunday at 5pm Eastern might work...not sure, I might be getting groceries then...If it was more like 3pm or 4pm Eastern I wouldn't have a problem most likely because the kids would be napping after church & lunch. :)

Reaper
March 2nd, 2009, 12:37 PM
I'm a stay-at-home mom so any week day from 2pm-10pm Eastern works for me. Sunday at 5pm Eastern might work...not sure, I might be getting groceries then...If it was more like 3pm or 4pm Eastern I wouldn't have a problem most likely because the kids would be napping after church & lunch. :)

Let's see what our west coast guys say :)

I'm signing into the chat now, if you want lol :)

Mieal Deneb
March 2nd, 2009, 01:46 PM
*edit* meant to PM not quote...so used to the Rebel Legion with the PM button at the bottom I guess!

monolith21
March 2nd, 2009, 11:11 PM
I'm available to chat after about 7:00 PM Pacific on weekdays. I know that is a bit late for both of you. I could pull off this Sunday at around 2pm. If you need to Rachel I can make it to any earlier chat you need. I'm fairly open. Family schedule trumps single guy schedule!:salute:

Athene
March 3rd, 2009, 07:28 AM
Very nice on the gunbelt and very authentic. :thumbsup: :salute:

Mieal Deneb
March 3rd, 2009, 07:44 AM
I'm available to chat after about 7:00 PM Pacific on weekdays. I know that is a bit late for both of you. I could pull off this Sunday at around 2pm. If you need to Rachel I can make it to any earlier chat you need. I'm fairly open. Family schedule trumps single guy schedule!:salute:

Around 2 would work great...now I just need to remember!! :blush:

monolith21
March 4th, 2009, 01:02 AM
Aaargh! I just got an e-mail that my best friend is going to have his 30th birthday dinner this Sunday and its at 4pm. This could cut things short for me. I'd rather have my head "in the game" so to speak when we get together on this. You all should chat by all means. I'll hop on for however long I can. Any chance of scheduling another one as well?

monolith21
March 4th, 2009, 01:03 AM
Wait...was that 2pm Eastern or Pacific? MY BRAIN HURTS!

Reaper
March 4th, 2009, 06:04 AM
I am not even sure anymore lol,

Can you make a chat at 12 pm Pacific? That would make it 3 Eastern for us out here.
If not this is a rolling idea we can run with. I know I shold be on again tonight like I was monday.

looking forward to chatting again man,

Kronus
March 4th, 2009, 07:15 AM
Aaargh! I just got an e-mail that my best friend is going to have his 30th birthday dinner this Sunday and its at 4pm. This could cut things short for me. I'd rather have my head "in the game" so to speak when we get together on this. You all should chat by all means. I'll hop on for however long I can. Any chance of scheduling another one as well?

Monolith, I was online but it was 8:30 by the time I could chat. I saw Reaper in the chat but I must have missed you. Family issues prevented me from attending on time.

Reaper
March 4th, 2009, 07:19 AM
no worries Man, we'll get together. I caught up with Mark on Monday, and I'm planning to be there tonight as well Around midnight my time, so 8ish for you.

We have alot of planning to do, and we need to get the foundations going. I can fill in Mieal by PM or email about what we discuss during the week. Then we can all get together sunday (if possible)

Kronus
March 4th, 2009, 07:36 AM
Sounds good...email me at klingongeneral at yahoo dot com or send me a PM. either way would be fine. I'll try and remember to be online around 8pm tonight as well.

Mieal Deneb
March 5th, 2009, 12:41 PM
I technically could be in chat more often, but I am so behind in all my costume commissions, I really need to spend most of my time sewing. Mark can tell you how long he's been waiting!! :blush:

So, when on Sunday, 2 pm Eastern or 3 pm Eastern? I'll do my best to be there.

monolith21
March 27th, 2009, 01:21 AM
Here is the belt I just dyed. Posted in in the other thread, but I figured this is a better place for it.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/monolith21/Belt1-1.jpg

Mieal Deneb
March 27th, 2009, 02:59 PM
Hey, thanks for posting pics. :)

Reaper
March 27th, 2009, 05:05 PM
looking good man! glad you got the first one done :)

monolith21
March 27th, 2009, 08:10 PM
I'm experimenting with it tonight a bit more. I'm going to put the whole thing in some pearl grey and see what happens. I have a back up belt in case it goes flat wrong! lol

Athene
March 28th, 2009, 07:43 AM
I'm experimenting with it tonight a bit more. I'm going to put the whole thing in some pearl grey and see what happens. I have a back up belt in case it goes flat wrong! lol
Looking forward to seeing pics of it when you're done! :)

Mieal Deneb
March 28th, 2009, 11:21 AM
I think when I go to dye my belt, I'll start out with the pearl grey. I'm interested to see what that does to the offwhite belt.

monolith21
March 28th, 2009, 02:16 PM
I'm going to do the same thing with my other white belt when it arrives. I used two boxes of the Pearl Grey last night and it looked pretty dead on. You could always add a VERY small amount of the liquid black to darken it up a bit. I don't think it will be necessary though.

The Pearl Grey very slightly tinted my belt but not enough. I kind of wanted to go in both directions (Black belt faded and white belt darkened) because both ideas usually get thrown around in the discussion of the belt. This will sort of help take care of that for some people. So far the two boxes of grey on the stovetop is looking like the best bet.

In other news I'll be working up some recharge cylinders and sorting the velcro out today so my gun belt is almost done!

Reaper
March 28th, 2009, 02:21 PM
all this is useless without pictures!!! lol!!

And it looks like you'll have lots of belts to sell when you're done.

Maybe I should send you my blue belt for you to dye up as well ;)

Athene
March 29th, 2009, 08:54 AM
I'm going to do the same thing with my other white belt when it arrives. I used two boxes of the Pearl Grey last night and it looked pretty dead on. You could always add a VERY small amount of the liquid black to darken it up a bit. I don't think it will be necessary though.

The Pearl Grey very slightly tinted my belt but not enough. I kind of wanted to go in both directions (Black belt faded and white belt darkened) because both ideas usually get thrown around in the discussion of the belt. This will sort of help take care of that for some people. So far the two boxes of grey on the stovetop is looking like the best bet.

In other news I'll be working up some recharge cylinders and sorting the velcro out today so my gun belt is almost done!

Sounds good!
Do you have a digital camera that you can photos of it.
I've got one.
I'd loan it to you but I live in Canada. ;)

Reaper
March 29th, 2009, 08:58 AM
I think Monolith is volunteering to provide belt mods to the costuming group lol Chris Pappas might still have the most accurate belts out there, but Monlith is trying hard to catch up lol :)

monolith21
March 29th, 2009, 02:15 PM
I doubt mine will end up THAT accurate, but I'm going to give it the ol' college try. It can be quite the frustrating process I can tell you that much! More pictures are coming. As of now I have one belt that is almost a very dark purple and one that is medium gray. Definitely needs to be a bit darker. The question is, do I go with mixing the gray and some black, denim blue and gray, or the suggested Navy blue and gray...

Sarika
March 29th, 2009, 10:46 PM
And he's got an order for some cubits for me as well!!!:LOL:

All this and he still can find time to make gun belts!(Making any pink fluffly ones too, Mark?:D:duck::nervous:)

monolith21
March 30th, 2009, 01:10 AM
Not as of yet but I might just make a pink "fliffy" one for you!

Okay here are the first of the pictures. The next white belt is going with the Pearl Gray and Navy dye bath. So far none of these are really grabbing me. The darker of the two is getting pretty close though.

First up, the unsuspecting white belt.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/monolith21/P1010189.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/monolith21/BootsandMisc013.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/monolith21/BootsandMisc011.jpg

Reaper
March 30th, 2009, 03:50 PM
Monolith, the belts are looking good so far, but you're right, none of them are grabbing me either. I'm still liking the black belt I have now best from all this. Maybe I'll send you my blue belt for you to play around with as well. See what starting blue does for your experiments.


But I like how you're gonig about this :) have you tried taking one of the dyed belts and then redying it? perhaps a number of dye jobs will do the trick (not that this would make it easy for us lol)

monolith21
March 30th, 2009, 11:12 PM
Actually the gray belt started out life as the AF blue belt. I dyed it in black and it came out a really dark blue. So I color stripped it and started over with just gray to see how that would come out. There you have it...gray. It would make a decent Ghostbusters belt, but not so much for the Colonial Warrior.

I'm anxious to see how the Pearl Grey/Navy belt turns out. I've also got a black belt coming just in case! The black is definitely closer than that AF blue belt.

Reaper
March 31st, 2009, 05:26 AM
Actually the gray belt started out life as the AF blue belt. I dyed it in black and it came out a really dark blue. So I color stripped it and started over with just gray to see how that would come out. There you have it...gray. It would make a decent Ghostbusters belt, but not so much for the Colonial Warrior.

I'm anxious to see how the Pearl Grey/Navy belt turns out. I've also got a black belt coming just in case! The black is definitely closer than that AF blue belt.

If you want to try it, What about the AF blue belt witht he grey dye? If black made it a really dark blue, then maybe the grey will steal up the color a bit. lol :)

let me know man, I already have a package coming together for you (it'll go out tomorrow) I can strip down the blue belt and send it as well.

monolith21
April 1st, 2009, 12:51 AM
If you want to send it I'll be happy to experiment with it! Its up to you man. If nothing else I'm positive I can make it black when we're through toying with it! lol

monolith21
April 1st, 2009, 05:50 PM
Ok question. How many screw posts did you use on your belt? 3? Oh and it looks like the screw posts are screen accurate!

Reaper
April 1st, 2009, 06:44 PM
I used 3 Screw posts per holster. I zoomed in on the two holsters here:
http://images46.fotki.com/v1453/photos/4/451189/5742755/screwposts-vi.jpg
On the blue belt, which is on it's way to you now, I had mounted the holster higher, using the top most holes in the belt. I did this to see if it made any difference in the hang of the holster. (I also trimmed a bit off the top of the holster)

Depending on how the dying goes (if we achieve steel grey or if it ends up being black lol) I'm going to turn the spare holster into a lefty holster. If you look at Apollo's Holster he doesn't have one molded for a lefty, he has a righty holster mounted on the opposite side. The prop guys then cut a channel into the high part of the holster for the pistol grip to fit into. I'm going to try this, see how it works.

But to answer your question again, yes, 3 screw posts lol

monolith21
April 1st, 2009, 10:00 PM
Sweet! Yeah I'm going to have to trim a bit off mine as well. As is the pistol in holster sits quite low.

Next question, anyone know how thick of Kydex was used on the screen used holsters? I might have to post this over at ASAP!

monolith21
April 1st, 2009, 10:33 PM
Its funny, after searching through some old posts on ASAP, you and I really have crossed paths for years Ed! Its funny how we only recently struck up as friends! While searching some old threads I came across one about the gun belt.

http://www.propreplicas.yuku.com/topic/10578?page=1

An oldie but a goodie. In case anyone can't view that thread the main reason I'm posting a link here is for the Kydex needed to make a holster. You can get it here...

http://www.polymerplastics.com/formingrade_kydex.shtml

I was told in that thread to go with .030" thickness but it was a sort of "this should work" suggestion. I'm still looking to find out what thickness the screen used holsters were.

If you do decide to go this route you'll need a pattern for the holster and you'll have to decide if you're going to go the black Kydex painted brown screen accurate route or just order the Chocolate Kydex. You'll also need a heat gun to form it around your laser. Hope that helps!

I'm still trying to convince a buddy of mine to laser cut some Kydex for me. He does it out of his house and has a bunch of Kydex! I don't want to get everyone's hopes up but definitely keep your fingers crossed.