ANH Hero DL-44 Discussion - Three ANH Greeblies Found
- Thread starter deadbolt
- Start date
Very nice!
Looking like raw steel or aluminum, probably 2 countersunk screws?
Looking like raw steel or aluminum, probably 2 countersunk screws?
kpax
Sr Member
That's what we concluded with the DEC kit. Deadbolt modeled it over the ST images.
kpax
Sr Member
We also concluded the HERO crossbar was aluminum due to the deep gouges and bright appearance. The dovetail was almost certainly from the ST gun and made of steel. The first DEC kit was made exactly like this with 2 countersunk screws and a center hole (possibly threaded) or dimple.
Thanks for the confirmation, kpax. I've been into blasters for a while but am just finally deep-diving into the ANH hero prop. I'm making my way through this thread from the beginning, while also trying to stay current with recent posts. Thanks for all of your contributions to this thread/discovering the details of this prop in general! I would love a DEC scope mount, but unless I'm mistaken I don't think he's selling them individually, just as a full set with his scope, plus it looks like he's currently sold out. And, the picture on his website doesn't show a dovetail. Is that a detail that he did away with in later runs?
I saw CHIZZbot1973 's blaster when I helped repair it (the mount bent from a fall) and i hammered it back into shape.. i noticed the screws in the dovetail and wondered at the time if that was an accuracy decision... that memory just came back! nice work as always guys
deadbolt
Sr Member
I agree that the holes are present during filming. There's a pretty good chance that the crossbar was simply just a piece of aluminum flat bar-stock that was cut to length (drilled and tapped), with the dovetail simply mounted to it though the aforementioned holes on either side of the center hole. The dovetail is very evident in Scott's Imperial blaster photos also, so very likely to be the same when seen as the ANH Hero as well.
Pat (kpax) makes a great point that the center dimple could very well be a threaded hole instead, from a mounting point-of-view it would still work very well if the mount itself just had a though-hole in the center and the thumbscrew just threaded into the dovetail instead. Either the hole in the mount or the thumbscrew would require a 'step' to pull against though. But it would pull it nice and tight against the dovetail (although throwing off the accuracy of the scope's vertical abilities due to the small gap that would be created on the backside/angled area of the dovetail in turn, from whoever designed the mount =b).
-Carson
Pat (kpax) makes a great point that the center dimple could very well be a threaded hole instead, from a mounting point-of-view it would still work very well if the mount itself just had a though-hole in the center and the thumbscrew just threaded into the dovetail instead. Either the hole in the mount or the thumbscrew would require a 'step' to pull against though. But it would pull it nice and tight against the dovetail (although throwing off the accuracy of the scope's vertical abilities due to the small gap that would be created on the backside/angled area of the dovetail in turn, from whoever designed the mount =b).
-Carson
sbeall
Active Member
Speaking of DEC scope mounts and dovetails...
I have one of the newer runs from last year, with a pewter mount and no dovetail. I think I’ll scribe a dovetail seam on both ends.
But I have a question for anyone who has a similar mount: How do you color it? Aluminum blue has brought it to a mottled, color case hardened look, but no further. Steel blue doesn’t touch it. I’m using Birchwood Casey chemicals, but is there a better way? Or is paint my next best option?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
I have one of the newer runs from last year, with a pewter mount and no dovetail. I think I’ll scribe a dovetail seam on both ends.
But I have a question for anyone who has a similar mount: How do you color it? Aluminum blue has brought it to a mottled, color case hardened look, but no further. Steel blue doesn’t touch it. I’m using Birchwood Casey chemicals, but is there a better way? Or is paint my next best option?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
deadbolt
Sr Member
I'm not completely sure how well it would work on pewter, but the best way I've found to get a genuine blued look, on zinc alloys at least (even with polished parts), is Brownells Oxpho-Blue: BROWNELLS OXPHO-BLUE® | Brownells
It's not super easy though, what I did is diluted it 5-parts hot/warm water to 1-part Oxpho.
Then the process I used was in this order: I degreased the parts thoroughly by dipping and scrubbing in denatured alcohol with a soft horse-hair brush, then dipping and scrubbing the part while submerged in the Oxpho, then dipping and scrubbing yet again in clean water to stop the reaction. And then I repeated the whole process over about 10-20 times to build up a nice even finish.
It will come out looking matte-black at first, but you have to 'very' lightly polish off the surface with very fine polishing paste, either model polish or super fine automotive polish works.
The reason I went that direction was because on zinc, using it non-diluted cased it to have sort of an underlayer reaction that showed through as different shades of brown/tan and not very uniform when viewed in good lighting.
Ever since I've used Oxpho-Blue, I haven't really touched Birchwood Casey stuff since. Unless I'm going for a matte finish like aluminum black gives. Their products are way too corrosive on most metals.
Here's an example of a Tomenosuke Blade Runner Steyr receiver I finished using the same method, although with this one I heavily polished the part beforehand:
-Carson
It's not super easy though, what I did is diluted it 5-parts hot/warm water to 1-part Oxpho.
Then the process I used was in this order: I degreased the parts thoroughly by dipping and scrubbing in denatured alcohol with a soft horse-hair brush, then dipping and scrubbing the part while submerged in the Oxpho, then dipping and scrubbing yet again in clean water to stop the reaction. And then I repeated the whole process over about 10-20 times to build up a nice even finish.
It will come out looking matte-black at first, but you have to 'very' lightly polish off the surface with very fine polishing paste, either model polish or super fine automotive polish works.
The reason I went that direction was because on zinc, using it non-diluted cased it to have sort of an underlayer reaction that showed through as different shades of brown/tan and not very uniform when viewed in good lighting.
Ever since I've used Oxpho-Blue, I haven't really touched Birchwood Casey stuff since. Unless I'm going for a matte finish like aluminum black gives. Their products are way too corrosive on most metals.
Here's an example of a Tomenosuke Blade Runner Steyr receiver I finished using the same method, although with this one I heavily polished the part beforehand:
-Carson
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Slightly unrelated; but guess who got what...
Whaaat. Great find! eBay???
Vanitas
Sr Member
Yep yep! I must have gotten lucky and saw it pop up on ebay almost immedietly after it was listed, so I snatched it up in a few sesonds. I think I got it for a good price too!
(I can understand how it might not be as valuable with the replica scopes available from Field Marshal now, but if I ever decide to do a Greedo Killer then the idea of having a real Compac Scope made it worth picking up to me.)
Congrats!
Finished up a hero with some new parts I had made up to help improve the overall look and get it more inline to the real thing..
Here are a few more pics. I fully modified the denix about as far as one can take it I believe. Creating an all new trigger/hammer (from a real c96) to go along with an extraction mark to help improve the details of this hero..
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Am I missing something here, or is the site t-track usually that short, and that shape? also, is There only one pin as well? Just curious! And if so, what reference are you using?
I do believe you have been misinformed. No offense but what makes you believe otherwise? Honest question. Lots of things about this hero prop are pretty subjective and truly misleading but we can get to the bottom of this if you’ll indulge me.
None taken, Nothing makes me think that at all! That’s why I was wondering if yours is correct as I’ll be doing an ANH build soon! I’ve seen most greeblie kits come with 2 pins and the t track is flat on top. And haven’t seen any good original references that even show it in detail. But most people that do this build use the pins as are and leave the t-track flat. Though I personally think your way looks more like a site actually would.
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