Han Solo DL-44 Variants: Chart or Website Resource?

[kman]

Hi! Is there a thread or webpage that actually discusses and shows the various iterations of Han Solo's DL-44?

I'm trying to get a good solid replica for a Han Solo getup I'm putting together... I'm particularly interested in the ANH version, but I see dmachinist has a TFA upgrade kit available that looks fairly similar, but I'm not clear on the specific differences among the various models. Obviously the scope is completely different on ESB and ROTJ, but I'm hoping for a more detailed reference... I'll be personally quite stunned if there's nothing like this out there!

 

[Scott4040]

Parts of Star Wars has a page on each of the major variants.

The TFA barrel and flashider is pretty close to the ANH but there are differences. The big ones :

Bull barrel shroud is fixed by two visible screw underneath. ANH bull barrel replaced original barrel and probably screwed on. ANH kit shroud has fasteners hidden under flashider.

TFA flashider does not have booster inside (because it's a custom piece) ANH does (because it's a found piece)

TFA flashider has subtle differences most obvious being 10 rows of holes. ANH has 8.

ESB and RotJ didn't have a bull barrel and the flashider had far less detail (no holes, etc) believed to be a resin casting from a stunt pistol IIRC.

 

[kman]

Thanks! I need to keep that Parts of SW page in mind, more. I've been there looking at E11s before but forgot they have a lot of other info on other props, too.

It's a little hard to say for sure, but it sounds like I could probably use the TFA version in a ANH costume and very, very few would ever notice the difference, and even they would likely need to examine it closely to do so. Would you agree?

Is there anything out there (known) with any higher resolution photos?

 

[Scott4040]

If you replaced the button head screws under the barrel with grubscrews then it would be a very keen eye that spotted the difference.

 

[tomm1999]

TFA uses airsoft, ANH uses Mauser. Again a small difference. I just search Boba Debts threads, and the ANH and TFA threads.

 

[Scott4040]

Yep, that's a big difference - the TFA base gun is an airsoft (HFC mostly) M712 while the ANH base gun is a real C96.

Unfortunately there isn't a good affordable C96 replica available. The Denix C96 is cheap but it takes a lot of work to make it fairly accurate and it's still instantly recognisable (in a bad way). The C96 cap guns and airsoft guns are all long discontinued and commanding fairly premium prices.

An accurate TFA gun is much cheaper to achieve and is really quite close to an ANH. Of course, it depends on the accuracy levels you're going for (are you going for Rebel Legion approval?)

 

[Lukesfather]

Thanks! I need to keep that Parts of SW page in mind, more. I've been there looking at E11s before but forgot they have a lot of other info on other props, too.

It's a little hard to say for sure, but it sounds like I could probably use the TFA version in a ANH costume and very, very few would ever notice the difference, and even they would likely need to examine it closely to do so. Would you agree?

Is there anything out there (known) with any higher resolution photos?

i think you are totally right , to the wast majority of the people that have been watcing the star wars saga , i will bet you a pretty penny that the consensus will be that Han has the same gun in all movies only a extremely small precentage ( all members of this forum ) will argue with that.

 

[kman]

Yep, that's a big difference - the TFA base gun is an airsoft (HFC mostly) M712 while the ANH base gun is a real C96.

Unfortunately there isn't a good affordable C96 replica available. The Denix C96 is cheap but it takes a lot of work to make it fairly accurate and it's still instantly recognisable (in a bad way). The C96 cap guns and airsoft guns are all long discontinued and commanding fairly premium prices.

An accurate TFA gun is much cheaper to achieve and is really quite close to an ANH. Of course, it depends on the accuracy levels you're going for (are you going for Rebel Legion approval?)

Old post I was re-reading, and I just noticed that last bit. Yes, I'll be going for Rebel Legion approval, eventually. Do you know how picky they are about the extremely fine details? (in a general sense, not simply whether a judge would spot the grub screw for the ANH vs TFA blaster difference)

 

[Scott4040]

I would definitely speak to them about it before you buy a base gun. Both the Denix C96 and the airsoft M712s have a bunch of very obvious tells when compared to a real C96. Which differences they consider acceptable/unacceptable and the work involved in correcting them will guide you towards the most suitable base gun.

 

[Solos blaster]

http://www.forum.rebellegion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8854

This has the costume/prop standards for Han that they're looking for, incase you hadn't seen it. Blaster does need to be movie specific, unless local laws prohibit you. Do what you want for now, but before trying to get approval, you will need to make sure you have the right one.

Just putting that out there incase you may not have the funds or ambition to go "all out" on more than one blaster. If more budget minded, you may want to go with the correct one from the get go. YMMV.

 

[kman]

Oh, I fully realize the CRLs call for "movie-specific", but since they offer ZERO detail in that regard, that doesn't give me much to go on. I mean, are they fine with Rubies conversions? I can't imagine that the tiny Denix logo would be enough to get a blaster disqualified. Heck, the 501st is way more uptight and the things they allow in blow my mind sometimes.

I can definitely buy more than one if needed. I already have more than one (an ESB-ish Denix conversion, and the KY Airsoft ANH-ish one that I'm in the process of weathering), in fact, the question is just one of how precise every single detail needs to be. I can't imagine that they wouldn't accept anything short of a genuine Mauser C96 conversion, that's just unreasonable (even by 501st standards).

I'll post a thread in the RL forums; I was just wondering if anyone here knew the answer specifically, since the real experts are here, after all.