Master Valon
Well-Known Member
Hello there, RPF! After a near-complete purge of my collection, I have returned to the world of prop building. I had gotten way too involved in constantly selling and buying things, so I decided to sell most of my stuff and take a break from it. Well, I did all that, but then I got invited to a costume and prop building party being held by the local chapters of the Rebel Legion/501st/Mando Mercs. I was going to go regardless just to hang out with people and help where I could (I have a rudimentary electronics/soldering skill set...meaning I've done a little bit of it...where most of the people locally have not, so I will help them out with their electronics). But then I thought "Gee...I really wanna build SOMETHING...might as well get some pieces together for the party!". After scoring Betamin's ROTJ DL-44 kit in the JY (thanks, Dave!), it was settled what I'd be building. But I really wanted this build to be something special. At first, I thought this meant I'd just make it more accurate than my Denix-based ESB and GKs, but that would necessitate obtaining an MGC, in my mind, and right now there just doesn't seem to be many available, especially when all I have are some items to trade for one. So...I was thinking....and I already have a metal gas blowback Mauser. I originally never wanted to use it on a blaster build, because its pretty inaccurate, even compared to the readily available Denix. But...I thought it'd be cool to build a blaster on it, while retaining airsoft functionality! Especially since I have the nicest airsoft Broomhandle, and it's pretty loud when you fire it. So, I have decided to build my ROTJ Han blaster on my HFC Mauser. This is just a placeholder for when I have progress pics to show, but I thought I'd post my ideas for the build and see if they're viable.
First, obviously I need to keep as much of the gun (pretty much all of it) intact to retain its ability to fire. That means no drilling into the mag well, or into the hammer assembly, etc...So to secure the scope bracket, I thought of this instead. I could take the plastic washers that came with the kit to space the bracket away from the frame enough to clear the ridge where the frame meets the slide, and machine solid metal discs the exact dimensions of the washers (my friend's dad has a mini lathe he said I could use). I could then epoxy the discs onto the body of the gun where they need to go. Then, I could just get shorter screws (or clip the ones I have to length), drill and tap an appropriate, threaded hole halfway through the metal discs, and screw the ring screws into those, instead. That way, none of the internals get obstructed, and the weakest link is the epoxy, which if done right, should withstand the minor shock of firing.
Now for the flash hider, I will most likely need to cut the barrel to length, which I have not done in the past. I just grind off the front sight, and stick the barrel through the flash hider, as was done on many versions of the blaster. BUT...this flash hider's different. The inside bore stops about halfway down, and radically shrinks, and the front of the flash hider is 90% closed, save for a nipple with a tiny opening (I believe this is a Boba Debt FH). So, cutting the barrel will be a necessity, to position the flash hider at the appropriate distance from the mag well. I'll need to disassemble the inner barrel, though, and cut it to size separately, I think, so it's neater. Then all I need to do is paint the body black (its a grey color now) and epoxy the greeblies on.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my ideas for a firing airsoft ROTJ blaster. I will update this thread soon with pics! I may even put some of the materials I have now, just so this first post isn't all text.
First, obviously I need to keep as much of the gun (pretty much all of it) intact to retain its ability to fire. That means no drilling into the mag well, or into the hammer assembly, etc...So to secure the scope bracket, I thought of this instead. I could take the plastic washers that came with the kit to space the bracket away from the frame enough to clear the ridge where the frame meets the slide, and machine solid metal discs the exact dimensions of the washers (my friend's dad has a mini lathe he said I could use). I could then epoxy the discs onto the body of the gun where they need to go. Then, I could just get shorter screws (or clip the ones I have to length), drill and tap an appropriate, threaded hole halfway through the metal discs, and screw the ring screws into those, instead. That way, none of the internals get obstructed, and the weakest link is the epoxy, which if done right, should withstand the minor shock of firing.
Now for the flash hider, I will most likely need to cut the barrel to length, which I have not done in the past. I just grind off the front sight, and stick the barrel through the flash hider, as was done on many versions of the blaster. BUT...this flash hider's different. The inside bore stops about halfway down, and radically shrinks, and the front of the flash hider is 90% closed, save for a nipple with a tiny opening (I believe this is a Boba Debt FH). So, cutting the barrel will be a necessity, to position the flash hider at the appropriate distance from the mag well. I'll need to disassemble the inner barrel, though, and cut it to size separately, I think, so it's neater. Then all I need to do is paint the body black (its a grey color now) and epoxy the greeblies on.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my ideas for a firing airsoft ROTJ blaster. I will update this thread soon with pics! I may even put some of the materials I have now, just so this first post isn't all text.
