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What holds up the biceps?


Art Andrews
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Seems like a simple question.... on my first suit I put a snap into the inside of the shoulder bell and then ran a 1" strap down the outside of my arm to the inside of the bicep... and I know I am not the only person to do it that way... but my question is, do we have any proof the ANH suits were put together that way? I am beginning to think the only thing actually holding the bicep in place is the forearm pushing up on it and the little hook on the inside of the bicep, hooking over the elastic band of the shoulder bell. Thoughts?

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well, i actually know someone whos worn a lucasfilm suit at lucasfilm ranch while he was an intern there one summer.

that said however. he said he doesnt remember how it all went on. a few people put it on him, and re remembers it being uncomfortable and unable to move well for the filming stuff he did. not sure what ot was for.

i'm thinking both versions are correct.

can anyone confirm in the movies that they can see straps going horizontal around the biceps?

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If you are going for 100% accuracy, don't have any straps holding the biceps up. The only strap the bicep has is a 2" wide black elastic strap glued to the forearm, nothing else.

In the movies, the arms just slipped on. Some used the elastic strap from the bottom of the shoulder bell and taped it to the bicep to stop it from dropping down, while some stormtroopers has small plastic hooks/tabs glued to the biceps and the shoulder bell straps hooked onto this and kept the arms up.

I'll get a photo of my armour to show you soon, but you can just see the tab on my bicep in my signature photo below.

There are other options than striving for 100% accuracy? :lol: :lol: :lol:

What you are saying is exactly what I am coming up with. I am just wondering where we got the elastic coming down from the shoulderbell to the bicep... I am guessing that just seems logical given the the bicep attached to the forearm that way and it was initially assumed the bicep attached to the shoulderbell in a similar manner.

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So, based on the ref I have, here is a quick hook I made. I think it needs some refining on the shape, but it is a start.

Here is my problem though... from what I have seen, there is no proof that the sandtroopers have the hooks and I tend to believe they probably didn't at the point in which they were created. The sandtroopers appear to be assembled (in general) very differently from the final stormtroopers, with the sandtrooper shoulder bells riding very low, and almost completely engulfing the biceps. I also noticed that the elastic from the shoulderbell that goes around the arm is much thicker on the sandtroopers than on later troopers, especially the RotJ troopers seen at MoM. It is a bit tough because on a lot of these details there aren't definitives... only generalizations, so there is no way to say "this is the one and only right way" which may make a lot of people happy because it gives them a lot of latitude, but is frustrating for me, because it means there is no one right way to do it... :(

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...with the sandtrooper shoulder bells riding very low, and almost completely engulfing the biceps...

I think that's because

1. In general, the actors were short.

2. The shoulder bells were not attached very well (we've seen black gaffers tape), and I think it was Mollo who even said they hastily assembled the sandtroopers at the last minute to be on schedule for the Tunisia shoot.

I know I've tried to replicate that look, but I'm 6-feet tall, and having the shoulder bells hang really low to compensate not only looked odd, but felt odd, too.

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Would the hook on the bicep possibly catch onto lower edges of the chest plate?

Imagine not being able to raise your blaster from the ready position? :lol: Another reason the bad guys can't shoot straight?!

Perhaps as the armour was revamped for the stormtroopers for the later Tantive IV/Death Star scenes, this detail was simplified?

Come RoTJ - where the stunts are more difficult - the armour was further simplified to allow the greater movement required?

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Art,

You were very close on the hook

Here's some pics from FISD of Han's suit

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See how it just hooks over the strap on the shoulder bell?

I know it isn't TD armour, but wouldn't they be made the same?

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I know it isn't TD armour, but wouldn't they be made the same?

Hard to say. I can't see any of the hooks on the sandtrooper armor but then again, the shoulder bells are so low down and the pauldron and shoulder pouches generally are covering that area. I tend to think they are not on the sandtrooper armor, but were added later. However, I am adding them to mine, at least for now. However, I think they will be completely useless if I display the armor as we sit it sitting on the sandtroopers, because the orientation of the shoulder bell to the bicep would never allow the bicep to be low enough to take advantage of the hook.

Interestinng to see that it appears to hook on each of Han's biceps are different.

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I don't see the hook on the left bicep in the top 2 pictures only the hook on the right bicep.

And if you look at the bottom picture the hook on the right bicep is gone. But you can see the hook on the left. Now could this Be just something used only for those scenes? Or did the right bicep hook prove unsuccessful and they tried something diffrent for the left?

Also If you look at the hallway scene with Luke & Han breaking out Liea. The Infamous missing shoulder bell on lukes armor I don't recall seeing hooks.

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Its hard to say how many troopers may have used these hooks. From Matt's archive pictures, there is only one complete set of arms that are shown enough to tell there are the bicep hooks on them. Besides Han's suit, there are possibly two other instances of similar hooks being used. One is see as the first trooper to get shot on the Tantive IV throws up his arms and the other is seen on the hero trooper who walks Leia to Vader. Both arent really clear enough to tell what there shape really is, or even what they are made out of. Could even be tape!

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Or its falling off because its a simply a glued parts :lol:

Wish Davin raise his hand on the dune a little bit higher

"its a droid!! everybody,its a droid!!!" :P

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After looking a bit more, I am going to have to say that the sandtroopers don't have the hooks. You can see at least the Move Along and Lewis troopers inner biceps and it is fairly clear there are no hooks. However, because my arms are so long, I am going to add the hooks to my armor. They are subtle enough that I am not too concerned about them showing and hopefully they will help a little with holding the biceps up.

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OK this thread is just happening at the right time, im hoping to strap my new armour sometime over the next couple of weeks.

OK lets look at this photo of JJ, it may have covered before i dont know.

Where is the strap going that is coming out of the left hand side of the chest plate. Is this holding the shoulder bell up, it seems too far forward? Or is this going through the arm and holding the forearm up, we know that the forearm is held on the inside elbow by a 2 inch strap which we assume it attatched to the inside of the bicep..

If the bicep is free floating the forearm being held up and the elastic on the inside of the shoulder bell would be enough to hold the bicep in place, yes, no?

Any ideas...

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