ANH Hero DL-44 Discussion - Three ANH Greeblies Found

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

My interest in this thread and the subject of it has largely been in the other Mauser-based blasters besides the DL-44, so I don't have a bracket I can fiddle with to try out theories...

...But are we sure the way the scope bracket is used in all these movies isn't just an artifact of it being used on a Mauser C96, rather than some other firearm it was meant for? What I mean is, has anyone ever flipped the mount so the scope is centered over the receiver? With a C96, that'd be in the way of the ejector, so obviously it needed to be offset -- easily done by flipping the mount. But if it were on some other rifle or carbine, either side-ejecting, or in a different position that didn't block an upward ejection...?

 

[cyberblock]

Hey Carson,

I'm going to just throw this out here, but maybe the mount is unrelated to a weapon altogether and it was an architectural bracket for a corner pipe fitting. I realize this is highly unlikely. Due to the diameter of the scope, but then that led me to think electrical conduit which is roughly the size of the scope.

I hope that spurns some other creative brainstorming around it's possible origins.

Kind of reminds me of the grips used on the lightsabers. Its suspected its t-track rails for cabinetry, but finding that exact profile from that time period is still a bit of a mystery.

- Curt

 

[scottjua]

The upper and mount from "The Naked Runner" was paired with the scope from "Sitting Target" and added to a new lower on the right side to facilitate the use of a holster and voila:

View attachment 1277505

Photo courtesy me... color correction by me, file upres, and cleanup by me... my watermark removed. >_<

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

I Agree completely as far as the Mausers go. That's why I would really love to see a well made, decent replica of the Mauser C96 (With the ANH Lump!) that's available for people to make accurate replicas from without destroying historical firearms over and over like some have done over the years, it certainly does hurt to see that done to so many historical WW1 relics, undoubtedly.


-Carson

You don’t like any of the replica c96’s that are available? I’m standing on all your shoulders and pretty much everything has already been discovered well before I joined in on the fun over 5 years ago. Im grateful and inspired by so many here in this thread alone. Everything you state about this mount makes sense. Following your logic it seems like it would have to be a found part. Like the idea as well that its original intent was for something other than a gun. I continue to follow with great interest..

 

[thd9791]

The surface finish of the mount suggests a found part to me as well. If it was made by bapty, I would think it would have a machined, and not a smooth (almost cast), finish

 

[thd9791]

Scott - thank you for the photos. Was there ever a consensus on what happened to the bottom of the cradle during filming? ***** it got smashed up, I was looking for milling marks (inside of the main knob for exmple)

and I stepped back and realized how damaged it was

Feel free to point me to a section of Page #'s if I'm being an idiot

 

[deadbolt]

@cyberblock

That's a good point, like I said this mount could possibly be to the extreme like something we haven't even looked for or realized yet, so at this point it's very possible to be something like that as well...or in some cases, exactly what we thought it was like the model airplane cylinders (which a lot of us thought it was before we started giving up hope, for example kurtyboy searched extensively for many years in that very same area for many years). I really, really hope we can find out what it really is someday..It is, after all, the largest primary part that has yet to be identified on this prop so far.
As you pointed out, I suppose we should, at this point, be looking for anything and everything as a possibility. Basing on the mount's design it very well could be related to something completely different than what we assume to be a firearm mount of some sort.

@chubsANDdoggers

The replica that was recently fabricated by Field Marshall from my 3D models, and with the help of course from my friend and co-creator of this project kpax, along with some help from scottjua as well, is certainly an excellent replica Mauser, no doubt. But I'd really like to see a replica (of equal quality) made specifically for the ANH Hero blaster specifically, since it was so unique compared to other Mausers in general, lump, partial serial # etc..

@scottjua

Honestly not trying to come off as a jerk at all..I know you went to a lot of work to get some of theses photos and that you also work in photography, and I and many others thank you very much for that. But please don't post photos publicly in this thread (or online at all to be honest, just my advice personally) that you don't want to be used as reference or to be shared an any way. Many, many people have also spent their time and efforts sharing photos that have barely or never even been seen publicly, just to contribute to the collaborative effort of this project, including Chris (lonepigeon) who has shared more than enough photos that aren't within the public's view whatsoever such as archival photos, and at that, without trying to take absolute credit for such photos that he, nor anyone else here, had photographed themselves. Him and all of us here simply just want to contribute to furthering the outcome of the primary goal..finding out the truth and mysteries of this prop. Understanding is the goal and curiosity is the fuel here, especially for a prop that simply doesn't exist in it's original form anymore and is non-referenceable in person for the most part.

After all, that's the whole reason the majority of us are here studying things together on the RPF to begin with. Curiosity, contribution, and resolution.
Not for publicity, or steady contributive credit. The whole point of a forum as great as the RPF and the people that it contains, is to collaborate and help one another towards the greater goal. Understanding first and then eventually making a great replica.


-Carson

 

[scottjua]

I'm not all hot and bothered by it, as it's just the way it is. The thing is, that I used to readily share images all the time and with whoever... I would almost always put a watermark, out of the way to not obstruct the image content... but I always did some very custom work to each photo so I would know 100% which are mine. So when I would see those REPOSTED and saved and resized and then posted by someone as their content (not pointing any fingers here as I know they've gone into the ether in various forms now) with the watermarks cropped and even photoshopped out completely, it's pretty dang irksome. Especially when I either cultivated relationships, or paid actual money to get them. So yeah... it's pretty annoying to see them altered.

Anyway, the Field Marshall's replica and your models. While we all worked HARD to try to get that going, in the end your models weren't used. Back when Aaron was trying to get the project off the ground, he tried to use your models I think but had a hard time converting them to the format he was using for machining. So he did a lot of work on it file-wise as well, but determined it was going to be much more expensive for him to produce and more difficult for our numbers to meet up.

Fast forward to Field Marshall's involvement, and while we were getting it up and running, we handed over everything to him, but in the end I believe he discarded everything we had done previously and started from scratch with a laser scan of his own real Mauser.

We talked about it a lot, and we determined a more generic Mauser base as a wartime commercial would be ideal as it would simplify production and meet the needs of multiple blaster bases. So with keeping the full length barrel would also mean we could use it as a Stembridge... although ALL of the others had the barrel cut down in some fashion. Since you can't ADD metal it made sense.

For the lump, it's a detail missed by most people and not an identifying feature that makes it especially stand out. So there wasn't a real need to get it on there since all of the other variants didn't have it.

So while I pushed for some leanings toward an ANH specific behind the scenes, the small variances didn't make production sense. Like the serial numbers. We left those off because there's all possibility that we'd learn the serials of the others in time. So those are easier to have people add themselves or have those added by someone who can.

The lump could be added by the very dedicated by attaching a steel bit separately. The serials as well. Since we have a bull barrel version that's nice, and there will be some small future tweaks to bring everything slightly more inline with the correct dimensions.

On topic, the mount... very could be something found... but if we look at the bapty built version that showed up recently it certainly looks hand made. That blaster is certainly NOT the prop... (except the scope and maybe top scope rings), but while nothing matches up... IF it was made by bapty it jives with it being hand made and the variances of a shop making two of something very similar by hand vs. a production line made part with jigs and fixtures.

So in short, I still think custom hand made makes sense... but again... nothing is certain.

 

[Davy Jones]

Removed

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

I'm not all hot and bothered by it, as it's just the way it is. The thing is, that I used to readily share images all the time and with whoever... I would almost always put a watermark, out of the way to not obstruct the image content... but I always did some very custom work to each photo so I would know 100% which are mine. So when I would see those REPOSTED and saved and resized and then posted by someone as their content (not pointing any fingers here as I know they've gone into the ether in various forms now) with the watermarks cropped and even photoshopped out completely, it's pretty dang irksome. Especially when I either cultivated relationships, or paid actual money to get them. So yeah... it's pretty annoying to see them altered.

Anyway, the Field Marshall's replica and your models. While we all worked HARD to try to get that going, in the end your models weren't used. Back when Aaron was trying to get the project off the ground, he tried to use your models I think but had a hard time converting them to the format he was using for machining. So he did a lot of work on it file-wise as well, but determined it was going to be much more expensive for him to produce and more difficult for our numbers to meet up.

Fast forward to Field Marshall's involvement, and while we were getting it up and running, we handed over everything to him, but in the end I believe he discarded everything we had done previously and started from scratch with a laser scan of his own real Mauser.

We talked about it a lot, and we determined a more generic Mauser base as a wartime commercial would be ideal as it would simplify production and meet the needs of multiple blaster bases. So with keeping the full length barrel would also mean we could use it as a Stembridge... although ALL of the others had the barrel cut down in some fashion. Since you can't ADD metal it made sense.

For the lump, it's a detail missed by most people and not an identifying feature that makes it especially stand out. So there wasn't a real need to get it on there since all of the other variants didn't have it.

So while I pushed for some leanings toward an ANH specific behind the scenes, the small variances didn't make production sense. Like the serial numbers. We left those off because there's all possibility that we'd learn the serials of the others in time. So those are easier to have people add themselves or have those added by someone who can.

The lump could be added by the very dedicated by attaching a steel bit separately. The serials as well. Since we have a bull barrel version that's nice, and there will be some small future tweaks to bring everything slightly more inline with the correct dimensions.

On topic, the mount... very could be something found... but if we look at the bapty built version that showed up recently it certainly looks hand made. That blaster is certainly NOT the prop... (except the scope and maybe top scope rings), but while nothing matches up... IF it was made by bapty it jives with it being hand made and the variances of a shop making two of something very similar by hand vs. a production line made part with jigs and fixtures.

So in short, I still think custom hand made makes sense... but again... nothing is certain.

I'd love to see a comparison of the ANH Mauser model you worked up against a standard wartime c96

 

[thd9791]

The mount is uneven. Like, I know the vertical posts are different sizes, but I just noticed the bottom is curved, and it's off center

 

[Dann]

I think you're seeing an uneven radius at that bottom corner, and the lighting makes it look much worse than it actually is, but you're totally right, it's not perfect, by any stretch!

 

[deadbolt]

I see what you mean about the bottom radius, definitely curious. Just like the scrapes on the crossbar you can tell someone tried to slide the mount off the dovetail at some point during filming, because it wasn't like that in earlier photos of the prop (after the black paint and greeblies were added).

It may be possible that it's an optical illusion somehow, since the mount was also painted black, notice the dark contrast in the Chronicles photo right behind the mount and the chipping of paint exposing the metal underneath the radius at the bottom of the mount. It might be possible that it's the chips creating the appearance of dents at the bottom and the remaining paint there is blending in to the surface of the Mauser behind it..

But then again, this prop has never been all that easy to figure out for any of us, so.. yet again, multiple possibilities exist yet again! This blaster never ceases to surprise me, haha.


-Carson

 

[Dann]

And the more I look at it, the more dented it looks, hahahaha!

 

[scottjua]

I cleaned up the images more

Look back at this post... you can see they DID remove the upright and scope... for the imperial use. Who knows... maybe in-between someone dropped it and busted it up on the bottom.

 

[Halliwax]

Anyone have the measurements of “the nub” ?

 

[thd9791]

The one by the bolt in the back?

It's visible on the cast - maybe you'd have to compare it to other known parts of the gun to estimate because, you know, shrinkage (it shrinks?!)

 

[H0llyw00d]

Soo... are we saying that the mount was (maybe) made for the "Sitting Target" where it was matched up with the Hendsoldt? Are we ready to consider the dot in the middle of the mystery disk is the hole they drilled on the left side for a "Sitting Target" type mount before it was moved to the right?

 

[H0llyw00d]

For reference:

 

[thd9791]

That's a little high - I remember in this thread pictures that showed a flat metal surface with no hole, so I'm not sure if the source of the mount would open up that can of worms

but yes, if Bapty made it, they made it for sitting target or something else before SW