Han Solo Gun Belt

Valor

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I've had a proper Han Solo blaster for many years, but no way to wear it about. The new Solo movie seemed like the perfect opportunity. This gun belt and holster is based on the one Harrison Ford wore in the original Star Wars. It's completely scratch built. I learned a bunch about working with leather. It took me four attempts (and a lot of wasted cow) to get the color right. I also got to wet-mold the leather to form the pouches and the gun holster. All the metal buckles were cut by hand, and the doodads in the belt pouches are 3D printed. Yes, I know there a some small inaccuracies to the trained eye. But I'm really happy with it, and it's so damn satisfying to wear.

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It’s so perdy. Did you eye the pattern then use trial and error to zero it in, or do you have a pattern handy?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've had a proper Han Solo blaster for many years, but no way to wear it about. The new Solo movie seemed like the perfect opportunity. This gun belt and holster is based on the one Harrison Ford wore in the original Star Wars. It's completely scratch built. I learned a bunch about working with leather. It took me four attempts (and a lot of wasted cow) to get the color right. I also got to wet-mold the leather to form the pouches and the gun holster. All the metal buckles were cut by hand, and the doodads in the belt pouches are 3D printed. Yes, I know there a some small inaccuracies to the trained eye. But I'm really happy with it, and it's so damn satisfying to wear.

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Awesome work!!


Sent from my Starfleet-issue communicator
 
I definitely have Crazylegsmurphy here to thank. His thread on the Han belt was a basis for most measurements. But I did have to adjust quite a bit for fit. I’m not near Mr Ford’s height so I mocked up the whole belt in craft foam and styrene to hone in on the right size for me.

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Hey!

Well done. I think you did a great job. I really like how you approached the buckles and hooks. The colour is great as well.

Would you mind if I mentioned it in my next video?
 
Hey!

Well done. I think you did a great job. I really like how you approached the buckles and hooks. The colour is great as well.

Would you mind if I mentioned it in my next video?

Thank YOU sir. You did a massive amount of research that helped make my project easier. You can mention anything if you want. Thanks again.
 
I've been thinking of trying out leather working for a few months now, absorbing how-to videos along the way. This may be the kick in the pants I need to get started.
Nicely done. But I think I'll have to find a prefab buckle - your kung-fu is stronger than mine.
 
Valor PropReplicator2

Could you list all the materials and tools you worked with? And as i can see, you have some patterns on your computer and printed them. Could you send me these? I really need patterns to get my belt done.
How did u made these metal pieces?

thank you for your help!
 
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@Valor @PropReplicator2

Could you list all the materials and tools you worked with? And as i can see, you have some patterns on your computer and printed them. Could you send me these? I really need patterns to get my belt done.
How did u made these metal pieces?

thank you for your help!

I bought a half-hide of 8-9oz veg-tanned leather from tandyleather.com, and the steel buckles on MY build we're custom machined in my buddy's shop. As far as patterns go, I spent almost a year and a half making mine as close as possible and I honestly just don't want to share that work. I'm sure there are others here who are willing to share them though. Didn't Crazylegsmurphy do a major thread on these a while back?
 
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@Valor @PropReplicator2

Could you list all the materials and tools you worked with? And as i can see, you have some patterns on your computer and printed them. Could you send me these? I really need patterns to get my belt done.
How did u made these metal pieces?

thank you for your help!

My thread can be found on this forum and current updates on my YouTube channel. The patterns found in my thread are works in progress and I don't suggest using them to create a holster if you're looking for accuracy. They have changed in many ways since then as I've gathered more information.

I am currently in the final stages of the pattern book I've been working on for a while. When they are released, they will be for free, for everyone. I'm not sure what your timeline is, but thanks to the support of some awesome people, my pattern book is my full-time job at the moment, and will be until it is completed. Unfortunately I can't give a definite date because whenever I do and fail to meet it, people tend to hire bounty hunters.
 
Hey, I'm happy to share what I did. ...

Materials: The belt was cut from as single shoulder of 6/7oz veg-tan leather. The little pouches were cut from a 8-10 piece on thinner veg-tan, maybe 4-5 oz.
I used a brown leather dye from Tandy applied with an airbrush.

Tools: I'm not a leather worker so I may not be using the right names. I cut everything by hand. Used a leather stitch perforator (looks like a fork) to mark holes. A sharp awl to punch holes through for stitching and a leather needle and wax thread for sewing. Edges were slicked with a bit of water, and edge slicker from Tandy and elbow grease.

Patterns
Most of my dimensions were gleaned from Crazylegmurphy's excellent research. I grabbed lots of his jpgs that he posted on various boards. He has since stated that he has improved on some of these, but for me these were more than close enough. I scanned his jpgs and created clean vector drawing to work off of.

For the buckles and metal work I cut everything from .080 aluminum sheet. I actually buy sign blanks for this material, I created drawings for the pieces based on several online sources (including CrayCrayLegMurphy). One thing I did a little differently was to simplify the back of the buckles. I didn't want to deal with the metal loops that might be more screen accurate. So I made a simpler back piece that I could cut from flat metal and attach to the back of each buckle. Instead of relying on JBWeld, I used industrial outdoor adhesive tape to secure the front piece of the bucket to the back piece which bears the load of the belt. (File for those are attached.)

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@Valor @PropReplicator2

Could you list all the materials and tools you worked with? And as i can see, you have some patterns on your computer and printed them. Could you send me these? I really need patterns to get my belt done.
How did u made these metal pieces?

thank you for your help!
 
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Outstanding work! Such neat and tidy stitching!

I have the tools and the leather, I just need to get the guts to actually go through with starting on a belt build of my own, one of these days.

May I ask why dyes you used? The color looks good, too.
 
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