DL-44 ESB Blaster Discussion - Greeblies POST 208

[chubsANDdoggers]

Its funny the one with rivets/ no screws holding the greeblies on and a real scope piece doesnt show up on screen much. I thought that was the hero of sorts, with clean fasteners

That one honestly doesn’t show up at all on screen I’m pretty sure and if it does you certainly wouldn’t be able to tell I don’t think.

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

scottjua ok thanks! That’s all the ones we know about then. I think I have pics of that Endor blaster from the archives. If not the archives directly then at least pics of when it’s been loaned out for display.

Edit: the pictures I have are from both I just realized but it looks to have been repainted (the mount specifically).

 

[DarthWilder]

The full image was just posted to the lightsaber thread, but this cropped version deserved to be seen here, too...

 

[thd9791]

Yes!!! Just like the muppet blaster, two distributor rings facing each other. I don't see the motor coil plate edges. Now, thats a pretty clean flash hider... could be the "Han" version, but that's a reach. Could still be the "Luke" one before the other ring fell off and after the flash hider got rubbed clean? Though that doesn't really make sense to me, when it comes to wear on props.

 

[scottjua]

Hard to say... one thing is for sure during filming the bespin scenes ONLY one distributor piece is present. and NO motor coil piece either

 

[Paul H Edd]

Fascinating thread. I've just bought a mauser to convert. Denix as a very good price. I bought it from a chap who worked at Sussex Armouries back in the day who worked on the original ANH dl44 Blasters. An MGC (base) mauser used. Also worked on the E11's a very interesting chat! Apparently Lucas didn't visit but they sent props or parts to him and he'd send back notes approval/or not and ideas.

 

[thd9791]

Fascinating thread. I've just bought a mauser to convert. Denix as a very good price. I bought it from a chap who worked at Sussex Armouries back in the day who worked on the original ANH dl44 Blasters. An MGC (base) mauser used. Also worked on the E11's a very interesting chat! Apparently Lucas didn't visit but they sent props or parts to him and he'd send back notes approval/or not and ideas.

We'd love to hear more about his story!

 

[Paul H Edd]

We'd love to hear more about his story!

I've asked him for any help he can give me, any references so hoping he racks his brains, what he did say was at the time (1976) it was just another film project. They had no idea what Star Wars would become. Any info/pics I'll post up. He was sating that the Sterlings converted to E11's used had triggers from a Smith and Weston 38 fitted to some. I would guess for close up/'hero' versions. He's still involved with firearms but semi retired. I met him by chance buying a P08 Luger, asked about a Denix mauser with a view to converting and he just started chatting away. I was gobsmacked.

 

[newmagrathea]

I've asked him for any help he can give me, any references so hoping he racks his brains, what he did say was at the time (1976) it was just another film project. They had no idea what Star Wars would become. Any info/pics I'll post up. He was sating that the Sterlings converted to E11's used had triggers from a Smith and Weston 38 fitted to some. I would guess for close up/'hero' versions. He's still involved with firearms but semi retired. I met him by chance buying a P08 Luger, asked about a Denix mauser with a view to converting and he just started chatting away. I was gobsmacked.

Yeah, stay in contact with that guy. He could provide some great insight.

 

[LunchboxKFP]

After reading through the thread I am pretty fascinated with the slight differences in DL 44s. Is there anything equivalent to this https://wannawanga.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SWLB_March_2020.pdf but for the DL 44?

 

[Pedro]

Someone should certainly write one!

 

[NathanM]

Someone should certainly write one!

 

[morgan63]

hello everyone do you have the exact dimension to place the scope mount for the dl44 solo version hoth? thank you in advance

 

[Han Solidarius]

Ok so first hello all. Newbie here, I've been reading for a long time, soaking up knowledge but not knowledgeable enough to really contribute. After reading through this entire thread I think I may at least have a relevant question to raise. So it appears the mystery disc remains a mystery the Thorens disc is not a good match for thickness. And I think the majority agree there was a greeblie attached to the disc that later either fell off or was taken off resulting in the bare metal and possible exposed yellowed epoxy showing in the center of the disc. Few have seen this prop first hand but the one that did several times has repeatedly said that there was something gray stuck on there as well. And we know the original visible V8 parts were gray/silver in color. So is it possible there was something from the V8 set glued to the center of the disc to facilitate the attachment of the mystery knob greeblie? This might be a clue to help us figure out what was attached. Thats all I have but wanted to put it out there. And, thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread for such a long time! In closing I will add that I am somewhat in the camp that believes the knob to be something like a windage adjustment cover from some type of scope, or a found item meant to resemble such. And I also believe the spacer to be a section of hollow brass or copper pipe. Easy to fabricate and would provide a better "bite" into the side of the magwell and mount to help keep the entire mount from rotating. And if the ID of that pipe needs to clear the diameter of the 3 screws in the disc then it makes sense to me that the OD of the spacer pipe would end up being larger than the disc... ok well thats it. Thanks again.

 

[Corellianexports]

I'm starting to wonder if that "mystery knob" is actually a part from the V8 model engine kit. Those parts were used on most of the blasters and costumes in ESB.

 

[Han Solidarius]

I'm starting to wonder if that "mystery knob" is actually a part from the V8 model engine kit. Those parts were used on most of the blasters and costumes in ESB.

Maybe the knob is the air cleaner therefore the air duct is the pointer that some see? but thats reaching pretty far lol... I also wonder if rather than falling off it was decided it was too easy to spot as what it really was and was therefore intentionally removed. I still think something from the kit was glued there though originally...

 

[Corellianexports]

I have the original V8 model kit, so at some point I'll see if I can find the "mystery knob" and test fit it on my Hoth Blaster. Maybe there's a part that will fit it.

....and if I can ID the part, it should be a very easy casting job.

 

[thd9791]

What has always baffled me is that the area in between the screws, where the glue is, is too small. The knob seems to have covered at least half the screw heads.

 

[Han Solidarius]

What has always baffled me is that the area in between the screws, where the glue is, is too small. The knob seems to have covered at least half the screw heads.

That is why I was thinkin perhaps something was glued to the center for the knob to attach to. Like a part with a round shaft like end that a .25" standard knob shaft might fit on to? Then painted before the knob was attached? Just speculation on my part. But such a part would not have much strength and would easily be broken off. Which is both why it probably shouldn't have been done that way but also which could explain why it did break if it was done that way.

 

[Han Solidarius]

While we're mulling this over I'd like to share a tool you might add to your toolboxes in evaluating picture details. I've seen people here tweaking color balance, contrast, white balance, gama, etc on photos in order to try to see details hidden to the eye in the raw photo. Those are all great techniques and very useful for seeing things differently. But there are other techniques that force your mind to process what you see differently.

Our brains are amazing machines that do a lot of work without us even realizing it. It is constantly looking out at a 3d world and trying to make sense if it, and make judgements about it, using two 2d sensors which are our eyes. And it does this through superimpossing two images in our minds eye using rather limited stereo vision but in the process its making a huge amount of assumptions based on our prior experiences and what it considers "normal"...

In the field if engineering in which I work, we are often times looking at images of macroscopic or microscopic size. The problem here is when your brain is looking at something that has no external references for what is up or down it will assume things based on which way the light is coming from. And it will normally process the image assuming light was coming from above, from the sun, or a ceiling light, etc. But in a microscopic world the light could be coming from any direction. And when this happens what you see as something raised can in reality be a depression. However if you rotate the image 180 degrees your brain will automatically reverse its assumption! Its really quite a neat feat. But you can use this technique to force your brain to not see something different, but process what it sees differently. And by doing so you can end up seeing things you never saw before in the exact same image. Also, because a picture is a 2d image your brain also makes assumptions that what the camera saw in a single image is the combination of two images like it sees with our eyes. So when the brain sees a 2d image it may assume depth on a photo very differently that if it was looking at the same thing in real life. So take that into consideration too. So rotate your photos 90 and 180 degrees and look at them with fresh eyes. Also mirror images may some help see things differently and last try using a negative image view which many software editors can do.

I hope this can help someone find the next big discovery here!