Blaster Webley No. 1 Mark "I" Flare Gun

Juncamu

New Hunter
Hello all,

I came across this forum kind of by accident, which is often the way I find the more interesting corners of the interweb. I inherited this Webley No. 1 Mark "I" flare gun from my uncle some time back, and I am just now researching what I have. I was quite surprised to find that this WWI antique has a modern (even futuristic) place in history as the inspiration/starting point for Boba Fett's blaster!

I am wondering if the good folks on this forum can tell me if this is a desirable version of the flare gun for creating an authentic blaster. My knowledge of Boba Fett costume authenticity is negligible, and my knowledge of WWI weaponry is only marginally better. At the moment, I am just trying to determine what I have. Eventually I would like to find a good home for this beautiful hand-cannon. It is a very solid piece of metalwork, and seems to be in fully functional condition:

8353211536_acb7bf2dc8_b.jpg



8352149119_2162e45207_z.jpg


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Thanks much for any light you can shed,

--Juncamu
 
What you have is the holy grail for Fett and WW1 enthusiasts.
These are now getting rather rare and difficult to get hold of.
As much as I hate to say it for the flack I will get, I would prefer to see something this rare in the hands of a WW1 enthusiast who will not modify it rather than see it's historical value destroyed by changing it into a movie prop replica.

Craig (Star Wars fan and WW1 re-enactor)
 
There are enough people out there already who can mold them, including some rather nice bronze replicas on this forum.
But if it gets sold, it will go to someone who can then destroy a rare piece of history if they see fit to do so.
If I had one I would have a go at casting my own, possibly in aluminium, but my original would stay original as a piece of history.
 
You can easily create a displayable ESB replica from a real Webley without having to damage or permanently change it one bit.

OP - that's a real nice piece.

SAS
 
Thats is a beautiful Webley you have there bud!

Indeed. Anything put on it for the ESB blaster can just as easily be removed with no damage to the original Flare gun.

I wish i could afford one. Almost had one, but then the money that was supposed to pay for it..fell through.

I would probably take molds from it and make the actual gun a replica ESB, because, as i said it can easily be turned back into the original piece of history it was but untightening a few screws.

Again man, nice piece of history you have there :cheers
 
I'm still not convinced that you could change one into a Fett blaster without damaging the patina it has acquired over 100 years, but hey each to their own. I am looking for one and have been for some time, one day I will find one and it will be part of my collection of Great War equipment and I will use a replica for my Fett.
Because after all, you can never get the exact blaster Fett uses and for me a replica flare gun will do nicely.
 
that is beautiful, I would carefully take a mold of it and keep it in an acrylic case and carry a resin copy to troop with.
 
What you have is the holy grail for Fett and WW1 enthusiasts.
These are now getting rather rare and difficult to get hold of.
As much as I hate to say it for the flack I will get, I would prefer to see something this rare in the hands of a WW1 enthusiast who will not modify it rather than see it's historical value destroyed by changing it into a movie prop replica.

Craig (Star Wars fan and WW1 re-enactor)

I own one, and all the ESB stuff was added. The conversion does no harm to the piece. The gun used in the movie was loaned from a museum and lfl added stuff to it for the movie that could easily be removed cause they had to return the gun. At least that's what i read about it.
 
I own one, and all the ESB stuff was added. The conversion does no harm to the piece. The gun used in the movie was loaned from a museum and lfl added stuff to it for the movie that could easily be removed cause they had to return the gun. At least that's what i read about it.

Now that is interesting. Where did you read that? I'd love to know what happened to the original.
 
Now that is interesting. Where did you read that? I'd love to know what happened to the original.

I have the same questions.
Here's something interesting from an older thread (see more here ==> ESB greeble questionable - post #4):

I know that currently the real Fett ESB blaster prop has no split plugs remaining, but I have not had any luck getting pics from it's current owner to see if there are glue marks from a 4th split plug.

And to add more, the ESB blaster was still present after the release of Empire (image taken in late 1980 in the UK):
Boba-Fett-Promotional-Armor-3-02.jpg
 
And to add more, the ESB blaster was still present after the release of Empire (image taken in late 1980 in the UK):
View attachment 66585[/QUOTE]

I think I read somewhere that the blaster in this pic was some kind of a resin casting. Take a look at the flash tube and the stock.
 
Was in some book or even books, I know I read it a few times, but would have to dig out all literature again and go through it to determine the source.

Would be great if you could as it seems strange to me for a Museum to lend an exhibit for a film prop in this way. It would imply that the film makers had their hearts set on a Webley from the start and went all out to get it. If that is the case I'd love to know which museum as it would seem logical for it to be in the U.K. in which case I'd be happy to go to wherever it now lives.

Raf, that lonepigeon post is an eye opener too. Did you remember that from 2006? I'd love for lonepigeon to chime in on this.

I'd just always kind of thought it might have been returned to the propmakers and disassembled as is believed to be the case with a number of other props. Ooh, I'm excited!

In that post empire picture the stock greeblies are in different places and is that a ROTJ greeblie on there? That kid looks pretty unimpressed!
 
That ESB promo blaster does really look like a resin cast. The solid looking barrel tube, the white chip on the breach opener and flat colour of the stock looks like (sloppy) painted resin.

Still an awesome picture, but I don't think that is a real webley. It could very well be that it would not be legal (or safe) to use a real webley in public like that.
 
The original Webley was not on loan from a museum. It was a rental prop from Bapty, a film armorer in the UK. All the real guns were rented and returned to Bapty, including Bossk's rifle and a ton of Sterling trooper blasters. They've even sold many of the guns in recent years. The original Fett Webley is now owned by UK convention promoter Jason Joiner who owns many original Star Wars pieces together with producer Gary Kurtz. I didn't name Jason by name in my original post to maintain his privacy but he has since joined the RPF and mentioned there that he owns the Webley. All of the conversion pieces were stripped from it long ago. Even then the Webley was a rare piece so Bapty was careful not to permanently modify it.
 
Raf, that lonepigeon post is an eye opener too. Did you remember that from 2006? I'd love for lonepigeon to chime in on this

I remembered that post because I read a lot from older threads (sometimes full with great info).

That ESB promo blaster does really look like a resin cast. The solid looking barrel tube, the white chip on the breach opener and flat colour of the stock looks like (sloppy) painted resin.

Still an awesome picture, but I don't think that is a real webley. It could very well be that it would not be legal (or safe) to use a real webley in public like that.

You have some valid points there! Looking at the image, I noticed that it lacks the chipped end of the stock and other differences you mentioned.

The original Webley was not on loan from a museum. It was a rental prop from Bapty, a film armorer in the UK. All the real guns were rented and returned to Bapty, including Bossk's rifle and a ton of Sterling trooper blasters. They've even sold many of the guns in recent years. The original Fett Webley is now owned by UK convention promoter Jason Joiner who owns many original Star Wars pieces together with producer Gary Kurtz. I didn't name Jason by name in my original post to maintain his privacy but he has since joined the RPF and mentioned there that he owns the Webley. All of the conversion pieces were stripped from it long ago. Even then the Webley was a rare piece so Bapty was careful not to permanently modify it.

Thanks for clarifying that! It's great that we know more and more about the 'real' behind the story of past, present and future bits and parts of Boba Fett.
 
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