T-21 Light Repeating Blaster discovery

jedicharles

jedicharles

New Member
I have been working on a 3D model of the T-21 Light Repeating Blaster used by the lead Sandtrooper whom was approached by the informant, Garindan, about the droids they were looking for. I had no problem getting source material for modeling the Lewis Machine Gun that the prop is based on but learning about how the prop was modified has been a bit difficult. Yesterday I was working on the piece that goes right in front of where the ammo clip for the Lewis goes. Everywhere I look, people who have built their own props have added a half moon or arch type part there as some sort of sensor mechanism. I modeled something very much the same but it bothers me not knowing what the prop masters actually used. Today I looked at some HD screengrabs from http://starwarsscreencaps.com/ and from what I can tell, there is no part like that on the blaster! To me it looks like a section of coiled wireon top of the blaster or on the left side. Tell me if you agree:

t-21coil.jpg
 
It looks like an actual gear of some kind to me. If you have the image not zoomed in, you can see it's not round just with space in there, it's a solid object with a solid center.
 
Coiled wire with the ST chestplate showing through in the middle
It seems to be on BOTH sides of the receiver withe the audio (?) plug going into the ribbed section

Markus
 
If it's the same thing they used on the Merr-Sonns, the Defender, and the Luke proto-blaster that ended up not being used, then it's 3/16" thick coiled wire that goes to a four-pin female plug like those used for CB or ham radio handsets -- but of a very particular design that no one's been able to run down yet. Something that looks somewhat like this end-on:

Mic_Pins_zpsf10e2f43.jpg


...but without the threaded locking collar, and with a round divot in the center where that maker's mark is in the photo.

--Jonah
 
If you look at these 8 screen caps as the sandtrooper moves closer to the camera, the shape of it seems to change. It's as if it has a bounciness to it as the gun is carried. The lighter color within the shape appears to match the color of the trooper's armor. There is definitely something small in the middle that is attached to the barrel and it appears static. I think it is a connector.

t-21detail.jpg

t-21anim.gif
 
OdiWan72 said:
Coiled wire with the ST chestplate showing through in the middle
It seems to be on BOTH sides of the receiver withe the audio (?) plug going into the ribbed section

Markus
Click to expand...

Ok don't listen to me then! :lol I thought "I really have no clue, but I'll take a look". So my first idea to leave it for someone who does was the correct choice.

Hopefully someone tracks down the exact cord so I can finish my new Mer Sonn. Probably if I sell it someone will figure it out then...
 
Sluis Van Shipyards said:
It looks like an actual gear of some kind to me. If you have the image not zoomed in, you can see it's not round just with space in there, it's a solid object with a solid center.
Click to expand...

I really did think that was the case for a long time until I looked at multiple frames of the gun from the movie. In the second row of the 8 screen captures it is easier to make out the coil looping from the rings on top of the barrel to the base of the barrel where there might be the connector for the coil going straight down into the barrel.

When I am done modeling it I will show the two versions for comparison.
 
Thanks for all your input. I decided to model a coiled wire that is attached to the gun barrel with simple wire terminals. Here are a few renderings of the model:
(click to enlarge)

The Kotobukiya Sandtrooper version of this blaster, the one from the Black Series Sandtrooper and the one for Gentle Giant's upcoming Sandtrooper statue all feature a coiled wire. It's nearly impossible to see how they attached the wire from photos but if I get the Sandtrooper statue I get a better idea.

If any of you use SketchUp, feel free to check out my completed model in the 3D Warehouse:
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=u90b8f8c5-0bf7-4730-9d34-fa9e9d32dc65
 
Nice model!

But shouldn´t there be two sections of coiled wire plus plug...one on each side of the Lewis?!
That´s what I see on the blurry reference-pictures.
 
OdiWan72 said:
Nice model!

But shouldn´t there be two sections of coiled wire plus plug...one on each side of the Lewis?!
That´s what I see on the blurry reference-pictures.
Click to expand...

I only see the one coil and it looks like it is directly on top of the barrel. There is another connector on the right side of the barrel but that is for the cord wrapped around the barrel. I never considered that the plug could be inserted between two radiator fins but that is certainly possible. I tried emailing the man who made the prop for the film about this but I don't expect a reply about something someone did 40 years ago. The original prop went back to the armorer after filming so there isn't much to go on.
 
Inquisitor Peregrinus said:
Wait... That ribbing is a cord wrapped round the barrel? All these years I thought it was some sort of corrugated outer sleeve. :confused

--Jonah
Click to expand...

It's mostly a matter of opinion but if you look closely at a screen capture after increasing the brightness you can sort of see that it goes around the barrel at a slant. It also bulges out over an area of the Lewis gun barrel that is raised as if it were wrapped. The spacing of the ribs is also irregular. It still looks good with corrugated sleeve though.
 
*props my chin on my fists* Tell me more... :) Estimates of cord thickness would be great, as well as direction of wrap.I can do math from there to determine number of "ribs" and, from that, length needed. What has been conjectured about how the ends are anchored?

I'm guessing this is what I get for missing staff meetings over at the MEPD... :p

--Jonah
 
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