leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!! (IMPORTANT NOTE!! below)

leiter22

Well-Known Member
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Okay!! Now that I have your attention (hopefully :lol).

As many BOTB brothers and The Cave dwellers know, I produced a handful of belts from KBillan's original V3 molds a while back. For those who don’t know, he has been THE Nolan belt guy for longer than I’ve been in the hobby (5 plus years). When the molds crapped out, I set off to remaster the parts. *Unsatisfied with the results, a bit frustrated and certainly deflated, I put the project aside.

Well, my passion and love for the "Nolan trilogy belt" has come out of hibernation! In my opinion it is the second most important part of the suit, next to the cowl, and is the best belt to be seen in a Batman film yet! Technical enough to be believable, yet strangely elegant. Not over simplified like the 89 and returns belt, nor ornamental like the Schumacher belt.

I am now finished remastering the parts, and they are being molded in the next week. A list if the changes I've made are as follows:


• Removed most if not all of the "primer" texture and milling marks finishing all parts, except the gears and bezel which are semi-gloss, in a smooth flat.

• Replaced Keith's old center dial with a new accurate version.

• Separated the top and bottom gears from the bezel creating a more polished look (It”s my feeling that in a hero belt, all parts should be individually cast then assembled).

• Separated the rails from the back links and enhanced the "brushed metal" texture on all rails.

• Cold casting of the rails in aluminum rather than simply pigmenting or painting them.

• I have done countless hours in research comparing dozens of high-res images, testing countless pigments, and consulting with folks who helped in the production of and have handled the real hero belts to achieve the most accurate colors for both versions as I possibly can. *I am a photographer by profession and am very confident in my abilities to judge and match colors under different lighting conditions. *I also know the little (and big ...LOL) tricks light can play.

• Finally, my Begins and TDK/R versions will be different. *I'm not disclosing all of the differences, but although subtle, they are crucial in achieving the look and fit for the desired hero suit.

And I haven't forgotten about the accessories either. Before any belts will be offered for trade, I will have full sets of accessories ready to go. *In fact, in the next month or so I will be 3d printing all the main accessories as well as rail cars for Begins, carriers and back plate/cover for TDK/R, bolt arrow (only seen in production stills of the TDK cage), shuriken batarangs, folding “thrower” rangs and the little recognized “concussion” batarang. *They are being printed directly from "Capetown" renderings of the belt, so they will be as close to accurate as possible.

I will be updating this thread with progress and images, and a trade thread will follow when everything is all set.

Thanks for looking....Cheers!!

Johann
 
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Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!!

Oh my, they are beautiful! I shall be bookmarking this thread and checking back on your progress frequently!
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!!

Thanks freedomoffunk! It's been a long time coming, so I'm glad to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel :)

I'll be posting photos of the cold cast aluminum rails in the coming week, and will hopefully have the molds done the following weekend.

Cheers!
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!!

That looks really great! I love it and may need one eventually. ;)
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!!

Thanks pinder91!

Just a friendly reminder for RPF staffers, this is nod a sale thread, it's a build thread. Please leave it in the main section as I'll be posting a proper junkyard thread at a later date.

Thanks!
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!!

Best of luck with the molding and remastering. It's looking excellent and I hope to see something in the Junkyard soon!
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!! (FIRST UPDATE!!!!!)

First update! Small change of plans....a good friend of mine who was very fortunate in being able to make a direct copy of a begins hero belt has allowed my to pull copies of his accessories to master. I figured I'd save some overhead in printing costs and just master these.

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I will still be printing all the other accessories and bits mentioned before.

:cheers
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!! (FIRST UPDATE!!!!!)

Beautiful work. Probably my favourite piece of costume to come out of the Nolan Movies.
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!! (FIRST UPDATE!!!!!)

Man they look awesome I want one BAD ;)

Well, you'll get a chance!! Hopefully they'll hit the junkyard in a month or so. I'll have the molds for all parts pictured by next weekend. Then all I'll need is prints of the TDK accessory locks and Begins rail cars. Extra accessories will be rolled out as I get them printed.

When the time comes, I'll most likely do small runs of 5 every 6 months or so.....I'm a busy man...:wacko First come first serve basis, but please no pm's or emails just yet. As soon as they hit the junkyard I will start a list.

:cheers
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!! (FIRST UPDATE!!!!!)

Hey i am just wondering what would one of these cost ??? just wondering round about how much :)
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!! (FIRST UPDATE!!!!!)

IMPORTANT NOTE :

For those of you who already have one of my belts, you will get first dibs on accessory kits outside of the trade run. When it hits the trade section, simply email me and we'll discuss....

:cheers
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!! (NEW UPDATE!! Feb. 14

Sorry for the hiatus!

Busy with a new baby boy, amongst other things. Here's a test I did with the accessories I've molded so far. Keep in mind these are the Begins color, and not quite dialed in exactly. Also, I did them in a flat finish and now think they may need to be done in satin.....comments welcome :)

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I've also cold cast some rails with aluminum powder like I planned and they've turned out great in my opinion. once I buff them out I'll post images of those as well. I've found a company that offers ferrous metal powders and have some samples coming now. If they look as good as the aluminum ones, I'll have rails that will accept the magnetic pull from the accessories! YAY!!

The rest of the belt is still in the molding process, and I am still waiting on the rail cars from the printer. After that it'll be go time! (at least for Begins....LOL)

:cheers
 
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Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!! (IMPORTANT NOTE!! bel

This looks great the rivets look real! Color seems way off but I'm sure you know what your doing ... Hope this is within my price range!
 
Re: leitPROPS Batman Begins and TDK/R linked resin hero belt!! (IMPORTANT NOTE!! bel

This looks great the rivets look real! Color seems way off but I'm sure you know what your doing ... Hope this is within my price range!

The rivets ARE real!! Well, they're screws, LOL, but may have been rivets in the real belt.

I know, color does look off, but I wish I could show you the many different ways this belt photographs. Unfortunately, most of the images were given to me by a friend, who will remain unnamed, and I've sworn to keep them on lockdown. Trust me though, this belt is my ultimate passion in props. I'm doing this to please myself and only myself and I have a VERY acute attention to detail (in good and bad ways!) This thing will be up to my standards before anyone else gets their hands on one.

Hope that didn't come of pompous :lol
 
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