Blade Runner Blaster news: model kit version of the Tomenosuke Blaster is coming

VFX Freak · May 31, 2013

I didn't have anything to say, but the Tapatalk App seems to think I did, so I'll say something. These blasters are looking great! As far as the World Con look vs. screen used look goes, I favor the screen used look because no cop, or Bladerunner, worth their salt would let the condition of their duty weapon disintegrate to the sad state of the gun revealed at World Con.

I have a .357 Colt Python that was made in the early eighties, and the bluing is as lustrous today as it was the day it was first sold. But that's because I store it in a silicone impregnated pistol sock, and clean and oil it carefully after every use. Anyone have any ideas on preserving the finish of the Tomen after the desired blue has been achieved? A lacquer finish? Gloss, semi-gloss? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

David

Darth Infamous · May 31, 2013

Those are great pics. I wanted to do my blaster as delivered to the set and filmed not the beat up look. Btw does the Birchwood Super Blue actually work on this type of metal? Nwerke you used that right? I thought the birchwood black aluminum would only work.
Carl

DaveG · May 31, 2013

DS Operative said:
Is anyone else besides me (only slightly) disappointed in the color of the grips supplied with the Tomenosuke?

Does anybody plan to offer darker colored amber grips?

Having cast amber grips for my snub nose blaster kit I can tell you that dialing in the color is a royal PITA. The red dies are extremely potent and the yellow dies not so much. Plus the shade of color is also effected by the thickness of the casting, so what looks right in the bottle doesn't when cured. Given all this, I have no intention of offering color corrected amber grips. However... I am considering making clear colorless grips as were shown in an early Tomenosuke blog post. Those look really cool with the un-blued metal parts. But if I do them I would not be pulling molds off the Tomen grips. RECASTING IS BAD! Even if it's to get something that doesn't otherwise exist. So I would be milling new grip patterns. Besides, I'm not completely happy with the checkering on Tomen's grips. It looks like they laid a checkered sheet into the grip pattern and puttied to blend the two together. A little ragged around the edges. A minor criticism for such an outstanding kit. But before I attempt clear resin grips I'm going to mill up some hardwood ones like I made for my snub nose. That'll look cool!

BeastMaster · Jun 1, 2013

Is anyone else having issues with the bolt lever not fully opening? I feel like I'll damage it if I force it too much :\

On to the receiver finishing, I really like this look Tomenosuke Blade Runner Blasters | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Does anyone know what sort of blueing or blackening they may have used for this?

Nicksdad · Jun 1, 2013

Yes, my bolt lever will not open fully. I was going to email Mune about it.

KramStaar · Jun 1, 2013

DaveG said:
Having cast amber grips for my snub nose blaster kit I can tell you that dialing in the color is a royal PITA. The red dies are extremely potent and the yellow dies not so much. Plus the shade of color is also effected by the thickness of the casting, so what looks right in the bottle doesn't when cured. Given all this, I have no intention of offering color corrected amber grips. However... I am considering making clear colorless grips as were shown in an early Tomenosuke blog post. Those look really cool with the un-blued metal parts. But if I do them I would not be pulling molds off the Tomen grips. RECASTING IS BAD! Even if it's to get something that doesn't otherwise exist. So I would be milling new grip patterns. Besides, I'm not completely happy with the checkering on Tomen's grips. It looks like they laid a checkered sheet into the grip pattern and puttied to blend the two together. A little ragged around the edges. A minor criticism for such an outstanding kit. But before I attempt clear resin grips I'm going to mill up some hardwood ones like I made for my snub nose. That'll look cool!

This is what you're looking for mate!
?????????????? : ???? ????? ??????

Warm regards

MARK

BeastMaster · Jun 1, 2013

Also does anyone know if the metal is actual nickle or some other alloy that is nickle plated?

DaveG · Jun 1, 2013

Yes, I had seen that blog post in addition to an older post showing a prototype of the kit assembled with clear grips. An online translation of the text sounds like a discussion of the pains involved in getting the grips clear enough, but hard to say. Certainly if Tomenosuke issued a set of clear, colorless grips it would be a cool addition to the line. I always thought transparent deep blood red grips would look cool.

mtrixman · Jun 1, 2013

Nicksdad said:
Yes, my bolt lever will not open fully. I was going to email Mune about it.

I have the Tomenosuke Pro and the lever doesn't pull back all the way either.

Nicksdad · Jun 1, 2013

I actually can't even get mine to lift up fully to even pull back at all.

DBoz · Jun 1, 2013

I had and still sometimes have some difficulty getting the bolt to swing up fully to the opening position. It seems to hang up at the crook on the slot. I believe this is by design of the original Steyr, however. It should open if you finesse it with a little force, it doesn't take a whole lot, but maybe more than you would expect.

Nwerke · Jun 1, 2013

Clutch said:
Have you tried the tape test? stick a piece of scotch tape on it and see if it lifts the bluing.

No need; I already hit it with Scotchbrite to get the wear highlights. It takes real effort to lift it.

Lazerblade said:
Mine is put together but the metal backstrap has a hole in it with the another piece inside that looks like it should take a screw. Am I missing a part or is this supposed to be just a hole?

Empty AFAIK.

Reacher said:
the little "hand spring" which is numbered 37 on the exploded view in the instructions. I can't find any reference to it in the instructions so not sure where it lives. It's not easy to see from the exploded view how it fits. It seems to work perfectly well without it....is it essential? If so where does it go?

It is in the instructions. It's shown on page 1, diagram 5. It holds the hand in tension against the ratchet on the back of the cylinder.

Marv said:
I have a very bad feeling I won't be getting mine!

Fingers crossed for you!

Darth Infamous said:
Btw does the Birchwood Super Blue actually work on this type of metal? Nwerke you used that right? I thought the birchwood black aluminum would only work.

Carl it works fine, trust me! You will need to paint the side covers, outer grip frame and laser sight, and the bottom of the butt plate. All the other cast parts can be blued. Easy and satisfying.

Nwerke · Jun 1, 2013

BeastMaster said:
Is anyone else having issues with the bolt lever not fully opening? I feel like I'll damage it if I force it too much :\

This may be a stupid suggestion but is your gun fully assembled? If not is the pin at the front of the bolt, which protrudes through the front face of the Steyr part, is it locked into the opening for that? If it is not correctly seated and fouling, it messes up the action. You can't have that problem if the gun is fully together though so if it is, I would recommend a small amount of grease.

On to the receiver finishing, I really like this look Tomenosuke Blade Runner Blasters | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Does anyone know what sort of blueing or blackening they may have used for this?

Nice! Could be normal blue without buffing, maybe?

KramStaar said:
This is what you're looking for mate!
?????????????? : ???? ????? ??????

Thing of beauty, that clear-grip buildup.

BeastMaster said:
Also does anyone know if the metal is actual nickle or some other alloy that is nickle plated?

Good question. Could be either. The nickel might be quite thin if it is only a plating, but I have a gut feeling it isn't. (My gut feelings are often crap, though.)

DBoz said:
I had and still sometimes have some difficulty getting the bolt to swing up fully to the opening position. It seems to hang up at the crook on the slot. I believe this is by design of the original Steyr, however. It should open if you finesse it with a little force, it doesn't take a whole lot, but maybe more than you would expect.

Yeah - just a little force at first but with some wear from playing with it it, will become much looser. It's still a nice mechanical sort of action though.

JOATRASH FX · Jun 1, 2013

Marv said:
Mine is still with the UK Border Agency!!! Got through to someone who told me that, they provided me with a number which I've been trying all day, and also that they were trying to determine what it is. I told them it was a model kit, they said no, what is it! When I said a blaster the conversation continued (obviously been opened). I have a very bad feeling I won't be getting mine!

Stand your ground. This is what you say:

"It's a model kit for a so-called laser blaster from a science fiction movie. It's NOT replica of any existing real-world firearm. Therefore, it does not quality as a RIF, neither in its current state OR if it was assembled."

- As a KIT, it doesn't quality as a RIF if you go by the exact wording of the law (if I remember correctly).... there's nothing in there that you can pull out and threaten someone with- not even an old, half-blind person with no knowledge of guns. Also, until you have assembled and finished it, they can't judge whether or not it IS a RIF. For all they know, you intend to spray paint all the silver parts orange.

phase pistol · Jun 1, 2013

BeastMaster said:
I really like this look Tomenosuke Blade Runner Blasters | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Does anyone know what sort of blueing or blackening they may have used for this?

Thanks, that's my photo of the version 3 Tomenosuke PRO (pre-built). So that would have been done to their own specifications.

K

Reacher · Jun 1, 2013

Nwerke said:
It is in the instructions. It's shown on page 1, diagram 5. It holds the hand in tension against the ratchet on the back of the cylinder.

Yeah thanks, found it now :facepalm Can't believe I couldn't see it!...tonight will mostly be all about taking it apart and fitting the spring!

corellian77 · Jun 1, 2013

BeastMaster said:
Is anyone else having issues with the bolt lever not fully opening? I feel like I'll damage it if I force it too much :\

On to the receiver finishing, I really like this look Tomenosuke Blade Runner Blasters | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Does anyone know what sort of blueing or blackening they may have used for this?

I'm not exactly sure what process was used to "age" the metal parts of the Tomenosuke World Convention model, but it doesn't appear to be through bluing (if I understand the bluing process). Photos of the process can be seen here: ???PRO??????????? : ???? ????? ?????? . Having the World Con blaster, I can tell you it's a very interesting finish--it looks very dark when not in direct light, but is very bright in direct light. This is one of my favourite characteristics of this blaster, as it replicates the various looks of the blaster as seen throughout Blade Runner.

As for the bolt lever, as others have said, apply a little bit of force and it should swing up all the way. After doing it a few times with my World Con model, it swings much more freely.

DBoz · Jun 1, 2013

Nicksdad said:
I actually can't even get mine to lift up fully to even pull back at all.

Something else I thought of is that if you have the set screws in the top of the Steyr receiver tightened down too far, the will bind the bolt, making it difficult, if not impossible to move.

Marv · Jun 1, 2013

Many thanks guys all my fingers are crossed along with my toes

I'll certainly be putting forward the advise I'm finding here if I get to talk to the Border Agency (assuming things don't move on), but I think they take the phone of the hook. I must have rung about 100 times yestreday in an attempt to talk to someone, and thought I'd give it a bash today. Same old engaged tone

Yorkie Fett · Jun 1, 2013

Marv said:
Many thanks guys all my fingers are crossed along with my toes

I'll certainly be putting forward the advise I'm finding here if I get to talk to the Border Agency (assuming things don't move on), but I think they take the phone of the hook. I must have rung about 100 times yestreday in an attempt to talk to someone, and thought I'd give it a bash today. Same old engaged tone

Since these are all coming from the same source (and presumably all going through X-ray machines in similar packaging), I find it really contradictory of customs that they are holding up certain items, especially with all the kits that have been cleared and got in to the UK. If there's a standard rule regarding their definitions of RIFs, surely they either all get in or none get in?

Hopefully this is just a minor hold up and will be sorted soon. When did your kit land in the UK?

Blade Runner Blaster news: model kit version of the Tomenosuke Blaster is coming

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