Bowcaster Parts

Originally posted by Sluis Van Shipyards+May 14 2005, 08:38 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sluis Van Shipyards @ May 14 2005, 08:38 PM)</div>
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@May 14 2005, 03:47 AM
So....the BC is in Germany?? :D

Will have to reactivate some of my contacts ;)

Markus
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So you'll have the original and find a cache of the correct crossbows in about, what a week? :lol ;)
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Count me in for a crssbow if you find them :D :D :D
 
Wow. There's some really great info in this thread. Thanks, guys.

Does anyone know if there is any way besides ebay to acquire back issues of Star Wars Fact File in the US? I've wanted these for quite some time, but I'd rather not buy them all at once. BTW, Kurt, is there any chance we could see a closeup scan of the side greeblies? :)

Is it true that no source has been found for the Han ROTJ scope rings? I know David had his run of them and I missed out on it. Is anything close available?

Patrick
 
I got my crossbow a couple of days ago. Just thought I'd share a few pics for those who are interested. :)

xbow.jpg


side.jpg


logo.jpg


Patrick
 
Here's another tidbit that was lying dormant on my hard drive. I don't know where it came from, but I recognize the board name.

"According to TK818, the ANH Bowcaster used a 2" wide medical bag strap, the same as the Aliens Pulse Rifle. For the ESB/ROTJ Bowcaster, a 1¼" wide M-1 style sling was used."

Patrick
 
I think its just speculation that it could be a Graflex cord on the bowcaster. It could be just about any black coiled cable.

There are actually two cables on the bowcaster. As well as the one which attaches on both sides and goes round the back just below the scope rail, there is a thinner coiled cable which seems to come from under the scope mount and attaches on the right side.

There are d-rings at the front and back of the bowcaster.
 
The short coiled cord also has a rather large plug, similar to a headphone plug. Here is a front view from Chronicles. It can be seen on the left.

chronicles_plug_front.jpg
 
Wouldn't a racquetball be too small? They are the same size as tennis balls.

The 5 imperial discs are held in with flat pan head screws. The diameter of the visible screw head is 7mm.

Originally posted by jedivigneri@May 14 2005, 02:23 AM
Heres what I know from talking with Chewie P. Mayhew himself....

the planet hollywood hero medal i looked at with Peter, and he looked long and hard, and said "not even F##$( close..." and walked away...and all these years later we have the ACCURATE MR medals..SO ya, i think peter has a good idea of whats real off set and not...

If he said the bowcaster at disney wasnt it makes sense, as he told me back in 2000 that there was only ONE used between 77-83, and somehow it got out of the archives and into the hands of a private collector from the same source as steve sansweet got his 3po head, han gun, and other REAL sw props.  THE one and only bowcaster is in a private sw collection in germany,according to p. mayhew. and we know the ONE real hero medal from sw is in a private collection in the UK, so it all sounds right...

the "balls" were racketball balls painted black...got that from mayhew, and saw it in print once...somewhere...

Mayhew knows somethin of props, as when he saw my han blaster with real hensoldt scope he looked long and hard at it and said, WOW havent seen one of those in a long time...and he called a droid caller a "linhof" and said he had one...

that what i know...curt solo :)
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It may well be a replica but the base crossbow looks like the correct model.

It could even be the original but with some parts missing and other parts added. The scopes also look like the correct models.

Originally posted by PHArchivist@May 27 2005, 12:11 AM
Here it is...
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As Macklin pointed out to me. The balls have a seam showing on them in all photos. Racquetballs don't have a seam. They could be plastic hemispheres glued together.

Was there a company like Plastruct (who make them now) making products like this in the mid 70's? Must've been.

Originally posted by kurtyboy+May 27 2005, 01:50 AM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kurtyboy @ May 27 2005, 01:50 AM)</div>
It may well be a replica but the base crossbow looks like the correct model.

It could even be the original but with some parts missing and other parts added. The scopes also look like the correct models.

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@May 27 2005, 12:11 AM
Here it is...
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Originally posted by kurtyboy@May 27 2005, 01:55 AM
As Macklin pointed out to me. The balls have a seam showing on them in all photos. Racquetballs don't have a seam. They could be plastic hemispheres glued together.

Actually racquetballs DO have seams. A racquetball I have is about 2 3/8" diameter, not sure if that's big enough. They might be another type of rubber ball if racqetballs are too small. The solid foam rubber type balls also have seams.

I have to ammend one thing I told you Marcus. There are only 3 or 4 Imperial discs on the bowcaster. 3 on the left side and that may be another 1 under the small coiled cord plug on the right side.

The two 4x20 scopes on the side attach to the Singlepoint via the scope rings. The screw in the Singlepoint scope rings thread through the side scope rings. Singlepoint rings are ROTJ type (high weaver style, maybe a bit wider base than ROTJ- not sure, depends on width of rail). The 4x20's have the same type rings as Fett's rifle, but the more common lower style (not the high ones like Fett).

I've looked off and on for the correct crossbow with no luck yet.
 
I stand corrected. :)

Ok, I just did some quick scaling from a hi-res pic and if we agree that the barrel is .625" in diameter then it looks like the balls are 2.375".

This matches perfectly with your measurements, Chris.

Patrick
 
Must be the bow from a different crossbow. Might be ab idea to show pictures of the bow to crossbow dealers.

Originally posted by Macklin@Jun 2 2005, 10:57 PM
Does anyone know or have any guesses as to what might be used for the bow part?

Patrick
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Not sure why you would think it would be from a different bow. Why not from that bow? I don't think it would make sense to start rigging pieces from different bows. I also wonder about them taking the time and effort to cut out all that extra material between the rails for a quick and dirty prop that has less than a minutes screen time over 2 movies.

If you're wondering about the differences in the amount of curve between the "hero" hanging on the wall, and the found part, that just due to the tension created by the bow string. Even when it's not ******, the bow string is still under very high tension. I remember when I started making mine (based on the Barnett Commando) the hardest part was getting the bow string off. I didn't want to cut the string for fear of where everything would go flying.

There's got to be another bow out there that has the size of the Horton and the design of the Barnett (meaning empty frame).

-Fred
 
There is... its just so rare that the chances of finding one are very small :p

There's got to be another bow out there that has the size of the Horton and the design of the Barnett (meaning empty frame).

-Fred
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Sorry to bump this, but I am guessing that some of you have done some scaling work on the bowcaster. What are it's dimensions? How long is it and how tall?

Thanks.
 
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