I can’t claim to know anywhere near enough about guns, let alone antique an Mauser, but doesn’t it seem crazy to paint areas of a gun that need to slide and move? To me it would seem likely to gunk up the mechanisms…I could be absolutely wrong about that though.
Let me clarify; I don't think the SW crew disassembled the gun to paint individual components. I think they lazily spray painted the entire thing in one solid piece, and not very well at that.
Yea that does make sense if it was painted as one piece, that does seem like something a film production would do if needing to get something camera ready quickly too.
I’m definitely more and more inclined to agree with you on this. What I’ve just never been able to reconcile in my head with painted or unpainted is the color difference between upper and lower, it often looks slightly different color but never as differentiated as painted looks, at least on mine.
I appreciate your willingness to share the reference you’ve spent time tracking down, especially as a maker fairly new to prop replicas. I don’t necessarily hold it against anyone who wants to hold on to their references they’ve gone to effort to acquire. I know I don’t personally feel like they owe it to me or us, as like you said none of us own any of it and certainly didn’t take the photos. That being said I think it can only benefit the community if it is shared though, as I think that spirit of replication and detail is something really special about the RPF, and having that knowledge will only help to inspire new makers that stumble upon this thread and this hobby. I think sharing what is known leads to the preservation of theses incredibly unique and special props, especially in the case of the ANH DL44 as it no longer exists. While we all love our blasters I think what is more important is that the knowledge and stories behind such an impactful film is preserved and passed on.
All that makes perfect sense. When I encourage sharing, I mean it only in the case where the material wouldn’t violate any sort of NDA, or the wishes of the actual owner. I think in those scenarios you’re 100% correct that they should not be shared. I hope that my little ramble about it doesn’t come off as feeling that all people should share everything, there are plenty of very valid and understandable scenarios where they absolutely shouldn’t. And I certainly understand trepidation based in your story and others like it I’ve heard. And it does circle back to the concept that a vast majority of this stuff does belong to Lucasfilm/Disney, and to maintain this hobby/living for some people it’s very important to not infringe upon their good will, or the good will of the prop houses involved in production.
