Are these the vintage T-tracks we've been looking for?

3M Tartan double sided.

I have it in black and clear, the black has a temp range from +90°C to -40°C, and the clear from +80°C to -40°C.
Yesterday i need to use my heatgun to get a set of old tracks fom my G. for adding new ones.

Sym-Cha said:

To me it looks like they added heat to hard plastic T-tracks ... however I have evidence that apart from some E-11 having real vintage T-tracks ... Bapty also made their own aluminium T-tracks for the many blasters needed as props on set by stormtroopers :wacko

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Just finally had the time to read through this from the beginning. Chaim, if you meant those images as the proof you mentioned, the wording is too vague to be used as "evidence". I read through the descriptions twice (one seems to be quoting the other) and didn't see any mention of the barrel-shroud add-on strips. Then I realized you were possibly honing in on the word "grips", which, in gunmaking circles, tends to refer only to the main handle one holds onto -- i.e., in this case, the main handle below the gun. Any grips toward the front of the gun tend to be referred to as "foregrips", whether a separate handle or molded in/added on in-line with the barrel. So I read that as saying Bapty fabricated replacement handles and trigger guards where such were missing from the decommissioned Sterlings they used to work with to make the Stunt blasters, not that they fabricated metal add-on bits for the barrel shrouds. Those would probably have been called "rails" or "foregrips" in that breakdown.

--Jonah

Thanks Jonah for clearing that up ... which just leaves me with the question ... if those real black plastic T-tracks were available in such abundance at the time (1976) for all those onscreen converted E-11 blasters ... why then is it almost impossible to score the exact types that were used by Bapty?

Chaim

Great thread!:thumbsup

Sym-Cha said:

if those real black plastic T-tracks were available in such abundance at the time (1976) for all those onscreen converted E-11 blasters ... why then is it almost impossible to score the exact types that were used by Bapty?

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That is the tip of a huge and annoying iceberg in this hobby. Companies and manufacturers are so constantly tweaking and modifying and "upgrading" and retiring old to introduce new that it makes me frequently want to bang my head on hard surfaces. Because halogen floor lamps were blamed for causing some home fires, as a class they've all but disappeared, so the lamp I got at Target to use as a base for my Royal Guard force pike no longer exists anywhere in any form. The replacement, non-halogen-bulb versions that have come out since, have shafts of different diameters and different tapers, but nothing matching the one I want. Similarly, the accurate faucet knob I used for the pommel has been out of production for nearly as long. Heck, even the faucet knob I used for my custom lightsaber is out of production in favor of newer styles/designs.

If we were ever able to actually identify a specific manufacturer and product code for that cabinet-door track, I'm willing to bet the product code has been retired since the late '70s to early '80s, and that the company (if they even still make cabinet door sliding tracks) have revised their design in tiny and subtle ways half a dozen times since. And each company that offers such items will have their own specific design, to attempt to attract customers with their specific features versus their competitors', to avoid infringement accusations from their competitors, etc. Which doesn't help us run down the original item in the first place. *heh*

There's also the matter that neither of those images say Bapty added the barrel-shroud detail bits. As with Han's blaster, it's entirely possible that they delivered the replica firearm in a particular state, and the prop people attached to the production added the T-track from what they had on hand after making the lightsaber grips (or vice versa) to disguise the original gun a bit more. Either way, unless they kept the receipt, they would likely not know or care the manufacturer or item code. They would have just grabbed something that looked good. On the first film, no one expected it to go anywhere, so there's a lot of missing documentation, since they were never expecting to have to replicate those props for potential sequels.

--Jonah

That would make sense. Considering that so much of the ANH prop material was bought as scrap in lots-- the t-track could have already been out of fashion by then and replaced with something else. If production design had it in abundance because it was cheaply bought in bulk they would stick it everywhere they could.

They definitely used the t tracks in everything they could while they still had it! The list of props with some variation of T track on it is insane. All of the Graflex's, the ROTJ Boba Fett EE-3, ANH DL 44, the E-11... the list goes on!

I wonder if dry rot would play a role into why we haven't found the exact color and profile yet. That plastic has got to be old right now. Assuming it was manufactured around the time of filming, it would be 40 years old. If you contemplate the t-track being throwaway old stock, WHO KNOWS how old that plastic would be by now. It could be possible that the variety we're looking has since disintegrated into dust.

As you can see ... even after almost 4 decades it's still in tact on this Vader ESB MPP lightsaber, apart from the one grip that cracked a long time ago :wacko

Chaim

Speaking to the idea of Roger Christian buying bulk scrap...

Has anyone ever researched whether T-track was used in the airline industry?

After all, Mr. Christian has said he bought tons of airplane scrap for cheap to make the interior of the Millenium Falcon. Maybe the T-track was found within?

Sym-Cha said:

That is yet another matter I have been contemplating ... I have a vintage G R A F L E X as well as a nice genuine MPP ... then again I have a nice set of 7 black painted Saberfreak's vintage T-tracks too though a bit to long and with curved edges already. Still the question remains the same because those T-tracks don't have a proper glue-channel either :wacko

Chaim

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Great thread, thanks for pointing it out.

Now another question, as I have a set of Saberfreaks vintage dark brown t-tracks I'm trying to determine what type (plastic adhering, normal enamel...) to paint these tracks with? Also noting a black is 'not real black looking' depending if it is flat, semi-gloss or gloss, not to mention different paints like typical Krylon spray and other brands just look different in different lighting.

Will do some more searching as I sure don't want to put a non-original looking paint finish on these, however could re-paint in the future. Maybe start a t-track finishing and mounting thread?

I have to get this done pretty soon for Megacon in Orlando coming up in 2 weeks. I'll start today by adding the bottom channels as you suggested (with a steady hand).

Chip
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Ridire Firean said:

Has anyone ever researched whether T-track was used in the airline industry? After all, Mr. Christian has said he bought tons of airplane scrap for cheap to make the interior of the Millenium Falcon. Maybe the T-track was found within?

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Good question ... any one care to reply?

Chaim

George L. said:

Great thread, thanks for pointing it out.

Now another question, as I have a set of Saberfreaks vintage dark brown t-tracks I'm trying to determine what type (plastic adhering, normal enamel...) to paint these tracks with? Also noting a black is 'not real black looking' depending if it is flat, semi-gloss or gloss, not to mention different paints like typical Krylon spray and other brands just look different in different lighting.

Will do some more searching as I sure don't want to put a non-original looking paint finish on these, however could re-paint in the future. Maybe start a t-track finishing and mounting thread?

I have to get this done pretty soon for Megacon in Orlando coming up in 2 weeks. I'll start today by adding the bottom channels as you suggested (with a steady hand).

Chip
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I never painted my original brown T-tracks myself ... and the black Saberfreak set mentioned ... indeed has some matt or pearl black paint over a grey basecoat

Go ahead start a DIY T-tracks thread ... with lots of pictures, please

Chaim

Just to throw yet more confusion onto things... The prop guy for Star Wars who sourced the parts and built the lightsabers back in '76 was just interviewed in the Star Wars Insider, and when recounting the assembly, he said he grabbed some rubber[]/i] T-track out of his bitz box for the grips. *headdesk* So are we now back to the question of whether there was ever a rubber version of the stuff? Or do we just presume it's faulty memory?

--Jonah

Faulty memory, I'd say.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That prop guy is Roger Christian : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002337/ and eventhough a rather lovely experienced propguy, who even addressed my question via an online Q&A, he is no longer quite a reliable source for answering about the material used for the lightsaber grips these days ... and I don't blame him ... it's been 40 years hence since STAR WARS was made :wacko

Chaim

Assuming he worked on effects movies for even 20 of those last 40 years, it's a lot of time to forget what you glued or screwed/riveted to an old flash a few times for three movies.

I worked on Thomas the Tank Engine for 5 years. 88 Episodes. 4 Movies.

I used to be able to tell you every characters name. Every station

I can tell you now that they are trains... and want to be usefull... that's it.

That was only 4 years ago.

The two projects since have wiped my mind clean.

Hypnotic regression is the solution

NeoRutty said:

Assuming he worked on effects movies for even 20 of those last 40 years, it's a lot of time to forget what you glued or screwed/riveted to an old flash a few times for three movies.

I worked on Thomas the Tank Engine for 5 years. 88 Episodes. 4 Movies.

I used to be able to tell you every characters name. Every station

I can tell you now that they are trains... and want to be usefull... that's it.

That was only 4 years ago.



The two projects since have wiped my mind clean.

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wait what! Thomas! Did you work on the physical mechanical trains and sets? We need to talk

scottjua said:

wait what! Thomas! Did you work on the physical mechanical trains and sets? We need to talk

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Yes... I need to hit you for all of the Thomas I've endured over the years from nieces and nephews the next time I see you