Tom's MGC DL44

[thd9791]

I got my first MGC!

After some lucky chances I nabbed an MGC. First off, I'm astounded at how heavy they are... and how they are literally machined. I've only seen denix's and resin cast MGCs. Field Marshalls new mauser aside, I'm very impressed.

I'll post pictures in a bit - but I am more eager to ask some questions of other MGC owners in case some of this is already common knowledge... I haven't seen anyone talk about things like:

~Pitting on the metal plating - is it going to continue, if so - can I stabilize it?

~Gold plated MGCs - mine has most of the gold faded away (the whole lower is silver) however there are gaps near the barrel where the gold looks to be brushed on like paint, what is this? Some of the gold looks almost burnt and crackled, anyone seen that?

~ What is the best chemical to clean gunky parts with? (Acetone, alcohol, polish, water) and are you supposed to oil or lubricate the action?

Thank you everyone! I, like many, are having a very stressful time due to the outbreak and this incident made my day brighter.

 

[newmagrathea]

Nice pick up. I have a gold one too, but I haven't gone to work on it just yet. I've looked into a few things to remove the plating but 100% sold on any particular route.

 

[Dann]

Congratulations, Tom!

They're not machined, though. They're CAST from machined parts, but not machined, themselves. I'm guessing that's probably what you meant, anyway!

Pitting shouldn't continue, just clean it up and keep it clean. It's not like a real blued steel gun. Use some alcohol and some Q-tips, paper towels and just clean it. I've not had a gold or silver plated one, so test the alcohol in a spot you don't care about, but it'll probably be fine.

Some light silicone oil or regular light machine oil is fine on the action, where metal rubs metal, but again, it's not a real gun, so it doesn't REALLY need that much care.

 

[thd9791]

Thank you Dann!

Actually, you were right, I totally didn't realize these were cast. I mean, the circle marks on each part should have been a give-away... but they're so good you can see the tooling marks!

Here it is - hopefully these shots showcase some of the surface details I haven't learned about yet. I do plan on blueing or painting.

That's my shadow on the lower, not missing plating btw

The barrel tip feels like a separate piece - there is a seam line before the orange. Mine has an inset plug. redbutton has a plug flush with the tip of his!

Look at the weird brush strokes. Gold and reflective but.... not? Also, "07 • 80" I think means July 1980

I really want to make a prop that actually used an MGC so that narrows it down. I think I'll be replacing or rebuilding one of my guns, or making a stembridge since I don't have one yet. Not a total fan of the Greedo Killer because of how bulky and awkwardly big the final gun is, but I love the flash hider.. anyways another note - I can't believe you're actually supposed to put gunpowder in these brass fake bullets. Says so right on the back of the box, don't use more gunpowder than needed, fully clean afterwards!

 

[newmagrathea]

Interesting, I didn't know about the putting powder in the replica rounds. I have a few of the rounds but not the box.

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

That's a beautiful replica Mauser. Congrats on getting one !!

 

[scottjua]

the gold is just a tint in the plating... so it will change color... but the plating remains and is a MF to get off. I've done a few and it's ALL day media blasting with lots of care and time to not dull any features. SUCKS to say the least.

Also be careful, as the MGC alloy can get brittle with age and internal bits can break. There's no replacement parts so anything needing replaced has to be machined from scratch... that sucks too.

I made this years ago but it might help:

 

[thd9791]

thank you guys! scottjua I remember that video - it is still making a difference. It gave me the confidence to simply break down the mauser into 4 or 5 pieces. Thank you for the tip on parts too, I forget it's been 40 years since the 80s

The sloppy yellow tint bugged me, so I tested the inside of the mag well plate. Alcohol and water were decent cleaners, but metal polish cleaned off the gold tint. (since it was already coming off, I decided to make the surface one whole unifying color, which looks a bit better). It also was a gentle job because I, again, used an old bottle of "reflection" metal cleaner and polish that seems to have separated a bit - it really is not very efficient like brasso, which worked to my advantage.

I am at the nickel plating and it looks like I can etch it with primer and paint it some day? I know I would have to totally strip it to blue and paint the raw metal, which is more accurate, but i'm starting with a technically inaccurate mauser which gives me wiggle room in my eyes!

 

[redbutton]

Wow, Tom! You'll have to help me with mine. I snagged one a few months back. Looks great so far! Thanks to all for the help
and guidance.

 

[redbutton]

BTW my MGC is stamped 05 87!

 

[thd9791]

'78! it looks like the seller switched boxes. Mine has '78 written on the box, and mine was made in '80

 

[thd9791]

So, I think I've decided to re-do my Hoth blaster since I have to paint it anyways.... Any ESB, ANH Hero's or Stembridges of mine have to be blued! the ROTJ blaster I'd have to paint but I'd also like to mill the real details into the gun and get an accurate Derlin or real scope with the real plastic cap .. anyways, as of now, I can do the Hoth one with a little more research.

For example, this was new to me.. I took a photo from the ESB thread and for my own reference looked at it closer. Turns out you can see the 3 layers: Knob, Plate and Bracket. Lower profile than I thought, but it still doesn't seem like there's enough room for the screw heads....

Who made these screencaps?

 

[Dann]

I'm so glad you're going with Hoth! I was gonna suggest it, but decided to keep my mouth shut and not try and sway you, besides, it seemed you were set on a ROTJ version.

Dunno who did the grabs, but the cap could always be recessed on the inside, I suppose, or perhaps the screws were added after the cap fell off? Well, that wouldn't make sense, actually, since the screws come out the other side and are capped with nuts. So forget that.

I was actually considering doing a new Hoth rather than the Greedo Killer with my new MGC, but I've already got this other MGC that's currently a Bespin, so I think I'll just swap and add some parts to that one, for the Hoth. Then I can finally retire this old OLD Denix!

The only issue will be the grips, I suppose. Man, I wish someone would offer resin castings of proper MGC grips!!!

 

[thd9791]

I thoight about that the minute i got my MGC - but im no good at casting yet. Ive done pistons and motor coil plates (2 pours) with mixed results

Has anyone toyed with the idea that screws are countersunk into the bracket, and the plate just hides them? I have no clue why theyd use 3 screws though.

Also mortifactor said the spacer looked like.. i think nickel coated steel, those yellowey green parts like the back of a speaker or something. I have 3 thick washers here with that coating and i could believe it..

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

Congrats Tom! MGC SW builds are tops IMHO for the obvious reason. They were actually used in the films

Great choice with the Hoth as well. These are two of my fav MGC’s I’ve done. The ROTJ blaster was gold and I sanded it down as much as possible. Complete nightmare but ur going to paint it anyhow so not to stress to much. The Hoth below was made with half gold & half natural black (Bottom is its natural color)..

thd9791 those 3 screws are not countersunk I’m pretty sure. You can see them pretty clearly sitting above the disk in these pics

 

[thd9791]

Those are beautiful! Yea, I totally get the "right" feeling to these blasters now, your ROTJ one especially with the milled sides. What type of sanding job did you do to it, like leave it rough for the paint to stick or smooth it down so the scratches won't show?

I've been himming and hawing over where the other 2 screws go, the ones that end around the pistons. Either into the spacer or into the bracket, covered by the plate with 3 screws

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

thd9791 actually you can get a good look at what I did here. For the ROTJ it was built for someone. It actually gave me a great excuse to design all these parts for this specific build. He had the same dilemma we all have have with MGC’s. Hoth, GK or this specific ROTJ right?! He went with Jedi obviously. But to ur question and since it was for someone I wanted to get off as much gold as possible. So I took it all apart, sanded it down and continued sanding until it was smooth as well. Specifically the edges where chipping might show. I didn’t want gold to appear if/when it did. Once sanded down I applied “ Aluminum black” to help with covering up the gold as well. It’s no joke as far as getting it off. A lot of elbow grease..

The sanding sucks so much that I jumped on the chance to build my own personal Hoth blaster with a half and half MGC. Gold top and natural black bottom. For this one I only had to sand the top obviously and mostly just concentrated on the corners. This is presanding I believe..

 

[thd9791]

Oh my god! That's very encouraging. especially that you didn't lose too much detail - I may have to try this, I have to sand it anyway.. The logos/engravings... deep enough not to be lost?

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

I’ve built a a few MGC’s and i’ve experienced no loss of engravings. To get those off I had to use a Dremel..

 

[thd9791]

thank you!

I sat down and really went at this today. 3 grits of sandpaper I had stashed away: 60, 100, 800

I got to sand away the pitting on the lower frame. 60 grit bit into the plating easily but my shoulders and arms really got a workout... Nearly got me frustrated I had to put it down. Copper came pretty quickly

I used plastic greebles and metal greeblies to wrap sandpaper around, for a better and more level job. Didn't have blocks of wood to use like the norm.

(the beige pistons are the second cast I tried with impact resin... my first casts. They're not awful)

Markings stayed the same, generally. I made great effort not to lose too much detail... but it's inevitable to a degree with sandpaper. I was scared I'd lose the date (the archivist in me lol) but it wasn't pressed completely to start with, I don't think I lost anything with sanding.

I went sanded with 800 black sandpaper and it made a hell of a difference, it may look scratchy but it's very smooth. Since i plan on painting, for now I left it with some copper showing through, maybe I'll change my mind later



Although I do have a problem. I hope someone with MGCs can help me... I put it back together and the bolt won't pull back. Seems to be something to do with the mechanism and its metal catch, it won't move past the first hump. I can mimic the problem by pressing the catch into the upper by itself... anyone had this problem?

Thank you!!!