Deckard's Blaster From Blade Runner - Steyr Pflager Katsumata Series D 2 Nov. 2014
I have liked this weapon since I saw the movie back in 1982. And what's not to like; Harrison Ford is wielding it. That's Daryl Hannah's face mostly covered by the blaster above. For 25+ years, people in the industry have been trying to find the movie prop, or a few pictures with enough detail to reproduce it. The movie prop showed up about almost ten years ago for auction, where it ultimately sold for about a quarter of a million dollars. The prop was extensively photographed and its provenance disclosed - this was the real thing and people finally had enough detail to accurately reproduce it. A company in Japan hired a gunsmith to do a commercial run and the Tomenosuke blaster came to market. I have one of these on order and plan to build a box to display it. I want to keep the blaster in "as issued condition" with a very nice box, probably cherry, although rosewood would also look great with the bronze logo. The blaster came in finally and it is every good as its price would suggest.
5 Nov. 2014
I have to fire up the old autocad for the box design at some point, but as I have learned how to etch copper and bronze, I decided to design and build the logo for my case. Here is my interpretation of the Steyr logo for this weapon in the future; the black will be deeply etched and the white will be raised. Chinese is somewhat interchangeable with English in the movie. The Chinese says "Sonic Shock Handgun." The bronze plaque will be just under 6" wide and 2-3/4" high.
I have to fire up the old autocad for the box design at some point, but as I have learned how to etch copper and bronze, I decided to design and build the logo for my case. Here is my interpretation of the Steyr logo for this weapon in the future; the black will be deeply etched and the white will be raised. Chinese is somewhat interchangeable with English in the movie. The Chinese says "Sonic Shock Handgun." The bronze plaque will be just under 6" wide and 2-3/4" high.
Endiathetos
7 Nov. 2014 I found a few interesting things to accompany my blaster: currency from the movie and the ammunition boxes. These are available for download and the artist lets anyone have them as long as one does not offer them up on ebay. I had the boxes printed and after a few minutes with an Exacto knife, I had a box. The currency was printed off on light card stock and cut out. I printed a bank band for each denomination. There are 20 of each bill in the bundles.
9 Nov. 2014
Outstanding... I made some progress on the box for the blaster. Here it is in cherry, all banded with rubber bands to secure the top. I will sand it next and then cut it in half. I have no idea if the blaster will fit in it, or how well; it just needed to be built.
Outstanding... I made some progress on the box for the blaster. Here it is in cherry, all banded with rubber bands to secure the top. I will sand it next and then cut it in half. I have no idea if the blaster will fit in it, or how well; it just needed to be built.
25 May 2016
Yes, it has been awhile since I worked on this project. I'm sanding the box and fitting the hardware which was made by Brusso - very high quality hardware.
Yes, it has been awhile since I worked on this project. I'm sanding the box and fitting the hardware which was made by Brusso - very high quality hardware.
18 June 2016
The box looks a bit ugly, so I applied a couple of coats of finish to it so I can find the areas needing more work more easily, and as it requires about 6 coats, just get this thing moving along. I sand using 600 grit between coats, and the finish is satin poly. The second picture is the plaque I made to use on the top after etching it with the logo I created a few pictures above. The plaque is cut from a 1/8" bronze plate. Joe Love has a laser etching machine and we think he can etch through the bronze. I will apply a black patina to the bronze before I ship him the plaque. Next step is to let the hinges and latch into the wood.
The box looks a bit ugly, so I applied a couple of coats of finish to it so I can find the areas needing more work more easily, and as it requires about 6 coats, just get this thing moving along. I sand using 600 grit between coats, and the finish is satin poly. The second picture is the plaque I made to use on the top after etching it with the logo I created a few pictures above. The plaque is cut from a 1/8" bronze plate. Joe Love has a laser etching machine and we think he can etch through the bronze. I will apply a black patina to the bronze before I ship him the plaque. Next step is to let the hinges and latch into the wood.
20 Nov. 2016
Joe and I gave up on etching the bronze plate for the logo and went for etched anodized aluminum. The laser etching machine, being an ir laser, does not etch bronze. The box hinges are on now and it is shaping up nicely. The smaller name plate will go on the inside of the box, and the logo plate will have small wood trim pieces to frame it.
Joe and I gave up on etching the bronze plate for the logo and went for etched anodized aluminum. The laser etching machine, being an ir laser, does not etch bronze. The box hinges are on now and it is shaping up nicely. The smaller name plate will go on the inside of the box, and the logo plate will have small wood trim pieces to frame it.
There must be some sort of pathology at work here to invest as much time as I have on their project, not to mention the money.