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Leia's ANH Blaster 1/1


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So I came across an image on the Face with a collection of Star Wars prop guns, and one was the blaster Leia was first seen with in ANH.

 

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Turns out there is a toy-version that looks pretty dang good, and for less then $15 on Amazon, I popped for it!

 

So now, I'm working on 'accurizing' this into a prop gun. At first all I was going to do was simply repaint it, but the modeller in me has decided to go a little further. So, first off, how the toy looks out of the package.

 

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Again, not bad at all. In fact, I was fearing it was sized for child's hand considering it is a toy, but as you can see it is 1/1. And glaringly white and orange...

 

One thing I didn't notice was that the adjuster knob on the right by the hammer is missing from mine, so I'll have to source that from somewhere else.

 

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As for the hammer, it looks okay, but I'm going to change that out as well.

 

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But first, I needed to open it up! I intend to add weight to it, so it doesn't feel like a lump of empty plastic. A little weight in the hand goes a long way to making something feel real.

 

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With it opened up I decided to open up the muzzle break, as I intend to add some greeblie detail into there.

 

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The greeblie will be this, the gold threaded end, as well as the bolt for weight.

 

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A little test fit to see how it will look...

 

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But the first major work was the hammer. I took a saw and cut it off, smoothing out the area.

 

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In its place will be this pipe cap. I bought it for the ridge detail and will seal up the open side.

 

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I'll need to set it in a little deeper. But first I need to close up the gaps seen in the above image. Those are okay for a toy, but not a prop gun. For that I cut some styrene to fit and glued them in with superglue.

 

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Back to the muzzle, since I opened it up, I hit it with some matt black. Should make the gold 'coil' stand out a little better.

 

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And the greeble and weight were added in. Not my prettiest work, but it don't have to be pretty if you ain't gonna see it!

 

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And I added weight to the handle, that being plumber's putty just pressed in like it was play-doh. And the nut. There is a law that a nut must be added in this kind of situation.

 

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And after that it was time to start closing things up. I used 60 Second super glue and clamped it with my three largest clamps. I'll get the muzzle glued shut after all that is dry.

 

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The blaster has a nice nit of weight to it now. Once dry, I'll start cleaning up all the seams, get the hammer in place and neatened and then get to paint. After that, I'll probably spend as much for a stand as I have for the whole thing!

 

Till then, model on!

 

Thom

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Thank you both! And thanks John_W for the link. Now I need to double check the screen grabs from ANH, cause the toy has a few differences from the gun that it was modified from.

 

Also, got my Space Battleship Yamato laser pistol (water gun) today!😀 Very cool looking. When I get to it, I won't do anything as drastic as with Leia's blaster. I'll hit the seams and use the cover on the back of the grip that conceals the water plug to add weight to the handle.

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  • 1 year later...

This is a very cool project, I hope you get the time to finish it. Making props like this is just as interesting (and challenging) as any spaceship or whatever. I always fancied one of the stormtrooper's weapons, which were (in the first few films anyway) cut down Stirling submachine guns. Now that would be another very fun project.

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5 hours ago, Uncle Monty said:

I always fancied one of the stormtrooper's weapons, which were (in the first few films anyway) cut down Stirling submachine guns. Now that would be another very fun project.

Start with one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295039633153?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=2b2xf-pbSm6&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=oa1RLOxZQCC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

and then grab one of these detailing kits: https://www.doopydoos.com/stormtrooper-e11-hasbro-blaster-conversion-skin-kit-mk2-2636-p.asp

 

and with a bit of glue and paint you can get a very reasonable replica. I’m away at the moment but when I’m back home I’ll post a photo or two of my effort.

 

Nige

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  • 3 weeks later...

Completely forgot I'd promised @Uncle Monty to upload a couple of pics of the stormtrooper blaster (the E-11, based on the Stirling submachine gun) which I'd made.

Top is the original Hasbro toy (which I managed to find on eBahgum for less than £20), and underneath is the completed conversion, using resin parts from DoopyDoos (for about £20):

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spacer.png  With the resin bits added, the gun has a fair bit of weight and feels far more authentic than the original light plasticky toy.

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With a half-decent paintjob I think it looks pretty good.

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