Finally getting back to this thing, having spent too much time and money on lightsabers recently! I've finished up the release button on the bottom of the mag well. I chucked a bolt I had laying around in my hand drill and ghetto lathed the threads off with a coarse flat file, then flattened the tip. Sawed off about 4mm of this and drilled a hole in the Denix to match. A light treatment of Aluminum Black to darken it a bit and we have our button. Don't know why I was stuck on this piece for so long!
Incidentally, I bought a cover plate from a real C96 on ebay for $6 for grins, thinking maybe I can fit it to the Denix. I may not bother trying, the real plate is a near perfect match for what I have, both in color and shape, minus the missing alignment thingie at the front. Maybe one day I'll brave cutting up the Denix, but for now I'll call this part good.
I'm also fiddling with the front sight greeblies, pondering the possibility that the t-track may be beveled at the front not the back! I posted about this in the
DL-44 mega thread, feel free to post your thoughts there. For now I'm going to go with the standard Master Replicas style rear bevel, but here's a pic of a hastily mocked up reverse bevel for fun. This greeblie will be attached with double sided tape in hopes that a decent photo of the real thing will surface some day.
The last big hurdle is coming up with some decent grips. Here's a grip I got from Numrich compared to the Denix wood grip. These are a no go and have been returned. I really want accurate grips with the correct number of lines! I'll keep digging and stick with the Denix grips until I find something.