Han Solo DL-44 blaster: ESB Bespin, Hoth , ANH Hero & Greedo Killer

[Vanitas]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH

Made a little bit of progress with the ANH kit

Put the scope together tonight, I'd had a go at weathering the brass rings & windage knob (might have overdone it a touch)

just used a few drops of epoxy to hopefully hold the glass & rings, hopefully it holds ok

test fitted the bull barrel & flash hider on the upper, not sure if I want to weather the FH a little more, also got the new aluminium one to blue & weather not sure which I'll use but I like the weight of the cast one

still not 100% on the finish of the Alu black on the bull barrel but I may live with it for now, can always either rub down & re-blue later or just paint, planning on not gluing, just holding on with the thumb screw which seems nice & tight

will need to glue the grill on but not planning on weathering it (as the original was black plastic I think) I've got some Tomtit cylinders & thought about trying to make one & maybe use the plastic pushrods too

hopefully getting close to finishing now 

Looking good man! And yes, don't weather the grill, as the original was black plastic. Also, on the real hero prop, the entire slide assembly (minus the extractor), the hammer, and the sight ramp piece (not including the piece that slides over it) were all white polished, as a real Mauser has these parts white blued from the factory, and they naturally tarnish over time. I polished up these parts on my old Denix, and it DOES help it look better (in my opinion). Also, a real Mauser and an MGC have flat sight ramps, while the Denix has that little "Sight Sphincter", so filing that flat down helps de-Denix it a LOT. You might consider doing so, but so far, so great! I'm really digging your scope, how did you get it so dark?

 

[Psab keel]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

I'm definitely going to be keeping my eye on this thread as I have a Luke ESB DL-44 Blaster in my project que. These blasters are looking really really sharp!

 

[Psab keel]

Re: Han Solo ESB DL44 Blaster (my first attempt at a metal blaster build)

Nice! I guess you posted right after me.

Man... I am so resisting the ROTJ Han.... I was going to do a MerSonn instead... but I've got this weird illness causing me to need them all.

I have to agree with you. When it comes to props, there is something about an "ugly prop" that makes me not like it at first, and then after closer and closer examination, I usually end up loving it and appreciating the unique aesthetic of it. I just got the Luke ROTJ Lightsaber bug and am planning on doing all three of the main versions of the hilt.

 

[scottjua]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Lol... not to derail the thread, but I am now doing the ROTJ... and the Mersonn will be Denix based so I can get my ROTJ Accurate with the MGC.

That said... I am thoroughly convinced there was a live fire ROTJ... so I may have to double up on my ESB and ROTJ eventually.

As for Country Paul... looking pretty fabulous dude. Very dark metals. The only thing I would suggest is less of a V2 Luke look on the scope brass rings and more bare brass showing in larger spots. All the real scopes I've come across have been naturally weathered very similarly.

 

[Country Paul]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Slowly, slowly seems to be how this is going, my daughter didn't want to go to sleep tonight so I only had about 45mins to work on this tonight :lol

I gave the hammer a quick sand for a bare finish (as suggested by Vanitas) one of the things I like about this is all the different finishes & textures, I like the cobbled together look

I finally screwed in the threaded posts, back one seems pretty solid so I've not glued it, secured the front one with a nut on the inside of the mag well

I don't know if anyone else has found this but when I put the cross bar on with the grill in place it was pushed up by the grill,

not sure if I've put the cross bar too high, too low or too far forward or if this is normal

I realised that the front of the Mauser slopes in slightly so I've added a thin metal washer under the spacer which puts the cross bar just clear of the grill

hopefully it won't look wonky once the scope is mounted :lol

I've glued the grill in place with a couple of drops of epoxy ( there isn't much I'm gluing on this) want to be able to take apart

also glued the little pushrods to the T-track (used the left over to make one for my old blaster)

Scott: I love the ROTJ blaster, can't wait to see yours finished, I only have one MR style blaster stand so I only display one blaster at a time & rotate them but quite often it's the ROTJ that I have out

I've gone back to the scope rings & weathered a bit more

 

[scottjua]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Looking good!

I just filed down my grills rather than space out the bar. But that seems to work too. ^_^

 

[Country Paul]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

I guess there's no putting this off any longer, guess it's time to put this thing together :lol

I'm reasonably happy with the colours/finish but to be honest I just don't feel like starting over on anything now

still not sure about the Alu Black on the bull barrel

I think the only parts I've glued in place are the grill & the scope lenses & brass rings

i weathered the scope rings a touch more

I realised as I was putting the upper receiver on the Denix that I was going to struggle to screw it in with the grill in place, true enough turning the screw scratched up the top of the grill but a dab of satin black paint fixed it

i got some of the wooden Denix grips from Boba Debt's run & on 3 of the 4 grips had hardly any grooves, they were almost smooth?? I tried my best to score them in with a blade, still prefer them to the plastic grips but wish I'd got a pair of DEC's

 

[Country Paul]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Ok so here's my first go at putting it all together

I've not put the T-track & rods on yet (just planning to use double sided tape)

think I'm gonna just step away from it for a while now before I start to tinker with anything else

I've got the Alu FH to have a go at & I'll see how that comes out

 

[Country Paul]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Took a couple of pictures out in the harsh light of day (well about 9pm :lol)

i think on the whole I'm reasonably happy, I only ever seem to see the mistakes in my builds, especially when I see the amazing builds everyone else is doing on here

i absolutely loved the kit & it was a lot of fun (& work to put together) with just hand tools

I liked how it looked out in the garden so I took a quick picture of my ESB too

 

[OdiWan72]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

YES!!!! never ever can see enough good blaster builds ..well done Paul :thumbsup

what's next?

Markus

 

[Country Paul]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Thanks Markus

I desperately want to build a Greedo Killer, it's the only one of the main Han blasters that I've not built in metal yet

it seems to be the one that got away for me, every time I'm close to getting the parts I miss out :lol

I dont like like to start something until I know I can finish it & at the moment I'm not sure where to find the scope mount or flash hider

I know there are Grills on eBay & an upcoming run here, I've seen the scope mount rings on eBay & I'd be happy with a close enough scope

Ive got another Denix now so I'll start looking for parts again

then again I'd love to do a metal Merr Sonn now I've seen yours, I've got a spare DEC flash hider & Tomtit parts, would need another bull barrel (& another denix )

just wish Denix's we're a bit easier to come by here & cheaper, the only place I know to get them they're £100 each!

 

[OdiWan72]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

didn't R2Dan had a -partial- GK kit up in the JY recently?

100 gbp for a Denix???? OUCH!!!...these go for 30-70 euro over here

Markus

 

[scottjua]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Did you see the interest thread for a newly made GK grill? Solos hold will head it up if we get enough real interest.

 

[Vanitas]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

I've also got a spare M3 flash hider in great shape too, if you're interested. (Though, they're fairly easy to get a hold of.) Still, we need a COMPLETE set of Greedo Killer parts, ie, grill, mount, an accurate machined scope, and the little spacer for the flash hider to fit the Mauser's barrel. Right?

 

[Sym-Cha]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

That looks absolutely fabulous ... it really puts my Denix Blaster prop to shame ... I just don't need another additional project right now with all these vintage lightsaber parts around

Chaim

 

[Country Paul]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Markus: I Missed the GK kit, think he had it when I was desperately low on funds:facepalm

You can pick up a Denix for around £50 if you're a re-enactor or theatre company but I'm not - unfortunately, so you pay over the odds

Scott: think I may need to get in on the grill run, need to finally make a start on getting some parts for the GK

Vanitas: nothing blaster related seems easy to get hold of here in the UK (especially on my budget) :lol I'm probably looking in the wrong places, I may well be interested in your spare M9 I'll shoot you a PM

I'd love to see a GK kit, scope mount, FH adapter & machined scope, but I'd be happy with a close enough scope (still rather go with inaccurate than resin)

yep, think I need to build me a GK

 

[Country Paul]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Derailing my own thread for a minute, Just for fun I grouped my props by film

the good, the bad & the ugly :lol

So much to build, so much to improve

it's not everything just what was to hand & I tried to avoid duplicates (4 V2's)

 

[scottjua]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Nice collection! I see some I definitely have to
do eventually.

 

[Vanitas]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

Very nice collection! If I could make one final suggestion as to the Denix ANH, I would recommend sanding down the Denix's Sight Sphincter, to look something more like this:



And by sanding down the sight butt, here's a side view:



Sanding down that raised area helps SO much, and on a real Mauser, and the real Hero prop, the sight ramp was also white blued, so sanding that too is screen accurate, actually. Though, the sight slide, the part that slides up and down the ramp, was dark blued, like the body of the gun. I sanded both to remove casting lines, improve the pitting on the surface, and even out uneven surfaces. Scott did something similar on his Denix commission here: http://www.therpf.com/f79/another-h...parts-denix-210271/?highlight=denix+anh+dl-44, though he used a mill to flatten that area, while I used a file, so mine's not as precise as his. Trust me, it really does help-before I was lucky enough to acquire my 2 MGCs, I used a Denix, and I WENT TO TOWN on it to try and improve it in every way that I could do myself.

In short, it's the little details and slight modifications that seems to make little to no difference during the initial construction that cumulate to form a much more pleasing product in the end.

 

[Country Paul]

Re: Han Solo DL-44 blaster builds: ESB Bespin, Hoth & ANH Hero

I wasn't planning on starting another build anytime soon, but all the Greedo Killer talk (& the fact there's a big GK shaped hole in my collection) has made me determined to build one :lol

I've got a Denix (which is half the fight here in the UK) so today I took my first step & ordered some scope rings (hopefully the right style)

I found a nice cheap, (close enough for me) scope online but when I emailed about shipping to the UK the seller emailed to say it was prohibited to export & quoted a lot of regulations, I think he just didn't want to ship it here I've bought scopes from the US before with no problems,

need to locate a scope mount now that's gonna be the stumbling block

had nothing going on so I decided to take my Denix apart & start playing about with it, get rid of the logo & seam lines etc, also had a go a filing down the groove in the rear sight (think you're right Vanitas, worth a go) may do it to my others eventually