Greetings RPFer's,
I've been absent for some time, but after seeing all of the unbelievable DL-44 work on the RPF, and watching Adam Savages one day build has brought back a wave of nostalgia, so if you are willing to go back in time with me, read on.
My FIRST DL-44 was built, if I remember correctly in the spring-summer of 1983. What 15 year old didn't want the weapon of choice of the greatest smuggler in the galaxy? My friend and I had always painted and modified toy cap guns, water pistols, etc. to look more real, or turning them into some "Space Gun". My Dad was a Cop, I always liked painting snub-nose .38 toys to look like my fathers.
Like many kids we made our own "Fan-Films" of the day shot on 8mm with no sound (I begged my parents for my own 8mm camera but never got one). A couple of my friends had the Kenner DL-44, but I thought I could do better. So, armed with my Dads tools, my model paints, pictures from Starlog, a book on real Mausers, and repeatedly freeze framing a rented copy of Star Wars on my friends VCR (we didn't have one in our house until 1986), I began my task with all of the enthusiasm, and talent of a 15 year old kid.
My base gun was a Mauser cap-gun made by Coibel (I looked it up), probably bought at Play World or K-B toys. This thing was metal! The add-ons were whatever was available in the garage, house, or local Mom-and-Pop hardware store. Wood, copper pipe, wooden dowels, hose clamps, washers, margarine tubs, and plastic caps. I LOVED plastic caps, I would scavenge them off of everything, Windex bottles, soda bottles, dish soap, chapstick.........whatever!
I vividly remember making the scope out of copper pipe, wood, and plastic caps for the knobs, using hose clamps to attach it to the mount, I even glued the ends of chapstick tubes onto the hose clamp screws for the knobs. The scope mount was made from a paint stick, scrap plexiglass, angle bracket, and washers (and a LOT of epoxy). The Flash Hider was plastic caps stacked together with cone being plastic (PVC?) pipe that my father helped me heat up and form over a glass bottle neck, then widened it with some big body working tool of unknown origin. I carefully made templates on paper of the holes, and drilled them out. The heatsink was stacked pieces of plastic glued together. Finished up with some black spray paint and Testors model paints, and DAMN was I proud of that thing.
So here is my idea. I might just try and re-create my first DL-44, using only the tools, supplies and reference material of my original, keeping in mind the talent, patience and budget of a 15 year old me. I know its going to look more like a piece of Star Wars Folk Art more than anything else, but it just might also be fun. If I do it, I will post many pics of the build. If you are still reading this, thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me.
PS: A note on the Flash Hider, the original MIGHT be in a box in the attic, if I find it, I will Post pics.
I've been absent for some time, but after seeing all of the unbelievable DL-44 work on the RPF, and watching Adam Savages one day build has brought back a wave of nostalgia, so if you are willing to go back in time with me, read on.
My FIRST DL-44 was built, if I remember correctly in the spring-summer of 1983. What 15 year old didn't want the weapon of choice of the greatest smuggler in the galaxy? My friend and I had always painted and modified toy cap guns, water pistols, etc. to look more real, or turning them into some "Space Gun". My Dad was a Cop, I always liked painting snub-nose .38 toys to look like my fathers.
Like many kids we made our own "Fan-Films" of the day shot on 8mm with no sound (I begged my parents for my own 8mm camera but never got one). A couple of my friends had the Kenner DL-44, but I thought I could do better. So, armed with my Dads tools, my model paints, pictures from Starlog, a book on real Mausers, and repeatedly freeze framing a rented copy of Star Wars on my friends VCR (we didn't have one in our house until 1986), I began my task with all of the enthusiasm, and talent of a 15 year old kid.
My base gun was a Mauser cap-gun made by Coibel (I looked it up), probably bought at Play World or K-B toys. This thing was metal! The add-ons were whatever was available in the garage, house, or local Mom-and-Pop hardware store. Wood, copper pipe, wooden dowels, hose clamps, washers, margarine tubs, and plastic caps. I LOVED plastic caps, I would scavenge them off of everything, Windex bottles, soda bottles, dish soap, chapstick.........whatever!
I vividly remember making the scope out of copper pipe, wood, and plastic caps for the knobs, using hose clamps to attach it to the mount, I even glued the ends of chapstick tubes onto the hose clamp screws for the knobs. The scope mount was made from a paint stick, scrap plexiglass, angle bracket, and washers (and a LOT of epoxy). The Flash Hider was plastic caps stacked together with cone being plastic (PVC?) pipe that my father helped me heat up and form over a glass bottle neck, then widened it with some big body working tool of unknown origin. I carefully made templates on paper of the holes, and drilled them out. The heatsink was stacked pieces of plastic glued together. Finished up with some black spray paint and Testors model paints, and DAMN was I proud of that thing.
So here is my idea. I might just try and re-create my first DL-44, using only the tools, supplies and reference material of my original, keeping in mind the talent, patience and budget of a 15 year old me. I know its going to look more like a piece of Star Wars Folk Art more than anything else, but it just might also be fun. If I do it, I will post many pics of the build. If you are still reading this, thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me.
PS: A note on the Flash Hider, the original MIGHT be in a box in the attic, if I find it, I will Post pics.
