I daresay you nailed it, Rob. That looks to be very, very close to the ones seen on-screen.

Balls, one of those came with my helmet and I chucked it...... FUCK

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AKA: Simon

I don't know. To me that one looks toooo look big. I see the screen ones as only slightly wider than modern ones while that one is gigantic! Could just be me I suppose.

If you have a look at this picture, you'll notice a distinct stripe texture on the helmet band and it looks even lighter in color:



Cheers,
Stefan

I suppose there's every possibility they were made...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ ... fo-needed/

Kinda matches the one in the 'bay auction. For what it's worth...

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"He is as clumsy as he is stupid."

The texture on those bands does make it look like it's an elastic material, whereas the one on the eBay link and TacBlue's link is definitely a cotton weave material.

The pertinent question would be 'what is the width'.

Then it comes down to scaling the picture above to the known size of the pentax lens, and going from there.

**(Edit)**

And having done that quickly, I get the band width to be in the region of 17mm, taking the known scale of the pentax lens to be 34mm across.
Please feel free to double check that.

Because if we can't find them, then they have to be made.

And from that, if it's elastic, and it's 'stretched' a little, the width of the elastic is likely to be 20mm in it's unstretched state. I'd need to do some stretch checks to confirm this.

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You don't have to be pitilessly sadistic to work here.... But it helps.
http://www.chefs-creations.co.uk/shop/index.php/colonial-marine

http://www.kgbairsoft.com/wordpress

Lads - I'll check the theory from the link tacblue found... In that link they talk about British WW2 'Tortoise Shell' MKIII helmet chin straps which were khaki and elasticated... And would be about in abundance in both khaki and green in the UK in the 1980s because they were issue chin straps (they changed to a MKVI helmet which was just a change of liner etc but the same shape shell) for non airborne forces until the 1980s when they began being phased out for the Kevlar lids...

I have a MKIII... I'll post some pics of the chin strap...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

We're getting somewhere fast!

I've just been to my kit cupboard and dug out my MKIII helmet (dated 1943)... I also have a quick release tank crew helmet chin strap... Attached is a picture of each type...

The longest is 21" long... The straps are 1" wide...

I'm wondering if one of these would be long enough to go round an M1? They do look very taught on the movie used ones...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

I'm not sure the weave is correct on the British helmet chin straps...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

I'm with Chef in that the screen used one in the pic looks like a length of elastic, not woven material.

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Steve
Corporal in 69th Regt. 1st Batt. Homer’s Heroes.

"I'd like to die at the age of 80 in my own bed, with a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my c**k."

17mm-20mm Elastic band? Sounds and looks like it's regular 3/4 inch Elastic strapping that's been weathered.

That looks right but how would the elastic be dyed to that colour? Will it even take a dye?

*edit* - I note it be obtained in different colours... Doh...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

You might be able to soak it in coffee too.

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Or tea, the old way of aging things.

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Martin 'Victim' Victory
A86/TQ3.4.49421E3
UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters


you can't take the PUNK outa Spunkmeyer

for my 1/6th guys, I used white elastic and spray painted it khaki. It has held up very well. Not sure how that would hold up in full sized form, but the paint doesn't come out of clothing. I don't see why it wouldn't be OK.

The trouble is to find one with the correct number of stripes.

Cheers,
Stefan

Stefan... are you implying we are stitch counting?

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

I ran to the fabric store this morning and grabbed some good candidates. You'll want knit not woven, woven has the lines going the wrong way...

They only had tan in 1", so I'll experiment in cutting that down, and I got 3/4" in white so I'll try some different aging options.

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

So here are the results of my experiments!

First we have straight-up tan elastic, cut down to 3/4ths of an inch. It has not been weathered at all:



Here we have white elastic soaked overnight in coffee. This was a much stiffer elastic material than the tan.



I think the coffee stained one is the better of the two, but there is a "ribbed" quality in the original that these elastic samples lack. Each individual line (running horizontally across the helmet band) looks thicker or more chubby on the original. The bands are there though, at it is possible that with more careful weathering they could be made to be more pronounced.

So while I think elastic is the answer, it isn't as simple as running to the fabric store. You may need to do some looking around to find a real match.

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Or ask a soft goods designer with many connections overseas....

I can get it made with the correct width,number of ribs, color, etc.


Looks more like "ribbed cotton webbing" vs. knit elastic.


The width can be confirmed based on the known diameter of the pentax.

You are trying to get out, but we keep pulling you back in!

Noble helmet band - I like the idea!

Judging from Retrograde's pictures, I'd say 3/4" is still too wide. My guess would be more like 16mm or 5/8".

Cheers,
Stefan

More Noble goodies?

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."