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UPDATED with new photos/info. I was recently asked "What's the difference between the regular (Sterling) E-11 and the Bapty versions of the blasters used in ANH"? So, having some time on my hands this is what I have come up with. Is it the end-all-be-all of this subject? Not by a long shot, but it should answer the basic questions along with a few odd facts. If anyone has any input or corrections please let me know and I will update this thread as needed. Thanks for looking! The "Blastech Industries" E-11 While no one knows exactly how many were used/seen onscreen, these were real British Sterling Mk4/L2A3 sub-machine guns which actually fired 9 mm blanks from a shortened 34 round magazine. As seen in the 2nd image below this gave the actor(s) the realistic effect of responding to live fire (note the actual smoke coming from the barrel.... and the wince on Han's face). In some scenes the shell casings are seen being ejected. Red "laser" blasts were added in post production by "rotoscoping" each one by hand, frame by frame. Some didn't match up exactly, lol, but it was 1977 and who noticed? I certainly didn't, but it explains our legendary bad aim. To give them a more "futuristic" appearance, the prop masters added all manner of objects: 1. Hengstler counter model 400- Added to the left side behind the magazine, at least 2 versions of this were used in the film. Eagle only- I believe these to be the older versions, made in either brass or a base metal with 890 in the center. Wings are rounded on the outside tops and square on the inside. Eagle with HENGSTLER below it- There are 2 versions of this one. The "wings" logo on the older one have slightly rounded tops and are a tiny bit narrower than the newer version which has squared tops. Both have a smaller 890 in the center as compared with the older models. NOTES: Placement of the counter is ideally mounted slightly above the folding stock rail with the rear lined up above the stock bolt as seen below. As seen in the last 3 images below, the counter is angled and follows the contour of the folding stock. Although cool looking, the coiled wires connected to the counter/power cylinders were not seen in the film and only used on the Bapty version in promotional images so are therefore not "screen accurate". The counters originally had 2 small metal prongs (connector pins) attached to the front. Very few of these made it into any reference images, and were probably knocked off when holstering the weapons. 2. Power cylinders/setup- Unless they were knocked off during filming, these were present on all blasters seen onscreen and were mounted on top of the magazine. If you want to dive into this rabbit hole (and I highly suggest you do, it's actually fascinating reading) about the details I highly recommend checking out Adam's page here. You simply will not find a better reference, and it has everything you could possibly want to know (and more) about these mystery items! Side notes: 1. Some references state that the red wires behind the power cylinders were not seen on-screen, but in at least 2 scenes they were (photos 1-2). The first shows a Stunt TK holding his weapon with it present, and the second is from a photo where Luke is holding it, but I believe this to be the same exact weapon. 2. Ideally the cylinders/mounting plate should be parallel with the end of the magazine well, at an angle to the receiving tube (photos 3-4). 1 2 3 4 T-tracks- While the exact origin/source is unknown, these were 6 of these used to cover the holes in the shroud. They were made of plastic**, the ends bent over and inserted into the openings at the end of each row except for the bottom and row with the bayonet lug. ** Used on both versions, these should not have any metallic color showing when weathering your weapon. Scope- Both the Sterling and the Bapty versions used surplus WW2 tank scopes. While the 1942 M38 type was seen on the majority, 2 other models were employed as well. Note on the M19 model that the original hex nuts were used to attach it to the rail. M38 (1942) M19 (1942) M38 (1943) Scope rail- 3 methods of mounting the rear of the rail can be confirmed. The first (photo 1) shows the rear held in place with a vertical bolt/hex-nut. Photo 2 shows a horizontal version. Photos 3-4 shows how the Bapty's were mounted using a bent end and fastened with what appears to be a star-head screw. 1 2 3 4 The Bapty versions (photo 1) all had a 90 degree bend at the front of the rail while some others (photo 2) had none. Either is fine for all levels of approval. 1 2 Other items- This rectangular item on the top front of scope (photos 1,2 and 3) was seen on both the Sterling and Bapty versions in a few scenes. While it is not known exactly what these were, they appear to be a 14 prong IC socket. These may have been added to all blasters, but since they were glued on few are seen as apparently most were knocked off during filming. There is only one photo I can find of these mystery items being used, and both were located on the left side of the folding stock. The longer one was located toward the front and the smaller one toward the rear above the trigger guard. Many parts like the Hengstler counter and power cylinder set-ups were simply glued to the weapons, and during filming these were knocked off by accident (photos 1-2). Some were seen held on with wire or cable ties (photos 3-4). 1 2 3 4 The Bapty E-11: Because actual weapons were difficult to export between countries during filming (UK, California and Tunisia) approximately 20 custom made replicas were fabricated by the Bapty company (a UK based prop maker) that could be. Based on the L2A3, these were leased to the production to conserve costs, and since they were not actual firing weapons it saved additional money by not having to have a licensed armorer on set. These looked very similar, but what Bapty did (among other things) was to utilize the main parts and entire front sections of actual Sterling L2A3s, but replace the rear end with a custom aluminum tube (thus the rivet) and remove the ejector pin/grub screw from the magazine. Note that the cocking channel on both the aluminum extension (2) and original shroud (1) has been filled. Sterling grip/trigger Ejector pin/grub screw removed 1. No D-ring 2. Solid rear sight 3. Star(?) head screw holds rear scope rail directly to shroud (body) 4, Faux cocking lever 5. Aluminum billet (tube) replacing bolt/spring 6. Wood barrel (not seen) 7. Larger/rounder trigger guard 8. No trigger/mechanism 9. No retaining bolt/screw or emblem 10. Custom made smooth aluminum grip 11. 2 piece body (shroud) 12. Rivet (not seen on all models) 13. Trigger cover plate is different 14. Rivet instead of selector switch Two interesting facts: 1. While Bapty used real Sterling magazines, they cut them in half and used both sides. Some had the original end plates (photo 1), some had flat replicated plates (photo 2) and some just had wooden plugs (photo 3). 2. I have always been told that "There were no Philip's type screws seen in ANH", and having studied literally thousands of reference images I believed that to be true. Until now, when the Bapty cocking lever caught my eye (photo 4). There were 2 other versions as well, one (6) using a flat head screw. 1 2 3 4 5 6 IMPORTANT Even though I believe these were seen more than the Sterling version in the film, please note that the Bapty version is not permitted for approval at Centurion level.

The 501st Nomination period has ended. Please join me in congratulating Andrew Franke @Sly11 as the FISDs Detachment Leader for another term! Congrats Andrew!!

The display for the Denix DLT-19 Stormtrooper rifle is ready. Considering the full metal MG34 from Denix has about 8 kg, the support had to be very solid to hold this heavy piece. I'll still upgrade the DLT-19 with various parts and greeblies in the future, but glad the display is finished:

Touch up job...one more coat and that should do it. I'm thinking a little more touch up on the traps and a second coat on the tears (terminology is correct, right?) and should be ready for the gray.

Dear FISD members, I am once again honored with your continuing support as detachment leader for the 2022-2023 term. Thank you. We have a busy year ahead of us, which I will shortly give an update on, but first I’m sure you will want to know who your staff will be for the year. I would like to congratulate Steven Sheades (Starsaber) TK-10466 for taking on the position of Detachment XO. Steve has many years of experience both as one of our DCOGS, but also as a GML, GPRO and second seat in council for his garrison. Thank you Steve for stepping up and taking on your new position. Tim Waychoff (DarkCMF) TK-51878 will be moving into a DCOG roll and offering his expertise with our moderation team. As many of you are aware, Tim has several feathers in his cap, as a prior FISD DL and XO and Attache ambassador. Thank you Tim for taking on the position. This term we will indeed have a DMBO again, it’s been a few years running without this roll filled, but it is time to change that. Please congratulate James Silvius (jsilvus) TK-12953 for joining the team and taking on this challenging position. James held our 15th anniversary coin run, and did so exceptionally. His accounting spreadsheet and immaculate record keeping made my job very easy communicating the fine details with the LMBO team. Thank you James for accepting this position. There are a couple more additions to come to the IPM team as we will be focusing on more improvements to FO CRL's in the very near future. I shall announce those when we are ready to go. All other staff positions are currently remaining the same and are as follows. Deployment Officers Joseph Pedigo (justjoseph63) TK-10963 Mario Reyes (TKSpartan) TK-48117 Jose Sanchez (Chemi) TK-3017 DCOG Chris Pearson (themaninthesuitcase) TK-10911 Dan Branton (Thecableguy) TK-42911 Mark Ryner (captsafe66) TK-4584 DMBO Trading cards Eric Ho (Hoda) TK-42911 DPER AC (NoVaTie) TK-5597 DPRO Christoph (Danny) Lauber (Ripper_L) TK-55550 Tony Jobe (ukswrath) TK-10116 Aaron (Bronx) Gibson (Pyrates) TK-99725 Frank Peranteau (Frank75139) TK-75139 Glen Rhodes (gmrhodes12) TK-85421 Jim Ferrell (Rat) TK-95970 Teresa Nuthall (Soulart) TK-41307 DWM Eric Brager (Darth Aloha) TK-9674 Mathias (Locitus) TK-2959 Founder Paul Hoeffer (Daetirn)TK-8020 What lies ahead The last two terms have focused heavily on the forum refresh, uncluttering archiving and restoring. As you can imagine very time consuming, i also undertook a member data base clean up which hadn't been done in a long time. My vision has always been to leave this place in better condition than I found it, making it easier for anyone that comes after me and giving them a clean pallet into the future. This treatment will continue on this term although alot of the heavy lifting has finished or is nearing completion. This allows us to focus on things that are more beneficial to members, like our various programs, and the introduction of a new one as well. We will lead out this term back to work on our First order CRL updates. Discussion threads are already open, proposals will be written and membership polls set up so you can continue to participate in the evolution of our costumes, their quality and standard. We have a big year with Celebration, the patch sales thread is open until sold out, and I received an update from the vendor today that we have around 200 patches left. If you haven't ordered, now is the time before they are gone. I hope plenty of you have a chance to go to Celebration, meet fellow members, make new friends and have a blast. New Members section update will commence with an adjustment to the forums, a gate keeper so to speak, and hopefully an easier start for those brand new to FISD and costuming. Lets talk about some more fun stuff, like the FISD Coffee table Book. Work will continue, and a larger team will be formed for various parts of the building and design process. This is a huge project and we still have several hurdles to face, before it becomes a reality. It will be a first of it's kind for the detachment, and we can't wait to have more information available to you all. FISD Shirt run, needs to get underway quickly, so I will be working with our new DMBO James. to motivate that into action in the next couple of days. More Merch to come, and we continue to look towards items we haven't done before, we have ideas, we will be working on designs, slot planning and time frames. Now It is time for me to get busy in the background, onboard our new staff members and get the discussion going with your new team on the full plan for the year. Thank you all once again for the ongoing support, and we look forward to serving you all to the best of our ability. With Unquestioned loyalty TK11469 (Sly11) Andrew Franke.

The ab boxes are coming together. Tedious work but calming and gratifying making them fit the slight curve of the ab section. I notice this kit keeps the vertical ridges running straight down below the boxes. The belt needs to go here. I will be cutting those ridges out and placing some small tabs in place there to make that area flush so the belt will fit under the boxes. Next, I’ll start filling the side seams with poly flex to make that seamless. Start drilling holes through the ab section, glue nylon bolts to the boxes and mount those.

Got sidetracked installing the lid. On to working on the abs section! I had to glue the sides first. Trimming and shaping the 7 boxes..

Congratulations Andrew. This is awesome and well deserved. Huge huge congratulations

yeah, I've always like the saying "you never make a mistake if you stay on the couch". Thanks, guys, I appreciate the encouragement.

Dude, that's exactly what I thinking...thanks for the confirmation with the marker idea!

Congratulations, sir!

Congrats Andrew. There are probably easier ways to turn your hair grey.

Congrats Andrew![emoji1320]

Congratulations Andrew!

Notch is not required , it was present on the original armor but for Centurion it’s optional

You can, fill in the notch with a piece of abs and cover the seam with abs paste which basicly is dissolved bits of abs in acetone. Or you can try this option: You got this

This is sweet @justjoseph63! Just finishing putting together my promo pipe build as well. Forgot to remove that wee pipe on the magwell so thank you for the reminder

Congrats!

Congratulations! Keep things humming along!

All I can say is, to alligne the armor that way is not how it’s supposed to be. I think Glen meant the same but his photos wasn’t the best to show this. Look att the ones I included, it’s of the original armor.

To bad that this wasn’t caught early on but…fill in the notch with some abs and fill the seam and you should be alright, there’s almost always a fix for a problem

Congrats Andrew!!!

Congratulations @Sly11

Congratulations Andrew…another year suffering because of us [emoji12]

I'd like to thank TK-71384 for inspiring these memes by sharing what it's like to do Homeoffice and would like to credit her for the Stormtrooper Safety Briefing pictures