CAPT. ACTION BELT DILEMMA

[weezeemule]

OK I'M NOT SURE WHERE THIS SHOULD BE AT, SO I PUT IT UNDER TIPS AND TRICKS,MAYBE ONE OF THE GENIUSES OUT THERE COULD HELP ME OK I HAVE A CAPTAIN ACTION BATMAN AND AFTER 40 YEARS OF TIME THE BELT HAS SHRUNK SO IT NO LONGER GOES AROUND HIS GUT, NOW IVE BEEN THINKING OF ACTUALLY CUTTING THE BELT IN THE BACK AND EXTENDING THE BELT SO IT DISPLAYS NICE, AM I STUPID , I WILL NEVER SELL THIS FIGURE SO THE VALUE THING IS OUT SO IS THIS A STUPID THING TO DO OR IS THERE AWAY AROUND THIS ,ITS BEEN SITTING AT HIS FEET FOR 10 YRS OR SO AND IVE BEEN GETTING THE "CA" ITCH LATELY AND TRYING TO GET SOME OF THE PIECES IVE BEEN MISSING , I WAS JUST WONDERING IF ANYBODY ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM

[ptassler]

try heating it up with ablow dryer use caution not to melt and stretch slowly
or boiling works too but can warp so use this as a last resort

[Wild Willy]

I have been giving this some thought and heating it up came to my mind as well.
What I would try is: Clamp one end of the belt to somthing so it will hang down. Try adding a small weight to the bottom and then apply the blowdryer up & down the belt.

If I could see a picture of the belt, I could probaby come up with other suggestions too.

You could always strip a twist tie and use the tiny wire to attach the 2 ends together. This would be behind his back and hidden by the cape and you would not depreciate the piece regardless if you never sell it.

Will

[weezeemule]

ok guys here is your mission should you accept it ....






JUST CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE ( IKNOW YOU PROBABLY KNEW THAT)

[Wild Willy]

OK! now that's a huge gap, somethings funny (strange)
"Don't cut it yet!"

I have a CA Batsuit packed away, I'm gonna dig it out and measure the leangth of the belt flat out. I want you to do the same and post the measurement that you come up with.

With such a huge gap, my best guess would be that the body you are useing is not an "authentic, original" CA Batman body.
I am no expert in these bodies in fact I need one myself, but I am aware that repros are available and I have no idea if they are indenticle in every mannor as an original. Also! I don't know if the actual Batman body was any different then a generic CA body.
This is my guess, so lets measure em up and see if there is a difference between yours & mine.
Anyone else who has a CA bat belt, get out a tape and tell us what you got please.

Will

[radioscooter]

Many of the Ideal rubber accessories shrink over the past 40 years. Depending upon how it was stored, it can eaily have shrunk that much. I have had dozens of CA belts and about 4 out of 10 are shrunk. Additionally, if you put any of the soft rubber parts near the Ideal hard plastic parts (like a hard plastic pistol in a soft rubber holster) the two polymers will fuse together and melt the hard plastic. Crazy stuff.

Anyway - it's a common problem. And you can either get a new vintage belt on ebay (and not be sure it will be any longer) or a repro belt (the new rubber will be plenty long enough) or do what I've done a few times - cut the belt, pierce holes in the belt, thread the belt with thin rubber bands to extend the belt the half inch you need, then tie the bands together.

-S

[weezeemule]

thanks , yea the melting is a pain too, i had my capt action with sword in sseath and recently took it out ... afraid it would melt , yea im leaning toward cutting the belt , if its good enough for scotter .... thanks alot

[radioscooter]

weezeemule said:

afraid it would melt , yea im leaning toward cutting the belt , if its good enough for scotter .... thanks alot

ha ha! You'd be amazed at what I've scotch-taped together over the years! On my CA Batman, I use an exact repro rubber belt molded in yellow rubber, and I have a cowl with the black part done IN black. It goes a long way in making it a figure I actually would have wanted as a kid.

-S