SE-14R Rexim Trooper Blaster Pistol Scope Prop Discovery!

[Dann]

I posted this in Clutch's old thread, but figured it probably needed its own thread, since it's news.


Okay folks, I guess I should make the announcement and my discovery public!

Many months back (late August, early September), I was searching for scopes on eBay, and came across something interesting. It was a strange looking little 4x scope, and when I had it in my hands, I knew I was on to something. I did more searching around, and learned that what I had was just a slightly different version than what is on the real SE-14R prop.

EDIT: I can't believe I didn't add any pics of the real prop! I'm rectifying that little oversight right now!

The real scope is already an EXTREMELY rare scope, and it's already coveted by collectors of a different community. It's the same model scope (slightly different eye-piece, though) that was on Lee Harvey Oswald's rifle used to assassinate JFK.

It's an Ordnance Optics 4x18 scope, made in Japan in the 50s-60s

Here's a little info I found awhile back about the history of the scopes.

So, the gun shop (Retting's) that has all the rest of the NOS scopes lists them on eBay for $600. In the screenshot above, you can see they were asking $250 in 2008. And it's not even the right version for the JFK collectors! Anyway, I don't think they've sold many at that new $600 price.

But the last thing we need is for someone to tell Retting's that they have the CORRECT eye-piece version for a Star Wars gun! So please, folks, don't let happen to this what has happened to SO many things in the past. There ARE replicas on the way!

Here's the LHO eye-piece version

And our version

I was doing my best to get replicas made by Field Marshall (started talking with him about it not long after I made the discovery), and I modeled the scope I first found, which is a Swift, and I've updated the models now that I've had a real OO come through. (It has since been sent off to its new owner) There are slight differences in the saddle, locking ring, and both the eye-piece and objective bells, and in the way the lenses are mounted. My newest version of the models are accurate to the OO.

Below are some various progress pics I took over the last five or six months. Some show old versions of some of the parts, but you get the idea. The newest versions I believe will be at the bottom of these pics.

Oh yeah, I also modeled two versions of the scope mounting block! I made them so that little zip-ties can be used to secure the scope to the mount.

The replicas that I was about to start offering are made with aluminum tubing, with copper tubing inside to increase heft and sturdiness, printed bells that are cleaned up on the lathe, printed saddle that I have to sand the heck out of, printed retaining rings and watch crystals for the lenses.

Needless to say, it's been quite and undertaking and an adventure to take this on! I'm still kinda working on making the finish as nice as possible.

Anyway, this is NOT a for sale thread, I just wanted to share my experiences over the last 5-6 months with y'all, and FINALLY tell everyone what the scope really is!! I really didn't want to keep it a secret for so long, but I feared what might happen to prices on the real things (which are ALREADY stupidly expensive, for what they are), and I was hoping to have a suitable replica ready, in hopes that it might help keep those ridiculous prices down, as well.

So yeah, I made a prop discovery, YAY!!

 

[OdiWan72]

Cat is out of the bag now

Congrats on finally identifying this scope...drove me crazy for years

Thankfully I have my 4x18 secured already

THANK YOU SIR!

 

[Dann]

You're welcome, friend!

So glad to have been of help!

 

[SethS]

Is this still considered to be the same scope used on the EE-3?

 

[Dann]

No sir, not at all.

I'm not sure where that comes from, as the Fett scope was identified long long ago, and is widely known as a Japanese made 4x20 scope, a model stamped with at least thirteen different companies names on the eye-piece. There's A GREAT thread on TDH all about the scope found on the EE-3, it goes into serious detail about all the subtle differences in those old 4x20 scopes.

Completely different scopes.

This Rexim based trooper pistol is the only blaster that this scope was used for.

The bottom three scopes in the below image are all examples of the scope on the EE-3

 

[SethS]

Thank you! My blaster knowledge is far behind my saber knowledge. Any chance you hve. Link to that THD thread? I haven’t had much luck there.

 

[OdiWan72]

Search for threads posted by intwenothor on TDH...he accumulated the infos about the EE3 scopes in one thread

 

[Dann]

Thanks OdiWan, I forgot the guy's board name!

Yes, he's done EXHAUSTIVE research

 

[SethS]

Thanks!

I've got a DoopyDoos SE-14R I'm trying to make as accurate as possible just for fun-- when you do a run of these I'm def down for a pair to make it into an SE-14C/Ezavan version.

 

[SethS]

dbl post

 

[Dann]

Different scopes for Evazan's blaster. Those are 4x20 scopes similar to the Boba Fett EE-3 scope, but slightly different.

Like I said, The SE-14R Stormtrooper Blaster Pistol, seen only in the Pre-Production shots, is the ONLY blaster that the Ordnance Optics scope is used on.

 

[Dann]

And if anyone is interested in a replica 4x18 Ordnance Optics scope/mounting block, please send me a PM.

Thanks.

 

[SethS]

Different scopes for Evazan's blaster. Those are 4x20 scopes similar to the Boba Fett EE-3 scope, but slightly different.

Like I said, The SE-14R Stormtrooper Blaster Pistol, seen only in the Pre-Production shots, is the ONLY blaster that the Ordnance Optics scope is used on.

Okay-- that explains why I was confused about the EE-3.

 

[Dann]

Field Marshal was apparently also very confused about what scopes are for what blasters. He thought the OO (Ordnance Optics) was also on the Bowcaster. Dunno who put that in his head, or if he came to that conclusion on his own. I was a little surprised when he said that, though. I set him right and told him he had it confused with the Model 7, and I showed him some pics.

When I originally told him about this scope, (and all the times after, when I'd have to remind him about it, and when I had one here and offered to bring it by so he could pull measurements from it) I was very clear about all the information, but I guess he's got so much on his plate that it's difficult to keep everything straight.

For someone who's been studying this stuff for 20+ years, it's all second nature and obvious. It can be easy to take that knowledge for granted and assume other folks are on the same page, so you gotta have patience.

 

[Dann]

I updated the first post with some reference of the real prop. Sorry I didn't think of that until now!!

 

[SethS]

I'm conflicted. While I like the double scope look of the C/Ezavan, I don't like the wire detail. I like the cleanliness of the R, but miss the double scope action.

I'm still down when you do your run... something tells me I'll end up with both versions eventually.

 

[Dann]

The R also has the wires, if you look closely at the reference pics.

The last photo I posted of the real prop has a red arrow pointing to them.

 

[SethS]

I trust Kurtyboy to be accurate AF, but I'd love to a clean pic of the left side of the prop!

Is your blaster your own design/print, or is it based of some of the publicly available 3D printed kits?

 

[Dann]

The Rexim is based on a publicly available model, but I had to make some MAJOR changes to it, to separate the dust cover. It was a huge pain in my bum.

Still haven't COMPLETELY finished mine, there's a few small parts I need to attach, but I wanted to lock in the finish, first. Gonna use some graphite powder on the main tube and some other areas. These are old pics, BTW. I've made changes to the scope and the mount since these were taken...

The last few pics here I'm trying to figure out which rectangular part is on that left side...

I wish I knew whether it's scaled correctly. Sometimes I feel like it's a little longer than a real Rexim. Can anyone measure the length of their MorganThirteen kit? That's his board name, right? I can never remember, but it's a masterpiece of a kit!

The wires are definitely there on the real one, you just have to squint to see them in the trooper Standee pic.

 

[SethS]

It looks amazing. If you ever want to do a run of your modified version, as either a kit or complete, I'd def be interested. Killer work.