Todd's or WPG Holster?

[Clipper]

I want to order a Raiders holster today and they both are about the same price with shipping and look great. WPG is $4.00 more.

I think the WPG has been more well received on here, and has the SA second button hole. However it looks brand new and will require some
time to get it looking well worn in. Not that that isn't fun to do. The Todd's already look great and broken in.

I don't have a fun to fill it, but would probably get something like one of these down the line http://www.ebay.com/itm/HFC-44-Magnum-R ... SweW5VX45W" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and then paint and distress it.

Thoughts?

-Tom

[distantpeople]

Do also look up Make It Jones. Incredibly great work...

https://sites.google.com/site/makeitjones/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Indiana Jeff]

I have a Todd's holster and it's a nice piece of work. It does not come broken in though. Nothing that can't be accomplished easily enough with a little water and some distressing to your preference.


A word of caution on using a 357 or 44 airsoft gun. My understanding is the frames are too big and won't fit well in the Raiders style holster.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Clipper]

Yeah I've heard its a bit hard to find a gun to fit in it. I'm actually more excited to buy the Webley BB gun for my Webley holster. I just wanted a Raiders holster to complete my Raiders outfit since I have everything else.

When I do decide to get a gun for this I might see if I can bring my holster in with me to the bass pro or big 5 or whatever sporting good's store to see what revolver options for airsoft/bb will fit in it before buying. They usually have a display case. I've seen some nice revolvers with 2.5" barrels that look pretty close. If all else fails I might just get the rubber S&W from western stage props.

As far as the holster, I decided to pull the trigger on the WPG. I think the leather looks really good quality and have heard good things on here about color and accuracy. I certainly intend to distress it too. Indy's is pretty darn distressed in Raiders.

[Indiana Jeff]

This model of air soft is based on the 38 and is a good close-enough option. http://www.ebay.com/itm/321949909389?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Clipper]

This model of air soft is based on the 38 and is a good close-enough option. http://www.ebay.com/itm/321949909389?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Looks great, thanks for the link. So this should fit in the WPG holster? Taking off the orange tip will shave off a little too. It says the overall length is 10"

-Tom

[Indiana Jeff]

Yep, 4" barrel. This was the go to close enough before they became as scarce as hens' teeth.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Clipper]

I thought I'd post my progress on the WPG Holster I just got a couple days ago.

First off, it is very nice. The leather quality is fantastic, and I'm very happy with the overall look and shape. I wasn't super pleased with the color
choice though. While it's a good looking color, it's not at all what I see on screen. It's very orangey tan, and on screen we definitely see a medium
brown, pretty distressed holster.

So, since I had such a good experience (and fun) distressing my new webley holster (i'll have to post that later) I really wanted to have a go at the
WPG.

I made a pic to show the steps I took.

It was very stiff, so the first thing I did it work at it for a while with my hands to loosen it up. I could hardly undo the strap lock!

Second, I soaked it in water and worked it some more until the strap easily locked on and off.
Once it was dry I used some fine grit sandpaper and went over the whole thing to get rid of the brand new shine. Then started distressing attacking
the areas where I thought would naturally get the most wear over time. And looking at some screen shots too.

I was quite pleased with the look after this. (see image 2, "sanded"). But again the color was still orangey and light. So I decided to try some leather
dye. First pass I did light brown, which looked pretty good but as it dried I could see it wouldn't be dark enough to be able to get the right look.
So after an hour or so I dyed it again with medium brown and let it sit in the sun for the afternoon. Thats image 3 and 4 "Light brown" and "medium
brown"

Finally, while watching looking up as many close ups as I could find of Indy's holster I tried to again sand the areas that saw the most wear.

I'm pretty darn happy with the result. Although the orange base I believe made the brown a bit more of a mahogany vs. tobacco finish that I think
the screen used holster was, it still looks really cool.

What do ya think?

Final trick will be when I get a revolver to fill it and shape it/wet it/sand it again.

[Cajunkraut]

That looks fantastic!

After you wet mold with the pistol, you can distress the bottom of the cylinder bulge to further replicate the screen used holster.

[smh318]

That looks great!! I'm new to the forum so I'm jumping into some of these threads late in the discussion but for what it's worth I recently picked up the Raiders holster from Todd's Costumes as I am LA based and he's close. I'm really happy with it - the color is less orange than it looked on the website. Somewhere between the original and light brown pic in the above post. I've started distressing it, and will try to get some pics up once I do.

I am also currently working on a "con-friendly" revolver based on a .357 airsoft revolver I had laying around. I took it apart and stripped the airsoft bits and glued the trigger and hammer in place so nothing but the cylinder moves. I also reworked the grips to get them close enough and replaced the barrel. It now has a 4" barrel and fits very nicely in the Todd's Raiders holster, even with the large frame. I also have the all metal Denix MKIV Webley .38 which also fits perfectly in the holster.

Anyway, just thought I'd add my input on the Todd's holster for future reference.

Again, beautiful work on the holster!

[Chewbacca Jones]

Nice work, Clipper. Maybe I'll try doing some of that to my Todd's. I like it as is, but you results are inspiring.

[Zaphod]

The holster looks great. I followed your approach and got good results. Did you apply anything to the leather after you dyed it to hold the dye? Does the dye rub off or come off if wet? I am concerned about the color coming off on my pants.

Thanks

[Clipper]

The holster looks great. I followed your approach and got good results. Did you apply anything to the leather after you dyed it to hold the dye? Does the dye rub off or come off if wet? I am concerned about the color coming off on my pants.

Thanks

Thanks! Yes, on my last step here after the dye was applied, and I let it sit in the sun to dry for the afternoon, I treated it with Pecards leather dressing. It's kind of my go to for conditioning all my leather jackets, belts and good for the bullwhip too. This darkened it a bit and also provides some waterproofing as there is bee's wax in it.

I haven't had any issues with color bleeding. At first it may need a few days to really dry into the leather. I did take a paper towel to it to buff it until no color came off too at the end. At this point I'm confident it wouldn't get any dye on anything. I've used the same dye for leather jackets in the past and it definitely works well. The pecards will feel a little bit waxy for a few days until it really soaks in too.

Hope that helps. Post your results when you are done.

-Clipper

[JackShannon]

I have purchased them both since the beginning of 2019. I would say the Todds Holster is better than the WPG Holster.

WPG Holster is very stiff, has smaller stitching, and is a little bit smaller than Todds. There is no way I could use the second hole on the strap to close the flap

Todds is more supple and maybe slightly darker, with larger whiter stitching. I could use both holes on the strap to close the flap.

I use the Todds holster to carry my Taurus Judge, as it wont quite fit in the WPG holster.

Todds is on the left, WPG on the right:

[JackShannon]

Here is a picture of the back:

Again, the WPG has the smaller tan colored stitching, the Todds has the Large white stitching.

[Howard Weinstein]

This model of air soft is based on the 38 and is a good close-enough option. http://www.ebay.com/itm/321949909389?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Looks great, thanks for the link. So this should fit in the WPG holster? Taking off the orange tip will shave off a little too. It says the overall length is 10"

-Tom

Several guys have used this same or similar Airsoft gun for a few bucks less (with minor modifications, like taking off that extra doodad on the grip) -- https://www.ebay.com/itm/350-FPS-HFC-35 ... 1438.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;