My Builds: The growing of an eclectic collection

Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Okay. So you can prep, after you clean out the bore to 3/8", test fit the brass tube to see how far down you want it, for snugness. Mark where it emerges from the barrel at the sight, and then cut it off about two inches further out past that. That's how much anchor length I'm giving inside that end of the forebarrel.

When you get this stuff, test fit the coil around the forebarrel (it'll take a little finessing to get it opened up enough to slip over it), get the pitch right, and mark and cut the tailing ends so they can be glued in place. I'd suggest undercoating the forebarrel black before mounting the coil to it. But the sequence will go: coil goes on, then glue the forebarrel onto the barrel liner projection, then glue the engine cylinder (or the entire muzzle subassembly) onto the forebarrel. You'll probably want to paint and weather the main gun body and muzzle separately and then just assemble the three main pieces together. I think having the bare, black plastic finish of the cord will be just different enough from the finish of the rest of the gun to help make it look that much more real.

--Jonah
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Oh, yeah -- and the little baggie of lead shot. Can't forget that. :$

--Jonah
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

I have parts coming/in work for both Leia blasters. In the mean time, I started working on the muzzle cast that Markus sent me. I was concerned about my ability to clean it up correctly but I am pretty pleased with the outcome. This will be replacing the muzzle on the Rubies blaster.

IMG_0450.jpg
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Was the Rubies Leia's blaster muzzle that off? It looks pretty accurate on mine.
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Was the Rubies Leia's blaster muzzle that off? It looks pretty accurate on mine.

I don't think so but the grill/tomtit part is and I want to change that out. So I would have to cut that muzzle off. At my skill level, I worry about making the cut clean enough and marrying up to the new grill. This makes it a little easier for me.
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

I thought the grill/tomtit looked pretty good too. Shows how much I know about the Leia blaster. I would love to see
a side by side photo of a Rubies and a MR Leia blaster. I'm just going to drill out the barrel opening a bit, sand it and
paint it. Maybe pour is some resin into it to make it a little heavier.
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

The grill is not that bad, I think they were limited on how deep they could safely recast the fins of the grill. If you compare them, the difference is that the grooves are not as deep. It might look better painted black.

image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Thank you so much for the pictures!!!
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Okay, here is where I am at.

IMG_2443.jpg IMG_2444.jpg

Jonah has been a big help. He sent be a nice adapter barrel for could to fit with the main body and the grill, a piece of coil, and buckshot for added weight.

I had a couple of problems with the coil piece. One was that I had a hard time getting the taper cut in each end and ended up cutting off and ended up with too short of a piece. It also looks d a lot wider than the coil on the MR/Rubies. I don't know if MR sized theirs correctly but it is the look i am trying to duplicate. I ended up getting an old Verizon Apple 30 pin car adapter at Goodwill. Not a 100% match but it looks doable. Took some time to get the taper to a passable look but I did it.

I cut off the grill and muzzle from the Rubies. My big question at the moment it: Do I replace the coil section or just leave the the section as is? While it would be nice to have a real cord wrapped in that section, I am not sure I will be pleased with the work I have done. They is nothing wrong with the coil section on the Rubies, but it is plastic.

After getting a look inside the barrel, I see what Jonah was talking about. There are supports/joiners in the barrel that would need to be drilled out. I would have to do that if I wanted to add some sort of rod support or utilize the barrel as a way to get a glue/buckshot mix into the body of the gun. however I fear that in doing so, i might cause the barrel to separate. What i think i will do is drill out and opening in the area of the mag plate in which I can pour my weighted mixture. Once I am done, i will cover up the mag plate with some sort of sheet plastic, and blend to the body.

I also have receive my powered graphite which i intend to use during the painting phase to help the body look a little more realistic. Never used it before,
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Yeah, from photoscaling some nice, high-res pics of Mark Hamill in his celebration outfit and holding that blaster, I can't attest to the MR blaster, but if Rubies is cast from it, the coil section is all wrong. Wrong length, wrong number of coils, that are the wrong size, resulting in a smaller overall diameter. The coil section should be almost (as in, 15/16" compared to 1") as wide as the muzzle piece. Length of the section divided by number of coils is how I got the ~3/16" size of the cord. You've already found that those charger cords are too skinny. ;)

I also found from the work I've been doing on the muzzle and the sight that taking out those support pins doesn't weaken the glue bond at all. Whatever they used at the factory, those halves are pretty well fused. WIth the internal reinorcement of being glued to the support spine, I expect it all to be fine. :)

--Jonah
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

The coil section should be almost (as in, 15/16" compared to 1") as wide as the muzzle piece. Length of the section divided by number of coils is how I got the ~3/16" size of the cord.

i-was-told-there-would-be-no-math.jpg


I also found from the work I've been doing on the muzzle and the sight that taking out those support pins doesn't weaken the glue bond at all. Whatever they used at the factory, those halves are pretty well fused. WIth the internal reinorcement of being glued to the support spine, I expect it all to be fine. :)

Good to know
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

I went back and looked at some actual prop photos. It looks as if the real prop does not even try to taper the cord ends they look to be blunt cuts.
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Hate to disappoint, but I can pretty much guarantee math will be involved in any prop-replicating endeavor beyond "eh, that looks pretty good..." I, in particular, like to try to get as close to the original as possible, with the exception of my practice of bringing symmetry to things that should have it, like Stormtrooper armor, Darth Vader's mask, and Boba Fett's helmet. So, much math. On the flip side, this lets me give you the end result so you just have to measure. :)

--Jonah
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

I know, but I just love that response.

In regards to the real prop, Since the number of coils is less, and the ends are not tapered, I still might be able to use the larger coil.
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

This is pretty darned awesome, just went through this thread now. Keep at it!
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

I have had a change of heart about the Leia blasters. I am going to switch the projects. The rubies blaster will be a Return of the Jedi variant, and the Margolin cast will be the A New Hope variant. The main reason is the paint detailing. Since it appears the Return of the Jedi variant has a body and grips that have been molded, cast, and painted as a single entity. It would be easier to just paint the rubies the one color rather than masking off the grips and paint them a glossier black like the A New Hope blaster needs.
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

I have been trying to do some Leia Return of the Jedi blaster research.

It seems like most picts that exist of the real prop show at least two variants. It looks like most screenshots show Carrie welding what looks to be a real converted

600px-SW-Vostokpistol.jpg



Then there seems to be images floating around of a resin variant. This is the photo featured on partsofsw.com and the one that has been displayed in the Planet Hollywood collection. The cast appears to be without those little triangular releases on each side forward on the body. Here is a picture I took years ago:

attachment.php


i cannot get a good count of the number of grills on the tomtit pieces on the one that appears to be a real Margolin. But I think I got some numbers from the resin stunt. It appears that the full round part has all 14 raised fins. The half piece that is joined appears to be cut down so only 9 fins remain.

Am i right that one is a real Margolin or are they both resin? Or are they the same just really screwed up over time?

Does anyone one have any insight or opinion to the contrary?
 
Last edited:
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Still looking for insight in my post above if anyone can help.

In the mean time, i went back to the original idea of keeping the Rubies as a A New Hope variant,

Here is where I am right now:
IMG_2466.JPGIMG_2465.JPGIMG_2464.JPGIMG_2463.JPG

The base of the extension is a threaded rod. The grill is held in place with two nuts (one on each end). The coil is wrapped around three, 1" spacers glued together then trimmed to size. As you can see, the rod will go about half way down the barrel which adds some nice weight. When all is done, I will add a little glue all around to ensure nothing spins out of place

My next step is to create a glue and buckshot mix and insert it through a hole I drilled in the bottom of the magazine.

Once I get the weight added, I will start clean up on the body, such as seam work, plugging the hole I made on the mag. i also need to add a little bit of barrel at the bottom of the cut end. When I cut off the faux coils, even though i cut along the coils, it still got cut at an angle.
 
Re: LEIA ADDED! Blasters on the bench: Greedo, DL-18, GK, Droid, E-11, DH-17 more

Looking awesome.

Do you need to trim the ends of the coil to "align" with the last coil edge or is this how it is on the original prop??



I got my gun and original parts from the link here and my coil from IP so I need to get to work.

I think I am gonna get a second one for ROTJ Leia as well.

Cheap awesome looking prop.

I also studied this Rubies against the MR and the real gun and I wish Rubies had fixed the few tiny, tiny flaws from the MR.

I am gonna add the mag release lever (I assume that's what it is) as well.

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and Cheap :)
 

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top