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Star
Wars
Episode IV • A New Hope
One of the most Iconic Movie Weapons in the Galaxy
LOT 1247
Incredibly Historic, Iconic, and Well Documented: The Only Surving “DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol” Originally Used by Harrison Ford Staring as Han Solo in Filming and Promotion of the 1977 Epic “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” - Serial no. 299415, 9
mm cal., 3 1/4 inch round (blank only) bbl., blue finish, walnut grips. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... or rather, London in the mid- 1970s, production of prop weapons for a little known and quite under- funded science fiction fantasy movie, dreamt up by George Lucas,
had just begun. Released in 1977, the movie would eventually come
to be known as “Star Wars” or “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope”, kicking off a franchise that would go on to garner a cult following unlike anything the film industry had ever seen. Much of Lucas’ vision for Star Wars was based around the characters, gear, vehicles, and settings being believable, a concept he often called “used future”. The “used future” concept he envisioned relied heavily on the equipment the characters used and the vehicles they traveled in having a “lived in” or well-used appearance, a concept that had previously been almost entirely absent from the often “over-polished” and “over-sanitized” genre of science fiction. This drive to create a more grimy sci-fi world paired with quite limited initial funding led to some interesting solutions in
the prop department, especially when it came to the weapons that would be used in filming. This specific pistol is a prime example of that resourcefulness, combining components from multiple different readily available surplus weapons. One of the more important developments in creating the perfect aesthetic for Star Wars came early on in the process
through work between Lucas, Roger Christian the set decorator, and John Barry the production designer, a development which would come to be known as “greebles”. The term “greebles” came to represent all the small mechanical looking parts that littered the surfaces and interiors
of spacecraft and models in the first film and its successors, a concept which also carried over into hand held props and costume design. Many of the “greebles” for set construction either came from the purchase of scrapped and disassembled aircraft parts, which were well within the production’s meager budget, or through disassembled, mixed, and matched toy model kits when building scale models for filming. This budget minded, “one man’s trash is another’s treasure” sort of attitude was equally applied when designing the personal weapons to be carried by the film’s main protagonists.
The production teamed up with Bapty & Co., a London based prop house, to provide all of the prop weapons for the film. Due to the limited time and budget available for production it was eventually decided to use as many existing items as possible, especially things such as readily available surplus firearms which could be modified with accessories and “greebles” to become almost unrecognizable when
on screen. Examples of this can be seen throughout Star Wars such as the BlasTech E-11 blasters carried by most Stormtroopers, which were modified Sterling L2A3 submachine guns. Then there was the BlasTech DLT-19 Heavy Blaster Rifle, also carried by the Emperor’s finest, which is a modified MG34 machine gun.
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