Bespin Guard Blaster Relby K-23 Greeblies, research, etc.

[Pedro]

I'd be interested in seeing (or buying haha!) one of these casts, I think I've somehow missed them! Could be a goldmine of info.
Thanks on your assesment, I worked too long on this.
The bevel on the gears (front/back) could certainly have been done by hand, possibly one offs or several masters to cast from? Having built the thing in 3d, I'll bet dollars to donuts that not one thing on the molding master was square or matching any known measurement. On mine I went as far as to try to capture the differing radii of the rings etc, rather than idealized.

One thing that really threw me off is that one of the better photos from some official exhibition of this blaster has the front ring cut off! I was going nuts trying to figure out whether it was actually a slight spiral or something?? Most of the rest of the available photos are beat to hell, hardly anything left of the rings.

 

[eethan]

I'll dig out the V8 part and get you some pics eethan! Or if you want data (measurements) I can do that too.

So eethan , do I understand correctly that the rear tube is just pressure fit into the black plastic? Pull pull pull? Did you unscrew the tip by using a straight tool through those holes or something? I haven't got mine to budge!

hey, yes in my case, I wiggled it a bit from side to side and then I just needed to pull on it. there is a small stainless steel rod you can see in the photo, so it won't rotate, it has to be pulled. This was from the very poor condition pistol, so this should be doable on any one normally. I did use a crazy big old vice though, so this must help.

 

[eethan]

View attachment 1581811

thank you so much for the quick reply and photo!
so, this is the same part that I saw used on a conversion, it seems there is an additional step at the base here compared to the screen-used blasters, no?

 

[Cantina_Dude]

eethan That step you are seeing on the V8 part is visible on the blaster props, it just seems to appear softened on some of the casts. Take a look at some different angles of different examples of this prop and you will see that step is present.

 

[eethan]

hey,
well, no matter how much I look at it, I clearly see no step on the original and some photos are pretty clear and undamaged. I see this, and I did a little model and persp matching:

and a comp with the V8 part:

cheers

 

[OdiWan72]

The drawing to the right is generally correct, but the step is a tad less pronounced on the actual V8 part.

 

[OdiWan72]

Check this out…

 

[thd9791]

Check this out…

Looks to me.. like the gasket/flanged piece of the spear gun.... then the V8 part in it's entirety and a non-flat washer and nut.

I've devinitely seen a beveled washer around the threaded rod on the other casts, no nut though

it is my personal belief that the rod is holding the blaster together. flash hider to cap, or something even bigger.

 

[OdiWan72]

You‘re right…the nut was added by me during final assembly

The real prop only shows a section of threaded rod

 

[eethan]

Hey Markus,
thank you for your message and picture. I understand that you used a real V8 piece on that build and it looks the same as what Cantina Dude is showing, with the step at the base, but I'm still not seeing that on the original like I'm showing in my model and perspective match.
Are we certain they used that part? to me, it is at least a variation or something completely different.
cheers

 

[thd9791]

The step is on the photo cantina dude posted and not on others. I think this is explained by the sheer number of times this was cast - that detail is almost missing in that photo too,., wouldn’t be surprised if it eventually disappeared

 

[eethan]

The step is on the photo cantina dude posted and not on others. I think this is explained by the sheer number of times this was cast - that detail is almost missing in that photo too,., wouldn’t be surprised if it eventually disappeared

please show me the step on the photo cantina dude posted. I'm sorry to be insisting, but to me, there is really no step on any photos. and the casts are pretty clean

 

[thd9791]

 

[eethan]

this is just the flat spot from the base of the part, like showed here:

but sorry for insisting guys. I'll just stop here as it's clear we are not seeing the same thing and I did my best to show what I see with the 3D model.
cheers

 

[eethan]

last thing from me, sorry,
I put both Markus' photo with the best side photo of the original I have. look how the step is not visible on the original and how longer the clylindrical base before the cone is compared to the V8 part:

I'm sorry, I'm a bit pationate about that blaster and I'm sure you guys already had this kind of back and forth, "I see it", "I don't see it" arguments before. I'm just insisting in case I'm seeing something that got ignored before and my 3D match and if by chance, my comparisons can show it clearly.
cheers all! it's all good stuff anyways

 

[thd9791]

No, don't worry this is worth investigating. On my photo there are two shadows suggesting that strip is raised and it doesn't continue around the whole greeblie. It's the remnants of a bad mold and that detail getting lost over time. It could be that whoever cleaned the casts eliminated that strip to clean it up if it was infused with bubbles too

 

[Cantina_Dude]

Ooooooo, I get what “step” you’re talking about now. Sorry for the confusion. Yes, eethan you are correct that the vintage version of the V8 part differs from the modern one. The “step” in question isn’t present on the vintage ones, which would have been what was used in ESB, like this one:

 

[eethan]

Ooooooo, I get what “step” you’re talking about now. Sorry for the confusion. Yes, eethan you are correct that the vintage version of the V8 part differs from the modern one. The “step” in question isn’t present on the vintage ones, which would have been what was used in ESB, like this one:

View attachment 1582774

damn, thank you, you are a life saver! that clears everything!
thanks a lot

 

[thd9791]

OH! well then

 

[OdiWan72]

Ooooooo, I get what “step” you’re talking about now. Sorry for the confusion. Yes, eethan you are correct that the vintage version of the V8 part differs from the modern one. The “step” in question isn’t present on the vintage ones, which would have been what was used in ESB, like this one:

View attachment 1582774

Damn it!!!...so I have to put another blaster on my list of "TO BE ACCURIZED"?!

Thanks for pointing this out...I -hopefully- have some vintage V8 part in my drawers