Ok, it’s time to pick this project back up from where I left off, and that is right at the beginning. I started a thread for this build on TheRPF six months ago, but had other priorities. Let me give a quick run down of the parts and their sources.
- Brass cast Webley – Handschaub
- Original Model 7 4×20 scope – the real deal
- Aluminum Barrel assembly – Dave the Bookie
- T-Tracks – Todd’s Costumes
- Wood Stock – Woodman
- 3d printed stock greeblie – Shapeways
- Triple Ejector Rack – F4E Phantom model kit
- Front stock greeblie – Visible V8 model kit
I’m going to have to fabricate the scope mount blocks from wood or Delrin, I’m leaning toward Delrin right now. I’m also going to make a mold, and cast the model kit parts, I don’t want to use the original parts. There is a small gap where the Webley joins with the stock, this is caused because the Webley is a cast so it has slightly shrunk. I’ve got to shim it to make it fit nice and snug, there are no gaps there on the real thing.
The ROTJ EE3 is ugly
This picture above makes it look decent, but there are closer pictures that show how bad this paint job actually is. I think that the prop reads correctly on screen and from a distance but it doesn’t hold up when you view it up close, and that’s a problem for me. Because of this I’m not going to make the finish of the gun accurate, I’m going to go for more of an idealized version. Think the of the finish of the ESB version, but for the ROTJ EE3. I have a hard time swallowing the pill that Boba Fett; a notorious bounty hunter is running around with a beat up gun.
To kick it off I’m going to work on correcting the stock gap. I bought a sheet of walnut veneer, and cut a strip that is a little taller than the groove. It’s not flexible enough to just bend and fit in, I broke a bit trying, so I had to soak it in water for a while to make it more bendy. Thin wood doesn’t take long to soak, maybe 30 minutes. I was able to fit it in, then I used the Webley to hold it in place and clamped it together. I let it dry like that for a couple hours so it would hold its shape. After I pulled the clamp I could see the shaping worked perfectly, I applied glue and fit it back in and clamped it again. Now I wait for the glue to dry and trim it up. I’ll probably have to add a couple more small shims to get rid of some gaps that near the handle. One step at a time.
After the glue set up I popped the clamp and trimmed off the excess veneer with a razor blade until it was flush. There were a hairline gaps between the veneer and the stock that I filled in with a mixture of wood glue and walnut saw dust. One spot in particular was significantly dented and required somewhat more to fill it but I didn’t put enough on and as the glue and sawdust mixture dried it shrank back into the hole a bit. No big deal I applied a thicker coating to that spot after I sanded down the stock. It dried up and I re-sanded the whole stock again, but this time I wet the wood to clean it, but more importantly it raised the grain of the wood allowing me to sand it even smoother. It was so much sanding, but I’m happy with the results. The gap is nearly non-existent now.
On to making the next part that I’m missing for this project which is the scope mount blocks. With some photoshop trickery and measurements of of my scope feet claws I was able to determine that the length is 25mm for the barrel block and 24mm for the Webley block, but I’m just going to make them both 25mm. The height for both is 13mm. The width is not something that I could really figure out, but it looked about the same as the height. There isn’t a really good reference photo that has a part that I can measure at the same angle to compare to. So I’m going with 13mm for the width as well. I grabbed a scrap of wood and cut it down in to two 25mm x 13mm x13mm pieces.
Molding and Casting Greeblies
I don’t know why but when ever I come to molding and casting for any project it has made me cringe even though I’ve never done it before. It’s the reason that I’ve never moved forward with my Jedi training remote project that I’ve had all the original kits and parts just sitting on my shelf. Well I finally get over the hurdle.
And the results! Cleaning up the casts is pretty easy and I get the painted up. My irrational hesitation for making a mold now seems silly, it really isn’t that hard. Maybe it comes from not having good clear instructions, it seems like every time I try to find a tutorial on molding and casting I wind up with more questions.
What I used
Sanding the barrel
There is a texture on the surface that bothers me a bit, so I need it sanded off. Sanding the entire barrel isn’t something I want or need to do, just the parts that are going to be exposed. Sanding isn’t fun to do or watch someone do, so I bought some large flap wheel bits to speed things up. The size of these flap wheel shanks are huge, but it does still fit into the 6mm hand tool for the flex shaft, something I couldn’t have fit into the Dremel. I’d say using the flap wheels were effective at removing the texture, there was some bouncing and spots that were missed but it did get the majority of the work done. I will have to go back and hand sand some spots.
T-Track drama
I started off by shortening the t-tracks to the length of the barrel. There is an area in the middle of the barrel where there isn’t t-tracks, the smooth barrel underneath is exposed that I need to sand. I took measurements from a photo, but did a poor job labeling my measurements, so I found myself looking at the reference photos again trying to make sense of my notes. That’s when I noticed that the t-tracks are very tightly packed on to the barrel, not loose with gaps like I had. I will say again that the real prop is sloppy in how it was built, some of the t-tracks hastily cut and uneven. My OCD nature isn’t going to be ok with that and besides I’m building an “idealized” version. The t-tracks that I have already are from Todd’s Costumes and I know that the t-tracks from Wannawanga are slightly wider, and if my math is correct they should reduce the 9.7mm gap to about 4mm. Here are the calipers I used for measuring So further work on getting the t-tracks cut and fit is on hold until the new ones arrive. JUST TO BE CLEAR, Todd’s Costumes makes perfectly fine t-tracks, and I will be using them for other projects.
I don’t know if you you all have watched the Mandalorian episode 6 yet but I have so here is a small spoiler.
The droid “Zero” uses a very similar gun to this EE3. There are a few differences that can be spotted but it appears that they were trying to make this gun.
Bringing it back out to work on after 10 months.
That’s right, I haven’t worked on this Boba Fett EE3 in 10 months, all because I was waiting on a part. Turns out the part I was waiting on is too narrow and won’t work for me. So with my trusty vice now mounted to my work bench I proceed to modify the screws I had originally bought and failed to cut new threads before. You can watch my latest triumph in part 13.
Finishing the EE3 Stock
Finally getting to the last bit. There is going to one more video, but before I get to making it here is an update. First off I started by burning the wood in what I thought would be a nice pattern. I chose to go fairly dark since the prop reads mostly black on screen, but it’s actually grey and orange in reality. I used the stain that I had made previously out of vinegar and steel wool, but it didn’t seem to work as it did before. It still smells just as awful. Or at least I thought it wasn’t working. Tried to make a new batch of stain but for some odd reason it wasn’t doing the reaction the same as last time, not sure why. Then I looked at the stock and noticed that the area under where it is attached to Webley is brighter and warmer in color, so the stain did work, it was just less strong and the greying effect was more subtle.
Next I applied a single coat of TruOil. You can get a high gloss finish with TruOil but that is not what I want, I prefer a matte or satin finish.
I Broke a Greeblie
I was waiting for the Tru Oil to dry and decided to get the greeblies for the stock and figure out the orientation and placement of them. One of the parts from the visible V8 was a little warped, I guess I didn’t store it flat. Only putting a little bit of pressure to see if would bend back into place caused it to snap in half. Genuinely concerned that my resin has gone bad and I had just sold my spare castings off, I was dismayed. Luckily my resin was just fine and cast up some new parts. I did something new that I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of, which was using pipettes to measure, draw out the two parts of the resin, mix the resin, and apply it into the mold. I really like that method, it’s very controllable and a lot less messy.
- Real Parts X-Wing Helmet
- Detention Center Monitor
- Staff of Ra Headpiece
- Hoth Electro-Binoculars
- Yoda Lamp Kit
Cool post.
Quick Question: has it been found and decided the Original Model 7 Scope was the one used on the ROTJ Hero or chopped blaster (which may have been the Hero?)? If not, I would save that for a Bowcaster and use one of the multitude of others with the correct shape… unless they know its an Original Model 7.
I don’t believe that the scope has ever been nailed down. I believe that the prop on screen is always a resin cast, I could be wrong about that. I don’t plan on modifying the scope in any way so I could swap it out at any point.
the actual ROTJ Hero blaster, that still exists, used and still uses the ESB scope and scope rings. it is not a cast. not at all.
the blaster itself though, was cast directly from the stunt blaster (which has the original T-tracks, unlike the hero), that was rigged to blow in half in the skiff scene. that stunt blaster eventually became the ROTJ SE EE3 and the rear half of the scope that was blown up on the skiff is turned backwards (like ESB) and mounted on the front mount of the reassembled blaster.
A mutlitude meaning there are still fairly many vintage correct era and shape to various degrees available, whereas the OM7 is definitely used on the Bowcaster.
How about using a vinegar and steel wool solution to make the wood stock look aged and dark grey? Then it would still have a similar look to the ROTJ EE-3 stock — except a cleaner idealized look without the shabby grey/rust paint job. Just a thought.
Yeah, that is an interesting idea. I’ll add that to the list of experiments. Thanks.
Boba Fett himself is filthy, grimy, disheveled even. His entire look is that of wear and tear head to toe, from one end of the galaxy to another, been through hell and back and then some. Why would his blaster be any different?
Like I mentioned in the first video that I’m doing an “idealized” version because I don’t like the finish on the ROTJ version. It will still have a worn look, but not rusty. I’m going for a similar weathering as you see in the ESB version. Personally I think that if you’re a top tier bounty hunter and use your gun to keep yourself alive and make your living, you’re going to keep it clean and rust free. But, that’s my opinion and it’s easy to just paint over all of it if I don’t like it, not so easy to remove paint afterward.
Who is making the ROTJ aluminum barrel? Looks like Dave the bookie hasn’t been around in a while. Anyone have measurements of the barrel?
I just saw one for sale on TheRPF junkyard, it’s probably still for sale. You can try warmachine paintball if that turns up nothing.