When you really love Star Wars, the first thing you want to do is immerse yourself in
the universe.
The things you can touch and hold have the most power to do that, and nothing does that
better than getting a decently made toy gun or replica weapon prop and carrying it around.
But where did these attention-grabbing movie props come from?
For the Original Trilogy, Lucas’ vision of the Star Wars world was so grand, that
the technology of the time had to be pushed to its limit, and new technology was invented.
So, every penny of the budget had to be squeezed for what it was worth, and in turn, the props
were usually cobbled together from whatever they could get their hands on, or find lying
around.
So what did the prop makers use to create this iconic weaponry?
Well, let’s take a look…
The first handheld weapon we see in A New Hope is the BlasTech Industries DH-17 Blaster
Pistol.
These were mainly seen used by the Rebel Troopers on the Tantive IV.
Behind the scenes, these were nonfunctioning props in Episode IV, but they were based on
a real firearm, the British-made BSA Experimental Machine Carbine, or EMC 1949.
This was an obscure post WWII prototype weapon that never made it into mass production.
Later when Lucas filmed The Empire Strikes Back, he wanted to have functional props that
could fire blanks so the flashes could be used as special effect markers.
Since the EMC 1949 wasn’t easy to find in large numbers due to being a prototype weapon,
British-made Sterling Mk7 submachine guns were used.
To make the weapons look more like the original props and the EMC, they modified them by removing
the original muzzle tip and adding a silver cone-shaped muzzle.
They then added an attachment rail along the top of the Mk7, and attached a Single Point
scope to it.
After they covered up or removed all of the branding and marking, they had a much better
functional DH-17 prop.
Then we have the standard weapon of the Imperial Stormtrooper, the BlasTech Industries E-11
Blaster Rifle.
These rifles are seen through-out the Star Wars Original Trilogy.
The props for the movies were the British-made Sterling Mk4 also known as the L2A3 submachine
gun.
These were mass produced and more easily acquired for use as props than the EMC 1949.
There were many different variants of these props, depending on what parts they had on
hand to attach to them.
All of them had a cut down magazine for the L2A3, plastic T-rails attached to the barrel
shroud and they each had either an M32 or an M38 Scope attached to a mount rail that
was attached to the top.
Half of them had a Hengstler counter mounted next the scope, which was an old industrial
counter box that kept track of whatever the old industrial machine that it was hooked
up to was making.
There were some wires and cylinders just above the magazine on some also.
The next weapon in our line-up is the Drearian Defense Conglomerate or DDC Defender sporting
blaster used by Princess Leia in the beginning of A New Hope.
This iconic blaster was built from a Soviet Margolin .22LR target pistol with its muzzle
brake or compensator.
Not much was done to change this small weapon’s appearance.
The compensator was removed, and the barrel was extended.
The first part of the extension was wrapped with a Graflex cord and then a dummy radial
engine cylinder from a scale model airplane was attached to the extension.
Then to finish the barrel off, they mounted the original compensator to the end of the
extension.
The CA-87 Ion Blaster is better known as the Jawa Ion Gun.
This is what Dathcha the jawa used to knockout R2-D2 on his journey to find Obiwan Kenobi.
This blunderbuss of a weapon was pretty large for a Jawa, but the prop is actually an extremely
cut down British Lee-Enfield No.1 MkIII rifle.
The butt of the stock was completely removed, only leaving the grip, and the forestock was
cut down to just in front of the magazine.
The barrel was also shortened to only a few inches from the cut off stock.
To finish off the front of the prop, they mounted an Enfield Grenade Launcher.
Then a cable or hose was attached to the stock and connected to an old black powder flask
with a leather strap that was worn over the jawa’s shoulder.
The main weapon of the Tusken Raiders is the Gaderffii, or Gaffi Stick.
This mace-like pole-arm is most remembered from Luke’s close encounter with a Raider
just after finding R2-D2 in the Jundland Wastes.
These props were made from Fijian war clubs.
There were several different types of war club used in the Star Wars saga, but we’re
looking at the most memorable club that was made into a Gaffi Stick.
This type of war club was called a Totokia.
To make the Gaderffii, they drilled holes into the shafts of these clubs and a steel
pipe was inserted into the hollowed out club handle to reinforce it and allow the “heads”
to be interchangeable.
The heads were either custom made pike heads that were welded together or made of plastic
for the safety of the actors.
They may have also used ready-made mace-like props to slide into the club handles.
If you have questions about any of these props, please ask them in the comments.
And don’t forget to watch part two where I talk about five more Star Wars prop weapons.
As always, thanks for watching.
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