Hello Richard,

Although I'm not doing Chewie ,I have a Bandolier that I made very simply.

I went to a leather shop and got a strip of leather about four inches wide , then I cut a 1 X 4  in two inch and three inch blocks, then sanded smooth then attached from underside of leather with small screws, used screws on top to simulate the screws on the movie version,After spray painting the blocks with Chrome paint it looks good to ok depending on your sanding and sealing techniques if you work with wood.

Hope this helps a little.