Han Solo belt - what are the options?

[Dave Ward]

Two different versions turn up on the bay, the pleather costumebase version, which seems a bit naff in the photos, and something by 'the star fortress' in real leather. Is this model any good? Or are there any other decent suppliers out there?

Thanks in advance for your advice!:thumbsup

 

[wolverine solo]

dont know much about costumebases stuff heard yes and no depending on what you get. star fortress sells junk. plenty of stuff on here about them.thumbsup

 

[Dave Ward]

There are some threads on here than are pretty....startling about Star Fortress - all I can say is how lucky we are these days to have the kind of online communities that can warn people about that kind of behaviour.

Dunno about the costumebase belt. Wish there was a happy medium out there somewhere.

 

[Risu]

I made myself one a few months ago and still have the pattern, but I don't have the time or resources to cost effectively make one right now. However, my boss is a big leather item supplier to the Indy community and he says we may expand to other things and if that's the case we'll be producing my Solo belts. That being said I don't know how much they'll cost, but you can at least expect higher quality than those Matt MP belts.

 

[Dave Ward]

That being said I don't know how much they'll cost, but you can at least expect higher quality than those Matt MP belts.

Having done some research today, those things ain't cheap, either. $350???
A Solo belt just went for less than that on the bay, and it came with a modded mauser that had a working scope!

 

[Risu]

That ebay auction sounds like a really good deal then. The material cost alone for a Solo belt is about $100 and it takes a good deal of time to make one by yourself. I had to make the buckles with a bench grinder, it took me 3 days just for those. Granted, I can do it much faster now that I know what I'm doing, but it's still time consuming. If we end up making them the buckles will be made by someone else, as well as the belt disk and droid caller holder. If all that stuff is made by someone else I can make a Solo belt to measure in about 5 hours, not factoring in dye set time.

EDIT: Also, I just looked up that ebay auction, the belt itself is made a bit wrong in that it's adjustable. Also, the buckles are made of aluminum and not steel, so they'll probably break after a while and the leather looks to be no more than 5 oz. and you should never make a belt out of anything thinner than 8 oz. And there's something not quite right about the blaster, but that's not really important.

 

[Dave Ward]

Yeh, I thought it was going to break $400+ but i guess there were just too many little details off.

So, some dumb questions - is it possible to weather pleather, or otherwise treat it so it doesn't look so artificial? Also, what's the cheapest blaster that will fit the costumebase belt? I doubt I'll be showing it off so if i have to repaint a toy that's fine.

 

[Risu]

I honestly don't know how big the holster is on the costumebase belt. I don't recommend pleather though. Most pleather has a white cotton felt type backing which will be really obvious and it's definitely not thick enough to support the weight of a real prop gun, not sure about a toy. If I were you and wanted to go the inexpensive route I'd get a cheap chinese airsoft mauser for the gun and mod it up with found stuff. As for the belt, you be much better off using leather, but it would take a while to learn how/make it, so your best bet is probably that $125 one on ebay. Best deal for your money at the moment.

 

[Dave Ward]

I thought that one looked pretty good too...but having been directed to do a search about that store, the seller is apparently, well, wanted by the authorities for things that make you not want to give him money.

I am having the devil of a time finding something that I thought would be pretty straight forward :rolleyes

 

[Risu]

Wow, well if you can wait (I don't know how long, I'll probably get a chance to chat with my boss about it at work this weekend) we may start producing these. That being said, I have no idea about the cost. It'll probably be less than Matt MP's belts, but it's up to my boss.

 

[defyitall]

Well, no blaster actually fits the costumebase holser without mods. That's the annoying part about it. It's alright for the price; especially if you are looking for a more Halloween costume variety.

Honestly, beyond their rep and issues, the Star Fortress belt is alright. I've heard the leather is very thing. Like Risu said you should make belts below 8 oz and I think the Star Fortress is probably 5 oz. Another way they use cheap materials and don't pass the savings on to the customer.

MP Filmcraft's is probably the best out there right now. Not to say others haven't done it better or are doing it better or can do it better. Just that Matt's are great rigs and he's making them right now. I had one and it was a really nice rig. I know he charges $300+ but that's usually like a "going rate" for Solo holsters. Some people have done them for less ($250-275) but around $300 is usually what they go for. Again, like Risu said, the leather and materials would probably be around $100 depending on how you make the buckles but there's a lot of time and labor involved.

That's about it for options to buy. You could attempt to make one. You could find someone to make you one as a one-off. You could go to your local Tandy Leather store and see if someone there might be interested in making one. Etc.

 

[rmschneider104]

I have one of MP's ANH Solo belts and I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[Pauleysolo]

Matt's belts are great!! Top shelf.

 

[Dave Ward]

Well, no blaster actually fits the costumebase holser without mods. That's the annoying part about it. It's alright for the price; especially if you are looking for a more Halloween costume variety.

Honestly, beyond their rep and issues, the Star Fortress belt is alright. I've heard the leather is very thing. Like Risu said you should make belts below 8 oz and I think the Star Fortress is probably 5 oz. Another way they use cheap materials and don't pass the savings on to the customer.

Defyitall - your ANH Solo outfit was pretty kickass and I appreciate your advice.
From their feedback and the images with the auction, the fortress belt looks like a really good option. Can't bring myself to give this guy $$$ though, having read some of the threads on this board...

 

[PadawanLearner]

Actually, the new Ruby's Han Solo blaster fits pretty well in the costumebase holster. I wouldn't say expect to quickdraw, but it goes in and out.
The Ruby's blaster sells for $7-$15 and after a bit of paint doesn't look too bad.

 

[Bhelia]

I own the belt from costumebase (use it with my Mara Jade). The pin on one of the buckles broke the first time I wore the belt - so I cannot recommend it.
Costumebase offered me a partial refund, as I was able to modify the pin (or what was left of it) into a hook. It works but doesn't look very nice ( but actually you won't notice because its behind the buckle, so...)

The holster doesn't fit my selfmade blaster - that's why I either don't wear the holster or keep running around with the blaster in my hand.

The buckles themself have some nasty scratches on them, although there was a protective foil overneath. I don't mind the used look.

I don't know the alternatives but I won't buy from costumebase again.

 

[Risu]

If anybody is interested in getting in on a very limited high quality run of Solo gun belts, send me a PM. We're only making a few sets of buckles, so they won't last long.