Leia's ANH Blaster

[Tiberious]

Okay, so I came across an image on the Face of another modeller's prop gun collection. Now, I've thought that prop guns have always looked pretty cool, but I never had any real desire to acquire one for myself. But the guy stated how the toy version of Leia's Defender blaster were readily available, and so I looked into it. And something about it, I think the long barrel (and the cheap price) made me buy one!



At first, all I was going to do was repaint it black and have done. But the modeller in me wants to do more. So first, how it looks straight from the mail.




Some very toy-ish drawbacks, such as the open holes either side of the hammer.



And the seam down the muzzle.



So, a few things to fix, which starts with breaking it in half!




One reason I opened it up is to add weight, so it doesn't just feel like a lump of hollow plastic. But, since it was open, I then decided to open up the gas vent on the top of the muzzle and add some greeblie detail inside.

That being a metal bolt with a cool, gold section bought from the hardware store.





And test-fitted, you can see the greeblie inside. I'll be leaving that unpainted, though the inside will be painted black.



With that looking good, I moved to the back and cut away the top of the hammer.




I'll be replacing that with a cap bought from the hardware store. As a cap, one side is hollow, so that'll need to be filled, but I bought it for the profile.





It will need to be cleaned up of course. But I'm liking how that is looking. And I now realize that my toy is missing an adjuster wheel on the back right, so that'll need to be replaced. No biggie. Either some styrene or a wheel bought from 'the store' should suit it.

All for now and more to come.

Model on!

Thom

[zysurge]

Really liking where this is going. Have never built a prop myself, although I have one or two in my stash.

[Tiberious]

Don't know where the urge came from, but sometimes you just gotta answer it!

A little more rounded up today.

I filled the holes by the hammer with pieces of styrene cut to fit and super glued in place.



Then since I opened up the muzzle 'break' and will be putting a greeblie in there, I figured a shot of flat black wouldn't go wrong.



And then a liberal application of plumber's putty for weight. And a nut. You know one just had to go into there.



And the muzzle, looking quite ugly! But no one will ever see that again! (Hopefully..)



And then I figured that was that, and it was time to put it all back together. The muzzle isn't glued yet as I don't have enough big clamps for the job!



Once that's dry I'll do the muzzle and starts cleaning up the seams.

Until then, model on!

Thom