ROTJ original strapping system discussion

[john danter]

Great thread

 

I think the holiday special pics show the odd connection of the shoulder bells

 

I 'think' it shows that they 'may' have been connected with the neck brace method some used to think thats how the bells were connected

 

I can't find the pics on my iPhone but they definitely look 'odd' as the TK bends his arms forward......?

 

Who knows, especially if we don't know

[sskunky]

I've pretty much strapped my suit as per diagram......

 

I'm also a step closer to making some accurate helmet liners....... Still got some playing around to do but hopefully have something to show in the next week or two.......

[dashrazor]

is that white padding under the right shoulder bell?

 

LFL archive suit

[Nassik]

That last picture looks like the bells are padded. It would be easy to dismiss if the padding was only seen on a mannequin but since it's still visible in this picture it seems that the bells were, in fact, padded.

 

And I'm curious about Mark's helmet liners.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Nassik

[dashrazor]

well most ROTJ have that football player look to the shoulders that really gives them that rough and tough look, it really sets them apart from the other variants

[Nassik]

It definitely makes me consider the possibility of padding out my shoulder bells.

[JoeR]

I think I am going to pad out my shoulders. If you look at every screencap in ROTJ they are always popping out no matter what position the wearer is in.

 

On the liners, we spent hours searching last night and Mark found something pretty close...

 

Joe

[Nassik]

Padding out the shoulder bells seems easy enough.

 

Cool, Joe. I look forward to seeing what he found.

[Rich330[TK]]

I'm also a step closer to making some accurate helmet liners....... Still got some playing around to do but hopefully have something to show in the next week or two.......

 

Brilliant! Really looking forward to seeing those. That looks quite fiddly!

[Nassik]

This is too good a thread to let go...

 

 

How do you think the drop boxes were attached to their elastic straps? I've seen it done in multiple ways.

 

1. The elastic is riveted to the inner drop box.

2. The elastic is fed between the inner and outer drop boxes and glued to the inside of the outer drop box.

3. The elastic is glued to the inner drop box and is visible if the drop box is flipped over for examination.

 

I think that option #3 is the likely method of attachment. From pictures I've seen, admittedly of tour suits, I can see the elastic on the back of the drop box and it looks glued to the inner drop box.

[firebladejedi[TK]]

is that white padding under the right shoulder bell?

 

LFL archive suit

 

 

Ref the bells sticking out like this - the bells have elastic on the inside a lot higher up than the ANH version. Reason for bells sticking out? The wearer has not bothered to put his arms inside the elastic

[sskunky]

Mark,

there is reference that foam was used on the shoulder bells too.

[Nassik]

That is a possibility. This same elevated shoulder bell look is also seen on other troopers, though, including screen shots. Though possible, I doubt that each trooper with this look has failed to wear the bells properly. On film the bells would have flopped every which way without proper use of the bell straps.

 

Even if there wasn't any padding in the bells, the use of padding would recreate that look.

[dashrazor]

i think it was done to make them look more menacing myself. the broad shoulders give the illusion of strength broad shoulders were also really popular in the 1980's

 

[Nassik]

Mason, that is a fantastic picture! Lots of detail to see here. Thanks for posting it.

[troopermaster]

I don't think there is any foam inside the shoulder bells and have never seen any evidence to support this theory.

 

The real ROTJ bells are shaped slightly different to ANH and don't fit as close to the body as they used to. The narrower, pinched shape of the ROTJ bells are, in my opinion, what makes them bulge out like they are padded. Also, the thin elastic straps fixed higher up the bells and looser just stops them from flapping around rather than keeping them close to the arms as in ANH.

[Nassik]

Thanks for weighing in on this thread, Paul. I had hoped that you'd participate.

 

If I'm seeing what I think I am in this picture...

 

 

It looks like the definitive pinch in the ROTJ shoulder bells is approximately 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the shoulder bells. From that point upwards the bells taper towards a point at the very top of the shoulder bells.

 

With the taper being too tight to fit over the trooper's shoulders the bells are forced away from the body and that creates the raised look they have. And as you said, the thin elastic strap that wraps around the bicep prevents the bells from flopping around.

 

Barring shoulder bells with that taper, it seems that a small amount of padding could recreate that look, though. My concern with my new RT-Mod shoulder bells is that they swell out from the bottom and get wider as they near the top of the bells. It will require careful use of the heat gun to reverse that swell and introduce a taper.

Edited May 31, 2011 by Nassik

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

what about the picture of the ROTJ trooper wearing shoulder pads?

[sskunky]

Also not all the shoulder bells were pinched in. It seems to vary from trooper to trooper.

[Nassik]

Which sounds like it works out well for us. In that case, none of us have to strictly replicate these particular shoulder bells. Using a heat gun, if we get the pinched look, at least approximately, we should be in good shape.

Centurion requires the pinch, though, so we'll work with it.

 

I don't know if there was padding in the shoulder bells or not. Some of the pictures in this thread suggest that there was padding in some shoulder bells. I can also see how pinched bells could create the same look without padding. I do think that the raised look of the bells is a good detail for ROTJ troopers to include, no matter how it is created.

Edited June 1, 2011 by Nassik

[sskunky]

Ok,

 

What do you think guys? It's not glued in place yet and the foam needs to yellow with age but not bad eh??? It's as close as I can get using todays products......

 

[Nassik]

I like it!!! Top notch, especially in light of the fact that it's made of modern materials. That's a great touch!

 

Will these be made available to other troopers?

[Rich330[TK]]

Pretty effin' close, Mark. Nice!

[JoeR]

Look out for a run of these in the for sale section folks.

 

With regards to the bells I totally agree with Shawn.

 

I do think that the raised look of the bells is a good detail for ROTJ troopers to include, no matter how it is created.

 

I will be including this on my suit.

 

Joe

[Locitus[Admin]]

I saw the original on facebook and the foam looks a tad thinner on the original, but that just may be the perspective. Looks f****ng awesome either way!