Pedro's ANH DL-44 - Denix + Todd's + Scratch

Thanks so much for all the detailed write-up and photos! Now that Halloween's past, I'm feeling like stripping the paint on my Armorer Works blaster and completely refinishing it - this is as good as a tutorial for doing that

May I ask what size the mystery disk is. I am working on mine now and thus build has been my main reference so far.

kevin926 said:

May I ask what size the mystery disk is. I am working on mine now and thus build has been my main reference so far.

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Sorry to take so long to answer, I was away from the computer that had the file I used to cut the disk. It's .985" diameter. I think I found the dimensions on here in some thread, and it looked right when I tried it out. Glad you're enjoying my (stalled) build!

I'm super stuck on this project! I've been scouring the web for better grips but haven't come up with anything. All the wood C96 grips I can find have the thicker/fewer lines and don't look right. Someone here bought some from Numrich a few years back that were correct, but the ones they have now are not. I may get some from DEC when he does another run, but really wanted some grips that are the correct size (and would re-work the Denix to fit). For now I guess I'm sticking with the Denix grips.

Also stuck on the sight greeblie/t-track. I simply cannot decide what it should look like! I feel like K-Pax came closest, but his is a little weird looking and arbitrary. It seems to "match" what few reference we have, but also doesn't look like something the prop team would actually have done, since it's so cut down. Alternately I could just do the simple bevel like Scottjua and many other folks do.

So, I'm soliciting suggestions and references. What did you do with your t-track? Are there any pictures I haven't found that might help? (not likely hahah!) I feel like most of the base of the track is there, in some of the studio promo pics you appear to be able to see it sticking out a bit when looking at the blaster pointing up from the underside. What to do???

I bought some from numrich this year! Let me know what you think, for 30 some bucks I can't complain!

Also my Han ANH blaster, with weird grips from india. Greeblies too

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I have recently painted my ANH blaster with black rattle can over the blueing.

Also, the left grip fits better than the right on my ESB blaster, but they're walnut and beautiful!

Nice blasters! Those are the same grips I got. Nice shape but I'm looking for something with more accurate lines (32 I think). Will keep digging, or perhaps figure out how to make some. Anyone know how to properly scribe/groove lines in hardwood??

What you did with your sight greeblie is on of the options I'm pondering. I can't decide if I want to go that way, I till feel like there may be something else going on with that sight...

Great blaster build! I have been wanting to put the serial number on top of my barrel too. Since mine is not pot metal I think it will have to be engraved. I will probably have to take it some where to have that done so as not to mess it up permanently. I'm having to put that on the back burner for now.

Cheers!

mptachenko said:

Great blaster build! I have been wanting to put the serial number on top of my barrel too. Since mine is not pot metal I think it will have to be engraved. I will probably have to take it some where to have that done so as not to mess it up permanently. I'm having to put that on the back burner for now.

Cheers!

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Thanks! I've been watching your build as well, very cool! Hm, I wonder, is it actually legal to alter serial numbers on a real firearm? I guess it's an antique so the laws may be different.

I would not be able to alter the serial number on the frame. That would be illegal. The serial number on the barrel is not considered part of the firing mechanism so it does not matter what the serial number is or even if it has one. The original ANH prop would not have had matching serial numbers in the first place because of the Naked Runner modifications. So it really does not matter what the frame serial number is. I could put the screen accurate serial number on the barrel while leaving the real/registered serial number on the frame and be screen accurate wile abiding within the laws.

Ah, makes sense. Nice! I say go for it if you can find someone to do the work!

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.

Pedro said:

The Denix is also missing the magazine cover detail. I scribed this in and drilled a countersink for the button. Scribing this stuff is a bitch! I started with a very sharp scribing point and enlarged the lines with my trusty Tamiya scriber. The rear end of the upper is missing a bunch of detail where the real gun would come apart. I wasn't brave enough to do what Lukesfather did on this amazing build, but instead scribed a simplified version of the parting lines. Did I mention scribing pot metal sucks? I have 1 nasty miss that was too deep to remove but I think it came out ok.


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First off, great build. It's been great reading through your thread.

Regarding your scribes, did you use a template or was it all freehand? You did a really nice job there.

Thanks! No freehand work here, I'm too old. I used a bit of a d-ring holder temporarily glued to the blaster for the mag plate guide. The lines on the back were guided by label tape, which is my goto straight edge for scribing. And I STILL haven't finished this thing! The grips are the holdup, I just want something better. And I missed a nice set of real ones on eBay this am, argh!