ANH Han Solo belt greeblies

http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz258/Sym-Cha/RAF Aircraft Relay_zpsw3tkoe98.jpg~original

This picture of an RAF Aircraft Relay from my SW Archive is the closest I found that had
a similar shape, however it was hard to determine it's actual size ... so I abandoned the
urge to buy it.

Chaïm

50 x 40 x 20 mm, if you're still wondering!

I think that arrangement of pins is closer than the first one I bought, but it's still not right.

I did find this Russian relay, the RES 22:

s-l300.jpg

Which seems to have a closer arrangement of pins/prongs with the hole in the side, but not the body shape.

To my eye, what we're looking for is something which has a similar shape to the GEC ones, but smaller, possibly white (might be painted for the film?) with a hole/indent in the longer side. It looks like two prongs at the rear on a rust coloured base or bases. One bolt immediately in front of them in the centre, a blank space and then a brown square with an indeterminable number of prongs. I think there's at least three on the brown square, but could be a lot more.

Does that sound about right?
 
I’ve also been following this route for awhile, but haven’t found the correct ones yet (assuming that’s what they are).
 
... (assuming that’s what they are).

That's the problem with this sort of thing, isn't it? They could be something completely different, possibly even wooden blocks with nails hammered into them. Seems unlikely given almost everything else is a found part, but who knows?
 
I keep looking at that Russian relay:

s-l225.jpg

I can't help noticing the case just clips on. Maybe the metal top slips off easily too?

And then maybe, just maybe there's a white inner case underneath?

Seems like a long shot, but you never know.
 
I keep looking at that Russian relay:

View attachment 841569

I can't help noticing the case just clips on. Maybe the metal top slips off easily too?

And then maybe, just maybe there's a white inner case underneath?

Seems like a long shot, but you never know.


Looked promising but I did some internet searching and found a РЭС 22 Taken apart:

res.jpg

Looks to be a dead end. Theres a whole family these though so Im going to have a good search. Seem to match the ANOVOS ones pretty closely, and on the small chance that ANOVOS had access to the original gear, this would be very promising then.

res.jpg
 
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Looked promising but I did some internet searching and found a РЭС 22 Taken apart:

View attachment 841575

Looks to be a dead end. Theres a whole family these though so Im going to have a good search. Seem to match the ANOVOS ones pretty closely, and on the small chance that ANOVOS had access to the original gear, this would be very promising then.

Damn, there's even a video of it being disassembled to be doubly sure: https://youtu.be/Dc8JblcGOuA

Oh well, another dream crushed. It did seem unlikely.
 
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The top looks so spot on, It could be something perhaps they modified?

In some photos it does, in others it looks like there's more white space between the two sets of prongs. I can't tell if that's just the angle or even the resolution playing tricks. It may even be that once the clip-less case is in a pouch it creates the illusion of that stepped out upper portion. There are a couple of indents in some of them which might just trick the eye.

Maybe?

The colour around the prongs seems wrong though, but since these things were in production for decades they might have undergone some changes over time.

I wonder though how easy it was to come by Soviet relays in the UK during the Cold War?

I still think British relays are a more likely choice.

This photo intrigues me too:

http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz258/Sym-Cha/RAF Aircraft Relay_zpsw3tkoe98.jpg~original

This picture of an RAF Aircraft Relay from my SW Archive is the closest I found that had
a similar shape, however it was hard to determine it's actual size ... so I abandoned the
urge to buy it.

Chaïm

Specifically the Type 8 and the Mk.2 on the box. Were there a Types 1 to 7? A type 9? What did the Type 8 Mk.1 look like? Was there a Type 8 Mk.3 which was slightly smaller and made of plastic? Maybe these are the military versions and the commercial ones are smaller, cheaper and shoved in smugglers' belts?

It doesn't help that the manufacturer absorbed dozens of other smaller companies over the years, changing its name fairly regularly. It's a hell of a lot to unpick.

Then there's things like this:

20180908_221547.jpg

The same relay with two different sets of ID markings. They're both M1942, both 5945-99-011-9239 24 V 670 Ohm with the exact same circuit diagram on the side (albeit in different fonts) ... and yet one's labelled GEC/TM2 while the other is GEC/TE.

Why?

I think I prefer these more prong-y ones to the original one I bought (although I have a pair of each!):

20180908_221531.jpg

My current plan is to paint the M1492 relays white, cut off the screw threads and reattach a single one in the centre. I think, overall, I'm prepared to live with the slightly too-big size for the appearance and weight.

Having said that, I've got a RES 22 on the way too. I think I'll put it next to these and see which one can be modified to look closest.
 
I think if were assuming its a straight found part, its best to focus on the top part and match that:

Screen Shot 2018-09-08 at 23.37.06.png

Ignoring the mess at the front, we can clearly see three prongs. Haven't yet seen an RAF one with three

Certainly makes sense it'd be a British Relay but who knows!
 
I think if were assuming its a straight found part, its best to focus on the top part and match that:

View attachment 841649

Ignoring the mess at the front, we can clearly see three prongs. Haven't yet seen an RAF one with three

Certainly makes sense it'd be a British Relay but who knows!

Yeah, it's not even guaranteed to be a relay, let alone a British one.

I agree though, I haven't seen an RAF one with three prongs, but they're pretty much the only ones I have seen with the overhang.
 
Could be.

View attachment 841660

Or maybe even a 32 with a cap?

View attachment 841661

That might account for the colour of the front square?


WoW !!!

Thanks to phillbarron for starting this collaboration thread. And to the others that contributed (Sym-Cha, CWOODREPLICAS, etc..) I was resigned to make my own "relays" Han Solo AHN greeblies but then phillbarron started this post. Thanks to them we can put this prop in the "found in real life" column. (Reminds me of the "pump widget" for the Aliens motion tracker that people finally figured out was a blood pressure measurement device !!! ). This is definitely a relay - for our purposes it was made in the '80s and in Soviet USSR. I think like most users, the original ones were probably older and made in the U.K.

I tried finding the 32 relay that phillbarron has pictured above, nothing came up except some really obscure Russian websites. So I re-read some of the previous posts and phillbarron mentioned the 22 relay instead. SO I tried that... BOOM that came up with much more results - especially listings on ebay. Most are from Russian, and Eastern Europe but I did find listings from Spain and U.K. I live in US and was able to locate an ebay seller in Canada. I'd ordered a few because the feeding frenzy is about to start !!!!

The keywords to use are "RES-22","Russian" and "Relay". You can also put "РЭС-22", the original model number. I think the РЭС-22 looks correct and there are only cosmetic changes - white paint and the collar on the top. Maybe the original AHN ones were from a different country and needed the collar.

When they get delivered, I will post pictures next to my green soda canisters I found in the parking lot !

Jedar
 
WoW !!!

Thanks to phillbarron for starting this collaboration thread. And to the others that contributed (Sym-Cha, CWOODREPLICAS, etc..) I was resigned to make my own "relays" Han Solo AHN greeblies but then phillbarron started this post. Thanks to them we can put this prop in the "found in real life" column. (Reminds me of the "pump widget" for the Aliens motion tracker that people finally figured out was a blood pressure measurement device !!! ). This is definitely a relay - for our purposes it was made in the '80s and in Soviet USSR. I think like most users, the original ones were probably older and made in the U.K.

I tried finding the 32 relay that phillbarron has pictured above, nothing came up except some really obscure Russian websites. So I re-read some of the previous posts and phillbarron mentioned the 22 relay instead. SO I tried that... BOOM that came up with much more results - especially listings on ebay. Most are from Russian, and Eastern Europe but I did find listings from Spain and U.K. I live in US and was able to locate an ebay seller in Canada. I'd ordered a few because the feeding frenzy is about to start !!!!

The keywords to use are "RES-22","Russian" and "Relay". You can also put "РЭС-22", the original model number. I think the РЭС-22 looks correct and there are only cosmetic changes - white paint and the collar on the top. Maybe the original AHN ones were from a different country and needed the collar.

When they get delivered, I will post pictures next to my green soda canisters I found in the parking lot !

Jedar

I would hesitate to mark this 'found'. I think the RES 22 is similar but there are a lot of discrepancies, the front prongs don't look right, the hole on the side is a hole, not a hole and cut-out, there's no writing on the end side and I think the size might be completely different.

When you look at them side by side the differences are clearer:

s-l300.jpgScreen Shot 2018-09-08 at 23.37.06.png
 
To my eyes, it looks a little too chunky. Would be cool to see however what its like with a a collar placed on top.

My verdict is that were getting close but certainly not 'found'. If it was a straight found part, with the writing, I doubt they did any painting of it. Its clear the belt was built to fit them, so they must have had them for a time, though the pouches are glued rather then stitched which suggests a 'quick fix'.

Really its anyone's guess!

Search is on though -_-
 
To my eyes, it looks a little too chunky. Would be cool to see however what its like with a a collar placed on top.

My verdict is that were getting close but certainly not 'found'. If it was a straight found part, with the writing, I doubt they did any painting of it. Its clear the belt was built to fit them, so they must have had them for a time, though the pouches are glued rather then stitched which suggests a 'quick fix'.

Really its anyone's guess!

Search is on though -_-

Why do you think the pouches were glued on? In every shot I have seen of the belt and seeing it in person the pouches were stitched. Do you have a photo showing no stitches? I mostly know the ESB belt from making several and I am not as familiar with the ANH.
 
Why do you think the pouches were glued on? In every shot I have seen of the belt and seeing it in person the pouches were stitched. Do you have a photo showing no stitches? I mostly know the ESB belt from making several and I am not as familiar with the ANH.
360054336_01d6ac500a_o.jpg

The ANH pouches have no visible stitching. ESB and ROTJ have stitching.
 

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