Just a question about Westar blasters limited availability

[Cruzer]

Would it be frowned upon for someone here to make molds of the MR Westars and sell them inexpensively to members here who are making a Jango costume?

The only reasons I ask are because:

1. The MR blasters are very difficult to find these days.
2. When an MR set does pop up on ebay they usually sell for a lot of money and are out of the reach of some members' budgets.
3. Nobody here currently offers a fan-made blaster for people to use, limiting us to either the Hasbro or more common Rubies blasters.
4. I just saw that the only seller on ebay has raised his prices to over $100 for a single blaster.

Just a question so please don't throw me into the fire!

 

[Jango72]

I've been trying to come up with a relatively inexpensive method to make them, kinda like the PVC pipe blasters. I've halted my project due to work on other aspects of my costume, and the fact that I was able to aquire a set of resin Westars.</p>

I've also been debating on the possibility of taking one of my resin Westars to a local custom CNC fabricator to see what it would cost to have them made/reporduced in aluminium. If it's any where near the $800 US that the MRs are typically going for, then it's not really a cost effective alternative.

 

[Foxbatkllr]

If you mold the MR blasters, I'd do it after December 31...they will no longer have the SW license so it'll be similar to recasting a Don Post item. I'm so glad I only paid $250 for my MR Westars a few years ago when I had the chance.

 

[ItsThatGuy]

So what you are saying is you want to do a run of Jango cold cast blasters?

Are you talking about the auction for $139?

I have one of those - they are resin - I only paid about $35. It needs a lot of work...

 

[JangoUri]

If I still had them, I'd do....

 

[TheDentedOne]

If you mold the MR blasters, I'd do it after December 31...they will no longer have the SW license so it'll be similar to recasting a Don Post item. I'm so glad I only paid $250 for my MR Westars a few years ago when I had the chance.

I totally agree! Wait till the license is up. Im also glad I snagged mine up for a good price ($300)

I honestly think this is a good idea. Its not like you are recasting another members fan made prop

 

[JDFett]

I wouldnt have an issue with it...after all it's not like they are being made for sale anymore and they will be off the license as said...i have a set of resin ones that require alot of work and also have the rubies ones that look fine as long as you dont draw them out..LOL. I've also got a friend of mine attempting to recreate the barrel parts in chome pipe so i can mix that with the resin handles and blaster tip. we'll see how that project goes.

 

[DarkeSword2020]

I got mine for 375

And yeah, I think it's a great idea because those doing Jango are gonna want an alternative to the rubies blasters...

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever thought of modifying a Rubies Jango Pistol? I've seen people modify hasbro TK and TC blasters...so I figure it'd be possible for the pistol as well, if it's already been done, never mind

 

[Jango72]

For my PVC/scratch built ones, I'm exploring all the angles. That includes reworking the Rubies as an option.

I'm going to talk with a friend of mine later tonight to see what parts we can make out of wood. I'll be using my resin Westars and the MR pics as reference. The handles will be a piece of cake to make, the muzzle I've got a few ideas on ( but I'll need access to a wood lathe ), but it's the back bits that I'd like to find an easy way to reproduce easily. ( I'd be willing to do runs on them, provided I was happy enough with the final result. )

I've got the same resin Westar kit ( 2 of them actually ), and have so far put tons of work into them. Just a little bit more tweeking left to do with the spot putty and then I'll need to do a trip to Home Depot to find the appropriate bolts to replace the cast ones on the pommel and handle.

 

[Cruzer]

It's just been on my mind now for a while that TDH needs a reliable source for resin/cold cast Westar blasters that are of a high quality and not ridiculously priced. I've temporarily owned a pair of the ones offered by the ebay seller and in my opinion they weren't of the highest quality. And with the amount of time and effort members put into their Jango costumes, it'd be nice to have a blaster option that falls somewhere between MR and Rubies.

But that's only if casting the MR blasters wasn't a problem.

If it was, then I have access to a custom made machined handle and trigger that I could replicate with permission. However, I would need someone like Dark-Side to create a barrel section for casting. After that, I could easily make two part molds of the various pieces...and that'd be one more part of the costume we could make available here as well.

Just my thoughts on the topic.

 

[FettFanatic]

I think it sounds like a good idea. If I didn't have some MR blasters I would definatley be looking for a good alternative.

 

[NOITAIDAR]

it sounds like a great idea, although the defining factor for good looking westars is the chromed finish. I'm not sure what cold casting is, but if it's something like the way FP did his aluminium finish helmets, then it'd be perfect. Unfortunately a normal resin cast would cost too much and take a lot more effort to chrome dip.

 

[ItsThatGuy]

Well some parts are chromed and others are brushed...not sure how you would pull that off, granted I don't know the first thing about working with cold cast (other than my FP bucket).

 

[Illandriel]

Assuming it wouldn't Ruin my Blasters, I don't think I would have a problem Casting mine after the 31st.

But I'm also a complete Neophyte when it comes to Casting and the whole process, So someone would have to hold my hand through the first part! =P

 

[JDFett]

to bad we can't get mon cal to chime in here....he has a fantastic project going for the zam blasters, all aluminum and they will even have hyperdyne lights and sound...Im getting one for my wife...would love to have some Jango blasters that are comparable to that...i shutter at the thought of my wife having better blasters than me! LOL

 

[Cruzer]

If we could get someone who could offer the muzzle, barrel, trigger, and handle base pieces in machined aluminum and brass; then the handle itself could be done in either aluminum or cold-cast and they'd turn out to be a very nice set of blasters. Additional stuff like the allen head bolts, barrel bolt, brass barrel pipe, & brass pins could be easily obtained. However, the price might be comparable to a set of ebay'd MR blasters by the time it's all said and done.

If that's not within most people's budgets, then a pair of MR Westars could be disassembled to make molds of the various pieces. The parts could then be done in a variety of casting materials such as cold-cast, tinted resin, and even flexible urethane.

 

[JDFett]

thats an interesting concept...

right now im making my custom blasters from the resin ones i got from ebay...Im having a friend make me barrels out of chome pipe and making the extra 45 deg cut cover near the handle out of the same but larger piece. I plan to utilize the resin handles and the resin barrel end and look for some chrome hardware that will make a good match form the pieces at the back end of the blaster barrel. I'll let you know how it all comes together if it ever gets done..LOL

 

[stormtrooperguy]

in my opinion, once the MR license expires, recasting them should be look on no more negatively than recasting Don Post.

 

[mandalorian76]

rubies blasters with a little bit of modifying.

 

[JDFett]

those look reral good...im gettign some reubies ones soon to hold me over and had though about making them a tad longer somehow to make them more accurate...maybe pvc barrels with r&b...we'll see