Rebel Hardware Competion - Rebel Technician Toolbelt Kit

It started with a Goodwill find: an old leather toolbelt. It was nice and aged, but in good shape. Believe it or not, I was actually going to use it for its intended purpose, but then I came to my senses. J

I decided it was not unlike something a Rebel tech might use to haul his gear around: a repurposing of a found item in the great Star Wars propmaking tradition.

It actually has almost no modification. Some mylar tape covers a logo on the brass tapemeasure hook, and I used good 'ol duct tape to cover some stamped lettering near the top.

The "mods" I thought would help were the addition of the "tools". I crammed into it: everything I had that might be useful to a rebel tech.

Starting at the rightmost pocket: an X-Wing pilot arm tools/data cylinder made from washers and aluminum tubing. Whether he"s repairing or slicing, a tech"s going to need to interface with the equipment he"s fiddling with. A data cylinder could upload newer software or diagnostic programming, could download error logs or other diagnostic information, or, provided one has the skill, could be used as a passkey to slice into an enemy network. With all these potential uses, one data cylinder is never enough, so this toolkit has four of them, two of each style (see below).

The next pocket over contains one of those other data cylinders, and two handtools used in electronics repair. Perhaps they solder, or cut wire, or emit fusing beams, or magnify tiny components. Or all of that and more! I made them from chrome exhaust pipes and ingress/regress steps from a Peterbuilt wrecker kit.

Above these tools, in the rightmost main compartment, is a "Terminal Impedence Monitor" explained in detail in another submission. A tech has gotta be able to analyze the equipment under repair!

Back to the face of the belt. The next pocket to the left contains two Imperial-style data cylinders. Ya need all kinds! They"re made from aluminum chalk holders, available here: http://www.bender-burkot.com/productDetail.asp?id=195721&type. The only modification I made was to paint the tops blue.

Clipped below this pocket are welding glasses. Gotta protect the eyes. I found them at an antique store. They were indeed labeled as welding glasses, but since the glass is not tinted I suspect they"re simply goggles for aviation or similar uses. My only mods were to paint the aluminum ball-chain links between them black, and replace the rotted elastic band.

In the next pocket to the left is... well there"s no name for it, not even in the EU. Han Solo had one of these in a pocket on his gunbelt in ROTJ. It"s half of a carburetor from the Revell Visible V8 model kit. Since we don"t know what it is, and it fits in the pocket, I"m assuming it would be of use to a techie as well.

Along those lines, the next pocket contains what"s probably intended to be a power pack. Again, Han Solo had two of these on his belt. This was not made by me, but rather by Vince of Correllian Exports. A techie needs a power supply, and once again it fits the pocket. J Stuck behind it are two more chrome "tools" courtesy of the Peterbuilt wrecker.

A tech might need gloves so in this pic an upper compartment has a pair. They are Solo gloves commissioned by Dangeruss.

In the second pic of the submission itself you"ll see the last two items, on the left side of the belt. The first is another tool from Han"s belt made by Vince from a Micronox cylinder, and the second is a droid caller replica I made from Irish Jedi"s first kit from a couple of years ago.

There"s still plenty of space left in the belt for mission-specific purposes: a weapon, your wallet, your lunch... in fact, someone seems to have left something in here...

... What the heck is THIS?
Looks like we"d better analyze this strange bit of hardware! :)