The 'Savage #1' Blade Runner Blaster:
I like to build full-scale movie gun replicas. I'm also a massive Blade Runner fan and there are weapons which were designed for the production of that movie which don't appear on film but which are still an important part of the Blade-Runner-universe, such as Leon's concept derringer designed by Stephen Dane and the concept Deckard blaster designed by Syd Mead. There's also another gun which many Blade Runner fans know about, which is not widely discussed or replicated(sic) and for a fan like me it's another big part of the Blade-Runner-universe and it was built over thirty years ago by Adam Savage. Adam needs no introduction from me. He's a member here and has spent the last three decades researching and building Blade Runner pistol replicas. His first replica was built when he was just 18 and was discussed at length on his 'Tested' show which you can watch on YouTube. 18 year old Adam created a version of the Blade Runner pistol from sketches he made whilst freeze-framing a VHS video-tape of the movie. Amazingly that blaster still exists in Adam's archive and if we compare it to the other guns in the movie it comes across as a genuinely suitable design for the 'noir' Blade-Runner-universe, it's all-black and it looks lethal!
Personally I think a copy of the Savage #1 blaster should be a part of every Blade Runner fan's collection.
I'm going to use the term 'blaster' to describe Adam's gun rather than pistol. When I talk about the movie gun I always try to call it a pistol because beneath it's futuristic styling it's an old fashioned 'slug-thrower' (even if some of the things it fires are very specialised loads) but I think the Savage #1 is styled very much as a projected-energy weapon such as the 'black-hole gun' from the early movie screenplay or 'laser tube' of the original Philip Dick novel.
My plan then is to create an exact duplicate of the Savage #1 blaster with all the detail of Adam's original.
One of the coolest parts of Adam's #1 blaster is the retro handle & grips and these were built from a "Galactronic Gun" toy, which is a copy of Edison Giaccatoli's famous "Super Thur" or "TG-105" ray gun toys of the early 80's (this piece was also used as the handle of the 'Lassiter laser pistol' from episode 11 of Firefly). Luckily for me 18 year-old Adam didn't have access to high-end CNC machining facilities or 3D printing technology so most of the shapes in the #1 blaster are simple and easy to replicate with bar, sheet and tube stock or turned on a lathe. Using tube stock of varying diameters will also allow me to create space for a battery and some LEDs in the upper receiver cavity. When I say 'exact duplicate' I will of course be creating a clean version with sharper detailing as the original has been in storage in Adam's archive for decades and is worn and dusty, with a missing cover on the upper receiver.
Important to note here is the fact that I am NOT 'recasting' Adam's work but re-creating it from scratch with a new original sculpt, using reference material made available by Adam himself. In fact my build being made from the 'Tested' video is very much like Adam's build being done from freeze-frames of a VHS copy of the movie.
January 2017:
I started by copying the few available images of the #1 blaster and transferring the shapes into my vector drawing programme so I could output a scaleable version of the design once the dimensions were known. The dimensions will come from original Galactronic gun handles and when I have these I will be able to calculate the scale of all the other elements from them. Here's my first sketch:
February 2017:
Two vintage Galactronic guns arrived in good condition and so I lost no time stripping the least good one down for the usable parts to make my first attempt. When this first 'prototype' is completed I plan to create a much better 'hero' version with lights. Now that I have this I can apply accurate measurements from the main handle component to the reference photos of Adam's gun and scale the parts diagrams correctly before I do any cutting.
Luckily for me the Galactronic guns already have battery holders in their handles so this will certainly save time later for powering LED lights in the new upper receiver sections. Adam's gun didn't have a trigger, just a switch on the left side, so I may still have to ditch those for accuracy but I will make that decision at a later date.
I'm self-employed and over the spring and summer season I don't have much spare time so the project is going to be a slow burner but updates will appear when progress happens and I hope to have a final version on display by the time Blade Runner 2049 comes out in October.
UPDATE : THREAD MOVED TO MY MAIN PERSONAL BLADE RUNNER PROPS THREAD. NO MORE UPDATES HERE GUYS
I like to build full-scale movie gun replicas. I'm also a massive Blade Runner fan and there are weapons which were designed for the production of that movie which don't appear on film but which are still an important part of the Blade-Runner-universe, such as Leon's concept derringer designed by Stephen Dane and the concept Deckard blaster designed by Syd Mead. There's also another gun which many Blade Runner fans know about, which is not widely discussed or replicated(sic) and for a fan like me it's another big part of the Blade-Runner-universe and it was built over thirty years ago by Adam Savage. Adam needs no introduction from me. He's a member here and has spent the last three decades researching and building Blade Runner pistol replicas. His first replica was built when he was just 18 and was discussed at length on his 'Tested' show which you can watch on YouTube. 18 year old Adam created a version of the Blade Runner pistol from sketches he made whilst freeze-framing a VHS video-tape of the movie. Amazingly that blaster still exists in Adam's archive and if we compare it to the other guns in the movie it comes across as a genuinely suitable design for the 'noir' Blade-Runner-universe, it's all-black and it looks lethal!
Personally I think a copy of the Savage #1 blaster should be a part of every Blade Runner fan's collection.
I'm going to use the term 'blaster' to describe Adam's gun rather than pistol. When I talk about the movie gun I always try to call it a pistol because beneath it's futuristic styling it's an old fashioned 'slug-thrower' (even if some of the things it fires are very specialised loads) but I think the Savage #1 is styled very much as a projected-energy weapon such as the 'black-hole gun' from the early movie screenplay or 'laser tube' of the original Philip Dick novel.
My plan then is to create an exact duplicate of the Savage #1 blaster with all the detail of Adam's original.
One of the coolest parts of Adam's #1 blaster is the retro handle & grips and these were built from a "Galactronic Gun" toy, which is a copy of Edison Giaccatoli's famous "Super Thur" or "TG-105" ray gun toys of the early 80's (this piece was also used as the handle of the 'Lassiter laser pistol' from episode 11 of Firefly). Luckily for me 18 year-old Adam didn't have access to high-end CNC machining facilities or 3D printing technology so most of the shapes in the #1 blaster are simple and easy to replicate with bar, sheet and tube stock or turned on a lathe. Using tube stock of varying diameters will also allow me to create space for a battery and some LEDs in the upper receiver cavity. When I say 'exact duplicate' I will of course be creating a clean version with sharper detailing as the original has been in storage in Adam's archive for decades and is worn and dusty, with a missing cover on the upper receiver.
Important to note here is the fact that I am NOT 'recasting' Adam's work but re-creating it from scratch with a new original sculpt, using reference material made available by Adam himself. In fact my build being made from the 'Tested' video is very much like Adam's build being done from freeze-frames of a VHS copy of the movie.
January 2017:
I started by copying the few available images of the #1 blaster and transferring the shapes into my vector drawing programme so I could output a scaleable version of the design once the dimensions were known. The dimensions will come from original Galactronic gun handles and when I have these I will be able to calculate the scale of all the other elements from them. Here's my first sketch:
February 2017:
Two vintage Galactronic guns arrived in good condition and so I lost no time stripping the least good one down for the usable parts to make my first attempt. When this first 'prototype' is completed I plan to create a much better 'hero' version with lights. Now that I have this I can apply accurate measurements from the main handle component to the reference photos of Adam's gun and scale the parts diagrams correctly before I do any cutting.
Luckily for me the Galactronic guns already have battery holders in their handles so this will certainly save time later for powering LED lights in the new upper receiver sections. Adam's gun didn't have a trigger, just a switch on the left side, so I may still have to ditch those for accuracy but I will make that decision at a later date.
I'm self-employed and over the spring and summer season I don't have much spare time so the project is going to be a slow burner but updates will appear when progress happens and I hope to have a final version on display by the time Blade Runner 2049 comes out in October.
UPDATE : THREAD MOVED TO MY MAIN PERSONAL BLADE RUNNER PROPS THREAD. NO MORE UPDATES HERE GUYS
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