DL18 blaster full conversion kits - research and production thread

[eethan]

Interest thread posted to get a better idea of how many more do I need to do after the first few are finished:

Interest - DL18 full conversion kits - Jabba guard blasters

Hi, Some will already have seen the WIP thread for that project: https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/dl18-blaster-full-conversion-kits-research-and-production-thread.356126/ I wanted a very accurate kit for my own blaster and decided to do a few more kits in case people wanted them. Showing...

www.therpf.com

 

[Lichtbringer]

Only full sets? Or are/will be parts seperately availabe?

 

[eethan]

Only full sets? Or are/will be parts seperately availabe?

There will be separate parts but afterwards. The interest list from tonight already covers the first batch I did, so I'll need to do more for a new batch of full kits and separate parts.

 

[Lichtbringer]

Cool. Thinking about replacing one or two parts on mine with casted ones.

Made mine from Delrin and am not the biggest fan of painting and glueing that stuff. But never made a mold from them, not for one of each and never wanted to sell copies.

And one day i need to decide if i sell all my stored RO-72, or still keep them for "maybe i need them one day"....yeah, sure.
Btw. What are actual prices these guns go for? Anyone a idea?

 

[eethan]

Cool. Thinking about replacing one or two parts on mine with casted ones.

Made mine from Delrin and am not the biggest fan of painting and glueing that stuff. But never made a mold from them, not for one of each and never wanted to sell copies.

And one day i need to decide if i sell all my stored RO-72, or still keep them for "maybe i need them one day"....yeah, sure.
Btw. What are actual prices these guns go for? Anyone a idea?

I have sold a few for 180€. They are risky to send oversea though.

 

[Lichtbringer]

Thanks for the info.

I assume they will be thrown in the trash one day after my death, together with multiple Sterlings and other collected stuff.
Sounds easier than to handle any hassle with selling.

 

[eethan]

Thanks for the info.

I assume they will be thrown in the trash one day after my death, together with multiple Sterlings and other collected stuff.
Sounds easier than to handle any hassle with selling.

I have one person on my list that is in Germany and looking for a RO-72. I'm sure several people would be interested, even in Europe only.

 

[Lichtbringer]

I will give it a thought to sell one or more, thanks.

 

[MechRep]

I will give it a thought to sell one or more, thanks.

I'm also in the market if you decide to sell a few. I'm in the Netherlands.

 

[mgoob]

This is super-fantastic!
Another great kit has come together!

Adding the mould lines is appreciated as they are seen.
The 32” Falcon uses parts w/ the mould lines still visible.

 

[eethan]

This is super-fantastic!
Another great kit has come together!

Adding the mould lines is appreciated as they are seen.
The 32” Falcon uses parts w/ the mould lines still visible.

thank you Mike, much appreciated

yes, the mold lines are very visible in all blasters the issue is that they are always in a different position, they just drilled the scopes without looking it seems.
but yeah, they are clearly here:

and my first partially assembled kit:

 

[Thisisaaron]

I will give it a thought to sell one or more, thanks.

I'm looking for one as well, however I'm in the US.

Separately, I'm curious what the "proper" front sight and back cap are compared to the inaccurate ones? I've looked through many threads and haven't seen anyone point out exactly what the differences are or what is correct. Any help there would be appreciated!

 

[eethan]

I'm looking for one as well, however I'm in the US.

Separately, I'm curious what the "proper" front sight and back cap are compared to the inaccurate ones? I've looked through many threads and haven't seen anyone point out exactly what the differences are or what is correct. Any help there would be appreciated!

hey,
here is a photo showing a bit the differences between two RO72:

close up of the muzzle on a original:

and the back cap:

the correct back cap variations are harder to find, but I have replacements on my website when needed
I hope this helps, don't hesitate if you have more questions

 

[Thisisaaron]

hey,
here is a photo showing a bit the differences between two RO72:
View attachment 1792475

close up of the muzzle on a original:
View attachment 1792476
and the back cap:
1200×539
420.4 kB
View attachment 1792477

the correct back cap variations are harder to find, but I have replacements on my website when needed
I hope this helps, don't hesitate if you have more questions

That's perfect, thanks Matthieu!!! Did they just apply some small weathering to the original black body then? I wasn't sure as I noticed the textured handle inlay appeared to be a brown/rust in the reference photos you shared. I didn't know if that was applied over the black handle or if that was a brown body painted over with black.

 

[eethan]

That's perfect, thanks Matthieu!!! Did they just apply some small weathering to the original black body then? I wasn't sure as I noticed the textured handle inlay appeared to be a brown/rust in the reference photos you shared. I didn't know if that was applied over the black handle or if that was a brown body painted over with black.

I don't know, it's weird what they did with this blaster, they basically painted flat black over the whole thing, then painted brown the handle grip it seems. I don't see any hint of brown anywhere else and the blasters are pretty weathered overall.
I haven't seen that correct back cap on a brown RO-72 either. But again, this pistol had so many variations. As an example, my black RO-72 with the correct back cap, has the wrong front sight, very weird!

(I'll answer to your email in a bit as well, have a lot of stuff to do this morning )
cheers

 

[Elevader]

hey,
here is a photo showing a bit the differences between two RO72:
View attachment 1792475

close up of the muzzle on a original:
View attachment 1792476
and the back cap:
View attachment 1792477

the correct back cap variations are harder to find, but I have replacements on my website when needed
I hope this helps, don't hesitate if you have more questions

I love this. Honestly, I had no idea about the front sight differences. I was literally just about to sell my extra RO72 when I saw another thread where Mara Jade's Father mentioned this difference. Then I checked and found out the DL-18 I already completed has the incorrect front sight, while the other I was about to sell had the correct one. Talk about good timing.

Looking forward to this kit. I already have a few versions of different parts and they are all great, but I don't think I'll be able to help myself on getting another and possibly upgrading my current version. I already have the back caps you sold previously and they are awesome. Great work, eethan !

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I had no idea about the front sight differences. I was literally just about to sell my extra RO72 when I saw another thread where @Mara Jade's Father mentioned this difference.

That’s the part I wish someone would machine a replica of.

 

[Rexermus]

Oh, you're right, I was misled by the sprue only having two fins. They are indeed bombs, either Mk 82s or Mk 84s - I'm not quite enough of a plane geek to be able to tell without more research than that's worth. Grammatically speaking, one could argue that a free-fall bomb is a missile, but in terms of jet aircraft the term is usually reserved for something that's self-powered.

And I didn't figure you'd made up the term yourself - it felt like one of those generic bits of jargon that communities like this develop. I just felt the need to be pedantic about it.

From my quick research most Mk 82s have a cylindrical nose tip instead of a blunted conical tip. So I'd be more inclined to say they're Mk 84s. Not that IDing what the armament the makers decided to included on the model actually matters when we just need to know what the model itself is

 

[Captain Dunsel]

From my quick research most Mk 82s have a cylindrical nose tip instead of a blunted conical tip. So I'd be more inclined to say they're Mk 84s. Not that IDing what the armament the makers decided to included on the model actually matters when we just need to know what the model itself is

I am certain the production team chose to use the more rarely found version of the base pistol…as I like to say, it’s one of the cardinal rules of “found item” prop making, after all.

Do we have any evidence that this production had resin copies made of a master base pistol, with metal plates applied? These were a super plentiful prop in the production of Jedi…somehow, I don’t think that every one of them was an actual air pistol vs. a resin copy of a base pistol.

 

[eethan]

I am certain the production team chose to use the more rarely found version of the base pistol…as I like to say, it’s one of the cardinal rules of “found item” prop making, after all.

Do we have any evidence that this production had resin copies made of a master base pistol, with metal plates applied? These were a super plentiful prop in the production of Jedi…somehow, I don’t think that every one of them was an actual air pistol vs. a resin copy of a base pistol.

This is all becoming confusing here, Rexermus was coming back to the missile/bomb argument, not discussing the RO-72 pistols or actual blasters.

to answer your question as best as I can, I have seen references or at least 4 or 5 different DL18, all with an actual Ro-72 pistol I think. I'm sure those were very readily available at the time, so it's possible they just bought a lot of pistols instead of going through the trouble of casting them. I haven't seen a cast yet, but maybe others have