Chewbaccas Wookie Bowcaster - real Horton Crossbow

Lichtbringer

Master Member
Hi folks,

i´m a pretty happy trooper - yesterday i picked this baby up at the customs office :cool :

GKscopeheight012.jpg


GKscopeheight013.jpg


Now i need to learn about the prop, and start searching and hunting down the needed parts for a accurate replica.

Wish me luck. :D

Any help - info/tips/parts - would be highly appreciated. :love
 
Nice score Michael!

This one seems to be a variation I´ve never seen before and differs from the ones Marcus and me own(ed)

Markus
 
Congrats on the bow. This is the most current thread on the Bowcaster:

http://www.therpf.com/f9/chewbacca-bowcaster-finished-44846/

Marcus/Kurtyboy is the expert among others but I'll be happy to help if I can.

Marcus had a similar, if not the same one you have except green, and he turned it into the most accurate frame yet. Short of the actual bow used which are super rare. The one he built is now mine and I'm working on finishing it.
 
This is based on a lot of help from Marcus, others, and a lot of reading.

You will need a Singlepoint Scope. Singlepoints are the first red dot scopes. No batteries and you can't see through them. You keep both eyes open and natural light creates a red dot in the scope and with both eyes open you see your target with the dot. Takes some getting used to but it works.

The cone tipped version are the ones from the film including the bowcaster. Good luck finding one. Been hitting search everyday for 6 to 7 months and have yet to find one. Most ones today also seem to have clouded tips. The round end one comes up sometimes. I've seen three in the last 6 months but be sure to hit Worldwide on Ebay as most seem to be in the UK. Gonna run about $80 to $100. Much cooler than a resin copy. As for the end get a clear end of a spray bottle that matches the one on the cone tip. Throat spray ones work but there is writing on them. The best I found is on a bottle of whiteboard cleaner for classroom boards but you need to check in person to make sure it has the nice clear hard plastic cap and not a different one. I have had several and most have the right one. It's nice and clear and matches the scope perfectly. If you want to modify the end to match the cone tipped one you can but the scope may not work anymore. The round tip end part that's red is different between the round and cone tipped. I left mine so it still works.

8 oz. white board cleaner like the one I used:

EXPO White Board Cleaner 8 Oz by Office Depot
 
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You need a very specific type of scope rings so it will be screen accurate but also so you can mount your other two scopes on either side of the Singlepoint.

Can't think of the name of them off the top of my head. Marcus pointed me to a set. They were not expensive. $5 or $10 bucks.

Will think of it sooner or later.

Marcus will be around soon. He can't resist Bowcaster talk.
 
Side Scopes. Two Model 7 4X20 scopes from Japan were used. Know one knows what brand as the box does not have it. Only Marcus has a matching set as far as I know and it took years to find and several had to be bought to get and/or create a matching pair.

A alternative that is nearly exact and really only Marcus could tell the difference, as he has a Screen Accuracy Sickness or SAS, is Nikko Stirling 4X20 Scope. These are what I use and they look great. It also may take several tries to get a matching set but both of mine were less than $20 and that included shipping from the UK. Like the Singlepoint that seems to be where they are from. I got lucky and both mine matched except for one small part that Marcus had given me with some spare parts when I bought the Bowcaster from him. Mine have slightly different writing and I wan't to leave them un-painted so I am still gonna keep looking. They don't come up very often. Three in the last 6 months but they are cheap.

Once you have the Singlepoint with the proper scope rings you just mount the Nikkos on either side of the Singlepoint's scope rings. I'll take some pics to show you mine later.
 
I thought it was a Barnett commando crossbow that was used all these years.

I learn something new here everyday. Thank you for posting this up. I have wanted to build a wookiee bow caster for years but the barnett's are pretty expensive.

Would you be able to post the model type as Horton has many different models that look similar?
 
Hey bud :)

The Barnett Commando was used by most of us "old-school" propeteers back the days, before the more accurate Horton Safari was found.

Below is a quick comparsion of my old Barnett based BC (now owned by VaderDarth), my Horton safari before any modification (auction pic) and a WIP shot of my recent BC frame...

bc-left.jpg

HortonSafariMagnum.jpg

DSCF6097.jpg


Wish you LOTS of fun converting this puppy Michael :):thumbsup

Markus
 
One of the many questions I still have is what buttons and knobs go where on the side panels. Some Marcus had on this one of mine but several are still to be found. Not sure about placement as well. If my camera knobs are close enough or if I need the exact ones.

Still need a lot of help and info in this area.
 
Not much happened with this baby, that (fiberglass?) plasticstuff is really tough to cut, and loves to melt, and harden in the cut again - couldn´t motivate me to reshape it, yet. That rear cutout alone dulled me 2 jigsaw blades. :behave

ROTJDDC014_zps138f3e93.jpg



But finally i have it´s scope-array together :cool:

ROTJDDC015_zps9e0578d3.jpg



Other than that i need to find all parts yet (well, not all - i machined me some imperial discs, and found some of the vintage RCA-plugs), so i´m still on the hunt for the parts. :cry
 
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Hi folks,

i´m a pretty happy trooper - yesterday i picked this baby up at the customs office :cool :

GKscopeheight012.jpg



Now i need to learn about the prop, and start searching and hunting down the needed parts for a accurate replica.

Wish me luck. :D

Any help - info/tips/parts - would be highly appreciated. :love

That base would make a pretty cool sci fi blaster. :)
 
Btw. maybe it´s not a bad idea to ask the ones that have shaped a real Horton already:

What have YOU used to get the cutouts in the right shape?

Metal files getting clogged very fast, sanding paper on a block is a real pain ....

I thought about buying one of those electrical files/small belt sanders, but would love to learn what you did. :)
 
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