As he usually does, my friend Marc proved me wrong by showing me that using a Bostitch machine would be as good as, if not better, than stitching by hand. He did in a matter of minutes what would take me all week.
When I was doing vinyl belts, I did use a machine. But I figured Jeremy Bulloch deserved a better belt, so when I decided to use leather, I only planned on stitching enough pouch covers for one belt. But now that it turned out so easy to do on a machine...why stop with one belt?
The finished prototype belt pictured above was fitted for a thin mannequin, and still needs some weathering and antiquing. The final assembly will be completed this week!
Yes, the final belt will be full ESB. The main difference I can see in the belts themselves is that the ESB belt has 2 grommets instead of 6 for ROTJ. The pouch array is different, too.
Again, the belt shown above is a prototype belt that will probably be discarded.
I don't think the ESB and ROTJ are too far off....even more so I think that some of the PrePro images, like the ones in the Star Wars Chronicles Book would be closer to the ESB version.
and don't you have that book eric???
Here are the 'finished' pics of the belt. I still have to replace the ROTJ main belt with the longer ESB, then add snaps to a couple pouches, then it's off to Spidey-Fett for weathering!