Luger refurb

[Deanflyer]

Hello all,

A while ago I showed a selection of the 1:1 scale guns that L&S used to produce, including my Parabellum P08, better known as a Luger, after the designer. A little while afterwards, the thing fell off a shelf and cracked across the frame, so I stripped it down and put it to one side intending to refurbish it later. That was in February 2012. I recently came across the bits almost completed, and in a lull between waiting for paints to dry on another project, I decided to finish it. Here's the story:

This is the box you used to be able to buy in the good old days before we weren't to be trusted with even plastic guns:

And these are the bits that I had after stripping down my broken model:

Luckily in my archive, I still had the original instruction sheet:

Once the bits were coated in Halford's primer, I could see the imperfections and seams and blemishes could be carefully removed:

Then it could be reassembled. Looks weird in grey, doesn't it?

Then came the quandary of what finish to use. I'd already experimented with Alclad Gun Metal, and wasn't impressed. I eventually settled on good old Tamiya XF-1 Matt Black, lightly buffed to bring up the sheen. I think it works:

For those unfamiliar with the action on a Luger, here's how it works. First, take your loaded magazine:

And insert it in the base of the grip:

Pull back on the toggle on top of the gun:

It also locks back like this when the last round is fired from the mag:

Looking inside the action while the toggle is back reveals the top of the mag and the first round about to be chambered:

Release the toggle, the action springs forward, and you're now ready to fire:

Now, what's next...?

Cheers, Dean

[Pete610]

Very nice - it looks like it will work better than the original !

[GrahamS]

Always liked these - I had an M16 and a Colt 45. Loved the way they cycled and disassembled like the real thing.

Somebody could be getting a visit from CO19 anytime soon. Best leave your front door unlocked

Graham

[Rick Brown]

Great rebuild Dean!

I had the M16, Colt 1911 and Remington.

They were great and I wish I still had them.

You've brought back some fond memories, cheers for that chap!

Rick.

[Mitch K]

Lovely! I had a Walther Model 9 from the same source. Wish you could still get them!

[dogsbody]

Too bad we can't get these nowdays. I would love to have a few of those LS pistols.

Chris

[Arachnid]

Bloody stupid PC, i had a metal colt 45 with a revolving chamber,it had six shells which came apart to take caps, it even had a firing pin in the hammer,the barrell was vented so as it fired, smoke came out of the end, this was in 1956, they did a Winchester as well, wished I'd kept them!!

[Lightningboy2000]

Superb! That takes me back to when I used to have a very life like Luger cap gun, very heavy in the hand if I remember. Along with a life size Smith & Wesson revolver (cap gun).

Can't remember what happened to them. Used to love buying up all those cap rolls before the other kids at the newsagents. Then spending Saturday morning running around shooting at everyone I hated!

Mmmmm the smell of a well used cap gun, oh the memories!

Martin

[Hepster]

I had the LS Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum - I was a fan of Dirty Harry movies at the time. I seem to recall the instructions recommended rubbing the finished model down with powdered graphite for a gunmetal finish, potentially very messy!

[Oddball]

Wow, that's a lovely bit of kit! It's a real shame you can't get them these days. What idiot decided that it's illegal to buy a plastic one unless it's orange, when you can buy a real one as long as it's been deactivated? Uh oh, I hear the soapbox trying to get out of the cupboard.

Back to the topic in hand, you've done a cracking job. The paint is a tricky one. It's a shame Humbrol don't do gunmetal in their spray range. The old metalcote gunmetal used to look spot on.

Odd.

[John_W]

Built many of these myself. Must have a root in the loft as they are packed away in boxes methinks.

Slightly off topic. The Father of one of my school friends used to deal in second hand furniture (this was around 1983). He aquired an old writing desk in a house clearance. Turned out to be a fully loaded Luger in one of the drawers, presumably a forgotten war souvenir.

[Arachnid]

We modelers need to get a petition up as it is against diversity rules and get Airfix to make a whole load of weapons in 1/1 scale instead of some new 1/24th scale rubbish

[Mitch K]

Built many of these myself. Must have a root in the loft as they are packed away in boxes methinks.

Slightly off topic. The Father of one of my school friends used to deal in second hand furniture (this was around 1983). He aquired an old writing desk in a house clearance. Turned out to be a fully loaded Luger in one of the drawers, presumably a forgotten war souvenir.

When I was at school we had a glass case of old tot that had been collected from all over everywhere. A fathert (who was either Army or RAF) pointed out one parents' evening that the Mills Bomb and small artillery shell in the case appeared to be live... We were all kept in at lunchtime the next day when Bomb Disposal came and blew them up on the sports field! We'd lined up in front of them twice a day for years.

[Deanflyer]

Blimey, this one's suddenly been revived... good to see that many of you have fond memories of building these way back in the good old days. I've still got a Crown 44 Magnum waiting to be built, but I'm not getting much time for modelling at the moment.

In response to Hepster, I also built a Dirty Harry revolver which is on BM, but as I'm sitting in Saudi Arabia at the moment and using an unfamiliar web browser, I don't know how to post a link to it. Do a search for Deanflyer and Magnum and it'll turn up.

Oddball, imitation guns like airsoft or blank firers have to be bright colours - but it's perfectly legal to buy CO2 air pistols which are close replicas of real pistols that DON'T have to be brightly coloured. Try and work that one out...

Thanks for the comments, folks,

Dean

[bentwaters81tfw]

Nice rebuild. Wouldn't mind some of them myself if I could get them.

I too had a cap gun; Buntline special with the long barrel. Had a chamber with removable shells. Dropped it and cracked the frame by the hinge. Long gone - I was 9 at the time.

http://www.modelguns.eu/images/Buntl9.jpg

[Arachnid]

3D printer could be the answer?

[Bonehammer]

3D printer could be the answer?

Indeed, and as a matter of fact, already there's talk of banning 3D printers altogether.

[andym]

Are these legal under VCRA laws?

Andy

[paul178]

I have the LS Colt 45, Remington auto mag,Nambu,2 P38 one with wooden grip and one with standard grip Mauser, 2 Lugers one as this thread and a long barrel, Colt 38 and S&W 45. They have not seen the light of day for 25+ years. I am restoring them slowly but the years in the Garage have not been kind and in trying to disassemble them they are a bit brittle and the steel parts have rusted.

I have also got fair selection of BB guns when it was legal to sell black ones M16 and MP5 which are battery operated.

BTW it is illegal to paint the brightly coloured one now so I will leave the subject there!

[GordonM]

Blimey Time Warp stuff, suddenly taken me back to November 10th 1974 when I sat at our table building a Walther PPK while watching the Remembrance Parade. Interestingly I saw an advert for a firm selling replica guns, grenades and mines(!) who stated they can sell a replica SMLE in peelable orange pvc (now is that not an invitation to get round the law?)

Edited November 24, 2017 by GordonM

[593jones]

On ‎24‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 5:43 PM, GordonM said:

Blimey Time Warp stuff, suddenly taken me back to November 10th 1974 when I sat at our table building a Walther PPK while watching the Remembrance Parade. Interestingly I saw an advert for a firm selling replica guns, grenades and mines(!) who stated they can sell a replica SMLE in peelable orange pvc (now is that not an invitation to get round the law?)

Just saw this thread which brought back many memories. 

 

Well, a replica SMLE with peelable orange pvc, not seen one of those, and if it's the Denix replica which I recently had the misfortune to handle, I wouldn't have one as a gift!  Peeling off the pvc would be perfectly possible, but illegal under the VCRA and I'm sure Plod would not be amused!  Painting brightly coloured replicas to resemble the original is also illegal.  Buy a deact, it will be more expensive but better than some badly made replica.

[John_W]

As a registered airsofter, I have a defence under the VCRA.

It is an expensive hobby though.