Yet another Han Solo GK project!

[No 6]

If I had known that building a Han Solo blaster would be so expensive... who am I fooling. I still would have started the project. I just wouldn't have been so surprised. For the time being I'm using the HJC "Box Cannon" as the base since I want a shooting prop. I got the grill from Blast-Tech, the bull barrel, flash hider, and scope mount from Dark Energy creations. Lastly, I sourced walnut grips from evilbay. I don't know what I'm going to do about the greebles on top of the barrel yet. Suggestions are welcome. First thing I did was strip the gun down and polished everything. Then I blued the metal parts. For some reason the flash-hider would not take the bluing, so I painted it. I noticed there were a big difference between how the aluminum bull barrel and the zinc body took the bluing. The barrel was a beautiful true blue/black, where the zinc was brown. After much thought, I coated the whole thing in several layers of Tamiya "Smoke" color, which evened everything out beautifully. Added some weathering with steel wool, and gave it a few coats of semi-gloss lacquer. It now has a nice deep chocolate finish like a well-cared for, but regularly used vintage firearm. I'll get some pictures up if anyone is interested. The biggest problem was finding a scope. Couldn't find a replica (unless I bought the full kit from DEC), nothing modern was appropriate... and the 'real deal' as you all know, is hard to come by. After a couple of months of looking, spending money on scopes that would not work, I finally found something that was both in my price range, and is pretty doggone close. Correct brand, correct vintage, correct measurements, but the wrong specific model, as you can tell from the windage knob (and it has a single post reticule). I'll also have to get the silver piece off the top, and will probably need to refinish it. But overall, I am VERY happy to get this piece. Eventually I'll probably buy a Denix body for a more accurate build, but that'll be later...

p.s. many thanks to all the peep who have posted up their tireless research on this site. You people rock.

 

[Kevin Gossett]

By the description you have it doesn't sound like you're doing a GK?

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I agree with Kevin.

From the detail you described, you are building the Han Solo ANH "Hero" blaster: BlasTech DL-44

The "Greedo Killer" or "GK" as you have stated in your topic title, is this one: BlasTech DL-44

 

[DeathFromADesk]

I'd be interested in seeing the finish on your pistol as well as some additional details on your bluing process.

 

[No 6]

Yes, you gentlemen are indeed correct. It is the hero blaster that I'm building. But not quite. Plenty of accuracy problems, not the least of which is the base gun, but hey, if you want it to actually shoot, the options are limited. I finally finished my initial build, and while it is far from perfect, I'm still pretty happy with it. Placement of the scope mount was a little bit of a compromise. If the mag release hadn't been where it is, I would have mounted it about 1mm lower. As it is, it is still hard to manipulate. I don't know that I'll do the greebles on the top of the barrel due to difficulty in sourcing the parts. Okay, without further ado, the pictures... which are kind of washed out, but you'll get the idea.

 

[Vanitas]

She looks quite lovely! I have a chopped apart HFC Mauser that I'm planning on turning into a ANH Dl-44 as well. I have a few questions for you; did you drill and tap the bolts into the frame, or did you just epoxy the washers and threaded rods to the frame? Also, how did you mount the scope bracket parallel with the lower receiver, as the back of the lower receiver on the HFC Mauser is shallower than the front? Did you use a thicker washer for the back mounting point? And does it still shoot straight? Thanks!

 

[SolosHold]

please posts build pics?