ANH Hero DL-44 Discussion - Three ANH Greeblies Found
- Thread starter deadbolt
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Ciscotiger
New Member
Great information on the DL44!
Have you guys seen this!?
http://www.therpf.com/f79/han-solo-blaster-cells-solos-hold-209253/
If you've got a solo blaster I think you'll need some belt greeblies!
http://www.therpf.com/f79/han-solo-blaster-cells-solos-hold-209253/
If you've got a solo blaster I think you'll need some belt greeblies!
Darth Lars
Master Member
Daddy Solo
Active Member
Yes, but I think they should have trapezoidal bottoms.
sorry for the threadjack, but why?? what's your reference?
Darth Lars
Master Member
No reference, just expressing an opinion. The Mauser's magazine has a trapezoidal bottom.
It is not as if we see the bottom of the "blaster power packs" anywhere, so I think there is room for some artistic license.
Daddy Solo
Active Member
No reference, just expressing an opinion. The Mauser's magazine has a trapezoidal bottom.
It is not as if we see the bottom of the "blaster power packs" anywhere, so I think there is room for some artistic license.
Ahhhhh, now I see where you are going with this. Pretty clever! Makes perfect sense actually. Based on this proposed schematic though- only the bottom door could be trapezoidal, not necessarily the energy cells themselves. Maybe we should suggest to all the gun rig makers that they should reconsider how they shape their pouches, being rectangular and all
Ultimately for an unidentified part, yes there can be some artistic license taken here for sure. :cool
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Darth Lars
Master Member
What is the best way to age a hot-blued steel part?
I subjected my hot-blued DEC scope to vinegar, which destroyed the finish completely in no time at all. :facepalm
I had been hoping that it would produce regular rust only where I had scratched and dinged it and leave the bluing alone. I am pretty angry at myself right now.
I subjected my hot-blued DEC scope to vinegar, which destroyed the finish completely in no time at all. :facepalm
I had been hoping that it would produce regular rust only where I had scratched and dinged it and leave the bluing alone. I am pretty angry at myself right now.
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Darth Lars
Master Member
The dark colour of J-B-Weld is probably from its iron content, which is 5-10%. Even if J-B-Weld would take cold-bluing solution well, it would probably not blend together with its surroundings. I have used epoxy with a larger percentage of zamak filings as filler and it did darken well with cold-bluing liquid, but it is obvious on close inspection where I have used it.
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In your opinion, what type of bluing that would most effectively disguise JB Weld as accompanying material, ie, steel? I imagine that hot-bluing would melt the weld, but what would you recommend? Is impossible to mix in anything with the bluing solution to dilute it into making details less ambiguous? Or am I just overthinking all of this, and should just paint it instead? Thanks for the input!
BTW, I have also almost completely sanded and prepped a Denix Mauser for bluing / painting. I really want a blued gun, but I know that the crappy Denix is an odd alloy. Should I go for cold-bluing with Aluminum Black, or are there any other roads worth looking into? I want to avoid paint, and I also REALLY want it to have that faint bluish tone in the black, like a real gun that has been professionally blued. Ideas/suggestions,anyone?
VFX Freak
Sr Member
Those look great! I'd be buying a set except that I'm just about finished building these:
These are Corellian Export parts that I jazzed up with a bit of styrene. I got the idea from a Rebel Forum I found while researching the Greeblies, which is probably why the panel pattern is so similar. Wouldn't surprise me to learn it was the same person making the aluminum ones.
Haven't figured out what I want to do for the three "insulators" or whatever they are. The kit comes with nails to put in the holes, but I want something more Star Wars appropriate.
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VFX Freak
Sr Member
Sorry to hear that, Darth. I used the vinegar to remove the cold bluing on my flash hider. Never tried it with hot bluing, but I'm surprised it took it off so fast. How long was the part in the vinegar? I soaked mine in white vinegar for five minutes at a time. It took only two soakings, with a paper towel wipedown in between, to get to this:
The discoloration at the end of the FH was done with a blowtorch.
If you leave the part in the vinegar long enough it will eventually remove all the bluing, but it doesn't rust the steel.
As for the problem of bluing something like JB Weld, Kpax mentioned somewhere in this huge thread that you can tint clear lacquer with blue and black to get a semi transparent coating that looks like bluing. I bought the materials to do it, but haven't had a reason to try it yet. Anyone out there have success doing something like that?
Daddy Solo
Active Member
Yours look great as well!!
For the record, Solo's Hold is a COMPLETELY SEPARATE entity from Corellian Imports. Aaron (of SH) and I were talking about this part and how much better it would/could be if it were made of all metal (we're both into maximum durability :devil). Since no one knows for sure what the bottom of the energy cells actually looks like, his design as is most people's design, is an artistic interpretation of what they MIGHT look like. He recently sent me a set to evaluate and all I can tell you is that they fit nice and snug in my Todd's ANH rig, and they feel like the real deal (since they are made of 1/2" aluminum plate and brass greeblies) -
(sorry for the crappy cell phone pics)
Either way, I love your live fire blaster build and your artistic interpretation of the cells. :thumbsup
Darth Lars
Master Member
I used a recipe for rusting steel that I had found at an arts&crafts site, with vinegar, water and table salt. I believed I left it wrapped in soaked paper-towels for five minutes, but it might have been longer. I'm thinking that maybe the vinegar was stronger than it was supposed to.
VFX Freak
Sr Member
Interesting! What type of vinegar did you use? I used white vinegar and literally dunked the FH in a container full of it and let it soak. I got the idea from a video Adam Savage did about building his Bladerunner gun. He used it to fade the bluing on the Steyr receiver, which was factory bluing, I think. He had to soak it for an hour to get it where he wanted it, so maybe there are more caustic varieties of vinegar, or maybe the addition of salt is the key to your misfortune.
Luckily, the DEC scope is really easy to blue with Casey's Super Blue.
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VFX Freak
Sr Member
Live fire update: Scottjua has posted video of his live fire blaster at the range and it looked great, but he discovered that the firing forces were moving the DEC parts around causing damage to the real barrel and the bull barrel from the set screws digging through the metal. When I ordered my DEC parts I was worried about the weight of the steel parts causing the gun to malfunction, so I also bought an aluminum flash hider and barrel.
Scott came up with an ingenious way to lock everything in place so there'd be no chance of anything moving around. He threaded his barrel and made a new aluminum booster that threads onto the barrel locking the bull barrel firmly in place. I thought that sounded great and Scott very kindly offered to modify mine as well. Here's what he did:
Threaded the outside of the real barrel, which he said was NOT easy.
Here are the aluminum parts laid out:
The bluing didn't come out quite as well as it did on my steel parts because Aluminum Black is a pain to work with, but I think they still look pretty good. I did the bluing, not Scott. His work is top notch.
And here it is all together:
The only other difference between this version and the one with steel parts is that I replaced the aluminum grill with one made from plastic. The aluminum one kept getting chipped and as much as I liked the worn look, it wasn't right. I cut apart three plastic Tomtit replica parts and glued them together. I haven't weathered it because I figure it will get beat up all on its own. I'm pretty happy wiith how it came out.
Hopefully the lighter parts attached to the upper receiver will allow the gun to function properly. Time to take this thing to the range!
Scott came up with an ingenious way to lock everything in place so there'd be no chance of anything moving around. He threaded his barrel and made a new aluminum booster that threads onto the barrel locking the bull barrel firmly in place. I thought that sounded great and Scott very kindly offered to modify mine as well. Here's what he did:
Threaded the outside of the real barrel, which he said was NOT easy.
Here are the aluminum parts laid out:
The bluing didn't come out quite as well as it did on my steel parts because Aluminum Black is a pain to work with, but I think they still look pretty good. I did the bluing, not Scott. His work is top notch.
And here it is all together:
The only other difference between this version and the one with steel parts is that I replaced the aluminum grill with one made from plastic. The aluminum one kept getting chipped and as much as I liked the worn look, it wasn't right. I cut apart three plastic Tomtit replica parts and glued them together. I haven't weathered it because I figure it will get beat up all on its own. I'm pretty happy wiith how it came out.
Hopefully the lighter parts attached to the upper receiver will allow the gun to function properly. Time to take this thing to the range!
OMG So stoked to see if it all works... and then mine too this coming week.
Man it's been a pain. Your's look fantastic!
I didn't take a single pic of the parts while doing or or when done. That booster came out nice and shiny too, but good that you blued it, so it doesn't stand out through the holes in the FH.
Man, I think I need to do the grill too with my tomtit replica parts. That looks loads better, and like yours mine is showing silver from wear.
Let us know how firing goes!
Once I do my final test I will update my build with all my findings too.
Man it's been a pain. Your's look fantastic!
I didn't take a single pic of the parts while doing or or when done. That booster came out nice and shiny too, but good that you blued it, so it doesn't stand out through the holes in the FH.
Man, I think I need to do the grill too with my tomtit replica parts. That looks loads better, and like yours mine is showing silver from wear.
Let us know how firing goes!
Once I do my final test I will update my build with all my findings too.
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