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SWTNZ DIY Review - How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

There are a lot of vintage 12 inch Chewbacca's out there with a missing bandolier
and without it he just doesn't look quite the same, so today i will be showing you
how to make a rather easy to make replacement quite cheaply..

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca  How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca  How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

First you will need to buy a few things from your local book shop or craft store,
you will need two different colors of "Du-Kit", one dark Brown and one gray or
pearl if you can find it. This is a "Make'n'Bake" modeling clay which sets hard
in the oven in about 10 minutes at 150c, but a similar product to this would be
fine also. The third thing you need is a pad or small note book that has a soft
vinyl cover and it should be a similar brown color as the clay.

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca  How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

First cut a small block of brown clay similar in shape to the example above, the
image on the left shows an authentic chewbacca bandolier bag and next to it
is a rough blank of clay ready for shaping. The measurements are 4cm x 6cm
and the tools used for shaping were a simple craft knife and a toothpick, the
toothpick is used to make the lines around the bag flap and texture dents.
The small straps are added last with tiny buckles on top, use the point of the
craft knife for the finer lines and for trimming away the clay, don't squeeze
the clay or try shaping it with your fingers because you need clean edges.

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca  How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

After the finished bag has been set we can move onto the strap, cut one strip
or more from the vinyl cover approximately 13mm in width, the strap needs to be
about 34cm's in length and if your vinyl isn't long enough like mine you will have
to join pieces together, which believe me isn't going to be as good..

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca  How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

If you are going to join strips together use the above method, create a finger
joint with your craft knife and then add a tiny bit of super glue to the joins
and press together. Careful not to glue your fingers, this is a strong join and
much better than simply over lapping the pieces, so once you have a strap
measuring 34cm's cut two small diamond shaped holes close to each end.
This will be used to attach the strap to the bag.

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca  How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

Now you will need to cut some very thin strips from the gray or pearl colored
clay for the bullets, in the above picture on the right you can see what the
original bullets look like, they measure 9mm x 12mm and you will need about
16 of them. The strips should be no more than 2mm thick so the bullets can
fit into the tiny slots on the strap, although the original belt holds 16 bullets
i will be only using 13 to make alterations against the joins of the strap.

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca  How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

In the picture on the left you can see the back of the original bag, the straps
are held in place using a small plug that you can also fashion from the brown
clay. Drill a very shallow hole about 1cm from the top of the bag, careful not
to drill all the way through..

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca  How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

Above you can see how the small plug fits through the holes cut in each end
of the strap, before you attach the strap permanently we will need to make the
slots for the bullets. This can be real tricky if you have made your strap in
sections but you should start at 40 or 45mm from each end and make a cut in
the vinyl every other centimeter, make the cuts 11mm in length so the bullet
fits it tight without falling out.

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

Finally place a small amount of super glue into the hole drilled previously and
press the plug into place through both strap ends, make sure you have the
straps twisted in the correct position before gluing..

 How to make a Bandolier for a 12 inch Vintage Chewbacca

Finished!, the wookie on the right is wearing our new bandolier, the final look
could be improved by painting the bullets silver but you get the idea. The
only thing that i could say could be done better is the bullet divisions, but
I'm quite happy with the result and the "Du-Kit" looks and feels like plastic..
In all it took me just over an hour to shape the bag and another 2 hours preparing
the strap and bullets etc, i hope you enjoyed this DIY on bandolier making..

For more information about other Polymer clays try the link below:
http://www.arkenyon.com/clays/clay2.html


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