ANH Stunt Belt Placement?

[OBIROYKENOBI]

HI folks!

 

I am just finishing up my armor and I am working on my belt. Is there an exact measurement how close the top of the belt has to be away from the front buttons? Because I have a longer torso than normal can I just place it to fit? Is it ok to partially cover the bottom button if needed?

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

[captsafe66[Admin]]

For the best advice, take a pic with the belt just under the ab plate and we can advise you accordingly.

[bjsavage7[TK]]

The intended placement is directly under the rectangular area, touching it, but not going over it. You can tell by where the snaps are placed on the armor to hold in place there.  

[SCTrooper[TK]]

Yeah, the high you wear it,  the better it will look, within reason of course.  Also notice the trooper pictured above, the belt is actually higher in the back over the kidney piece. I'm taller trooper too and suit fits much better with the belt in the right position.  Harrison Ford is 6'1" and wore it like this.

This other shot shows some stunt troopers.

[OBIROYKENOBI]

Thank you all for the replies.

 

So I gather that having the belt a little high (partially covering the bottom button) will NOT effect basic 501st acceptance?

[troopermaster]

this is called a costume flaw...

 

so I would go for the standard situation of just below the AB buttons.

Oh dear. Who makes these 'standards' up?

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

well if the belt came off the snaps... then is that right...?

 

see it's a balance between the flaw and the idealized.

 

sure there are exceptions in the film... but the 501 does not want costume flaws.. we want

the combination of the photorgaphic evidence to match the idealised version of the belt.

 

the original poster asked if the belt should be aligned according to the body height..

but I suggest that the belt be aligned with the Abdomen plate according to the average placement

and not just any photo... because the film does not represent the fitting elements of the 501.

 

we don't want mr  no stripes... and we don't want duct tape.. and we don't want broken armor..

 

so my advice is that the belt should be BELOW the abdomen button plate in contrast to the suggestion made before.

 

the standard is created to eliminate the costume flaws from the original production that don't show an average

 

we don't demand bicep hooks... and we don't demand hero setups...

 

so the 501 wants the best average setup... the best way to set up the front of the belt as the original poster is asking

is that we ask for the proper alignment showinig all buttons..

 

just because we have one photo from the film does not mean that we approve of costumes that have that flaw.

we ask for flaws to be eliminated.

 

just like ear gaps... we don't mandate that.

 

so when advising a person on the belt placement we want the best average.. not just one photo.

 

the standards were not made by me... it's ac across the board standard that does not discourage but asks for an average.

[troopermaster]

Having the belt just below the button or touching them in not a flaw, though. They belt should be set one way and should not be altered because some one is taller or shorter. But there is no point in me arguing since just about all builds do not match the original armour because the standards are all wrong. The 501st version of stormtrooper armour is nowhere near how the original armour is, and that's a shame.

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

   

 

   

 

Now tell me (Vern) the belt shouldn't slightly cover the bottom of the abdominal buttons. They even made the effort for Luke's suit whereas he is very short!

 

And beside, CRL doesn't state anything regarding the belt placement on the abdominal plate so it's up to you to spot the accurate position.

Edited February 4, 2014 by The5thHorseman

[SCTrooper[TK]]

No matter what armor you sport, shouldn't  the belt be attached in this position. The majority of troopers if not all have it like this.  

There may have been some costume malfunctions in the movie where the belt was lower. The reason I mentioned that I was a taller trooper is because, I have seen a few builds where the belt is way to low, especially on the kidney piece. On my first build I had the belt to low.

I have seen low belt somewhere.

[troopermaster]

That belt is not low, it just isn't snapped to the abdomen as it should be. You can actually see the snap on the troopers right hand side where the belt has either come off or it wasn't fastened in the first place. This is a display dummy if I remember correctly.

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

it really is a judgement call on the way the original suits were constructed that the belt should cover the bottom of the button plate

but in my opinion the belt should not ride lower or higher enough to cover the bottom button.

 

I would say that if the belt just slightly covers the plate, but not the bottom button then you most likely have it in the correct position.

personally I make the suits I make with the center of the belt actually attached to the armor with the center button rivet passing

all the way though the armor to hold it in the center position.

 

the image below shows a person wearing armor at an event in a toy store... and is wearing the armor incorrectly.

the belt is offset to the left and not worn correctly.  also the wearer is too short

 

 

having a belt that is too high or saggs to low looks wrong to me in so many ways.

it's like having a cracked part covered with duct tape.

 

BTW I see skin from someone's face inside the lid here.

[Locitus[Admin]]

I wear mine in such a way that it slightly covers the lower half of the bottom buttons. I think it looks more accurate that way since most troopers you see in screen shots wear them the same way. Maybe it wasn't intentional that they wore the belts like that, but the fact is that the majority of them did. And the hero trooper from the Toy's 'r us promo you see above clearly has a snap come undone, or the belt wouldn't sit that far down. Which is obvious if you actually look at the picture.

 

Does that mean I spent hours planning and measuring exactly where to put the snaps on the ab or belt to line them up perfectly? No, I certainly didn't. And I don't think anyone should either. Relax, and don't worry.

[gazmosis[501st]]

So here in lies the question: is the hasty and often sloppy assembly of the original armor the way troopers want their armor? In some cases, yes. Do some think the Empire (if real) would have it assembled that way? No. And they can assemble their armor to match a "cleaner" look. As long as all the correct parts are there, I like to see both ways.

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

All the low belts you can see on screenshots are unsnapped belts, as this one:

 

And i wouldn't be surprised if the right side would be unsnapped too.

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

So here in lies the question: is the hasty and often sloppy assembly of the original armor the way troopers want their armor? In some cases, yes. Do some think the Empire (if real) would have it assembled that way? No. And they can assemble their armor to match a "cleaner" look. As long as all the correct parts are there, I like to see both ways.

that is exactly why it's one of those personal judgement calls... and I'm glad that the DO is logical and allows for reasonable variations!

accepting variance in costuming is better for the wearer... and for the deployment officer.