ANH Han Solo Hero DL-44 Blaster Replica

[FamousFett]

Hello everyone! Today I finished assembling and painting my ANH Hero Han Solo blaster, this kit is all metal and is made of denix and steel. The kit was made by Field Marshal/War Machine over at blasterfactory.com . The kit has a very nice weight to it and it feels like I am holding a real blaster and I imagine the real prop has a similar weight to it. The kit was really easy to put together and only required a small flathead screwdriver. As far as the painting and weathering I did, most of the parts were painted with a gloss/semi gloss paint and then I used archive X engine black to do all of the weathering on here. This was a fun build and paint up and only took me about 2 hours to do everything. I recommend putting the kit together before painting just to make sure everything fits well together. Anyway enjoy these photos and thanks for checking out my thread

 

[soundmtn]

Looks gorgeous! Amazing work!

 

[FamousFett]

Looks gorgeous! Amazing work!

Thank you!

 

[JamesM242]

Fantastic! Well done!

 

[FamousFett]

Fantastic! Well done!

I appreciate that! I really like how this turned out too

 

[ID10T]

This looks great!

Kinda digging up a dead thread here, but I've wanted one of these since 1977... I went to the site and I feel the price is very reasonable for what you get.

I was curious what anyone might change on this to improve it? For me, the shape of the trigger is a bit off but I think the "right" shape could be obtained from the Denix trigger. Then the cooling fins (model plane engines) can be made from the actual engine cylinders (although it is not an insignificant bit of fabrication).

And I can't figure out where the model engine (connecting rods?) go on the blaster? I know they are used somewhere- can someone educate me on where they are?

Again, this looks great, and I'm inspired to get one myself!

 

[Jonflake88]

Awesome work on this! Turned out great. I really like the weathering work,

This looks great!

Kinda digging up a dead thread here, but I've wanted one of these since 1977... I went to the site and I feel the price is very reasonable for what you get.

I was curious what anyone might change on this to improve it? For me, the shape of the trigger is a bit off but I think the "right" shape could be obtained from the Denix trigger. Then the cooling fins (model plane engines) can be made from the actual engine cylinders (although it is not an insignificant bit of fabrication).

And I can't figure out where the model engine (connecting rods?) go on the blaster? I know they are used somewhere- can someone educate me on where they are?

Again, this looks great, and I'm inspired to get one myself!

In terms of "improvements" I think you could go with a blued upper, and painted lower. But thats a lot easier on a full steel replica kit as opposed to a denix kit. If you go with a steel kit, you wont have to mess around with re-shaping the trigger or anything like that, its all super accurate. And then scottjua makes a really great stencil kit for the paint on the scope mount crossbar/circles if accuracy from reference photos matters to you. In terms of the model engine parts, I think you're referring to the sight greeblies (antenna and T track I believe), those go on the bull barrel behind the flash hider.

I say improvements in air quotes because I think ultimately it comes down to what you want your blaster to look like. I think a lot of it is personal choice of whether you are trying to replicate what is known about the prop through reference and research or make an idealized/personalized version.

 

[Jonflake88]

Awesome work on this! Turned out great. I really like the weathering work,

In terms of "improvements" I think you could go with a blued upper, and painted lower. But thats a lot easier on a full steel replica kit as opposed to a denix kit. If you go with a steel kit, you wont have to mess around with re-shaping the trigger or anything like that, its all super accurate. And then scottjua makes a really great stencil kit for the paint on the scope mount crossbar/circles if accuracy from reference photos matters to you. In terms of the model engine parts, I think you're referring to the sight greeblies (antenna and T track I believe), those go on the bull barrel behind the flash hider.

I say improvements in air quotes because I think ultimately it comes down to what you want your blaster to look like. I think a lot of it is personal choice of whether you are trying to replicate what is known about the prop through reference and research or make an idealized/personalized version.

Here’s a photo from my build right now of the model engine parts I think you’re talking about...

 

[ID10T]

Yes! I’ve seen them with many kits but never figured where they went. Then, before your reply, I started into the epic detail thread on this prop and got my answer there too. Thanks!

The steel kit is magnificent. Truly a grail type piece. Only an actual hacked Mauser would surpass it (maybe!).

I think the machined version is the best bang for the buck. The steel version is the “never tell me the odds” version. If I come into some money before my order...

regarding the bluing/paint: would blue “take” on the Denix material? Is it a pot metal or zinc? Has anyone tried this? Doing it all with paint would look good- until it didn’t. It won’t wear the same. Although primarily static, I plan to have this in and out of a holster now and then.

The holster... that’s next.

 

[facemelter]

regarding the bluing/paint: would blue “take” on the Denix material? Is it a pot metal or zinc? Has anyone tried this?

Many builds on here use aluminum black. It's a product made by Birchwood Casey. It will blue/blacken the zinc.

 

[ID10T]

I'm familiar with their products, but never worked other materials other than steel (and wood).

I'll grab some next time I'm in Cabelas and do some testing.

Thank you!

 

[Jonflake88]

If you wanna be stocked up grab some brass black too, good for. weathering the scope pieces and the grip screw pieces

 

[ID10T]

I'll re-stock everything. God only knows where my old bottles are, and he's not talking...

 

[Robstyley]

That looks great. Really like the black metal paint and weathering. I’ve got one of these coming and plan to do similar. I’m interested in staining the grips, they look a little orange and light to me. Would prefer a darker slightly redwood look. I have a resin one but I’ve wanted a more accurate metal DL44 for a long time, can’t wait. I’ll check back here for reference. Again, we’ll done, great blaster

 

[Portaler]

Excellent stuff FamousFett . What did you use to paint ? Airbrush ? How about the weathering ?

I'm sure there must be an ultimate "how to paint/weather" thread somewhere ? Can anyone help me out there ?