As far as I can tell, Magnum wore a standard brass buckle the first season.
As you can see from the pic, I have replaced the first badge with the Special Ops badge, which makes more sense. This badge is all brass, and after cutting the pins off, I was able to bend it to the contour of the buckle and use the 3M tape reccomended.
That looks great, How'd you like the 3M tape? It comes in gray and black. I figured the gray would blend in better with the silver buckle, and trust me, it'll never fall off.
BTW, nice reflection of the team ring in the buckle.
Your're right; the tape is strong stuff and makes a firm bed for the badge, which by the way is a bit bigger then the Surface Warfare badge. Thanks for the help on that.
Is that the belt at uniforms4-u.com?
If you could find a blank buckle for around $12, the badge for $12 and the engraving $15, that would be under $50 for the finished buckle. I've spent way too much on this project.
It is at uniforms4u. In early episodes he did wear a standard web belt with a plain smaller buckle. but every close up where the "Magnum" buckle is seen, the belt is smooth, this is the dress khaki belt. It's about the same price as the web belt.
My hunt for a plain 3" buckle..... continues.
Last edited by N1095A on Mon Dec 08, 2008 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I've never seen a 3 " plain buckle, but I am sure they are out there somewhere. Most of those either have a designation (SWO, ESWS) or the command silhouette on them. I wish I still had my old silver Nicholson belt buckle. I have no idea what happened to it.
I have had no luck finding a plain buckle. An alternative to engraving might be to go to a sign shop and have the letters die-cut onto gold chrome vinyl, and simply stick them on. I don't know if the sign shops could make the letters small enough, but it would capture the look.
It's a GMT Master II. Not sure what makes it much different from an original GMT Master though.
Is it the matte vs glossy background?
Only $3k. keyword "only." Wish I had some extra "Christmascash" lying around.
Bill
2 main differences between the Master and the Master II, The Master (Like TM's) has an acrylic (plastic) crystal that is much thicker than the sapphire crystal on the Master II, and the dials are marked Master and Master II respectively.
I found this on Ebay:
I emailed the seller, and he replied that the design is painted on the buckle, and not engraved. I'm thinking it was silk screened, and baked on.
Anyway, I figure I'll try some paint stripper or Methyl Ethyl Ketone to remove the graphic, and polish it up, Have it engraved, and place the badge on it.
IKnowWhatYoureThinking wrote:N1095A are you going to put a gold finish on it or leave it silver?
I'm going to leave it silver. Hopefully the graphic comes off clean. TM's buckle was silver which I never understood. Silver was for enlisted, Gold was for Officers. I contacted Zippo Manufacturing in Bradford, PA a few minutes ago. They unfortunately no longer produce the buckles. I know the buckles are still available in ship's stores through out the fleet, and they have to come from somewhere, so my search for a plain silver buckle.... continues. There are some of the zippo buckles on Ebay now, but I'm suspicious about the "painted on" claim. Many including the one I purchased look like at least part of the design is etched into the metal.
