Hi Woodsy
You recently mentioned The Mandolorian, a series which I have not seen, and the unusual shape of his rifle stock.
It was not just early firearms that used this fish-tail shape, several light machine guns of WW2 used a similar design. The German MG34 and MG42 spring to mind, as do various Japanese light machine-guns - their Type 11 LMG looked very odd.
The Mandolorian gun is a little more exaggerated, but the basic shape is there. Here is a photograph from Wikipedia, showing the MG34 on both a bi-pod for use in the light machine-gun role, and on a tri-pod for use as a heavy machine-gun.
The Japanese Type 11 dates from the 11th Year of the reign of the Emperor Taisho, or 1922.
Paul Adams
NZ
Star Wars is renowned for using existing military arms. Han Solo's blaster is a converted german Mauser with a telescopic sight attached, the Stormtroopers in Mos Eisley carry converted Lewis Heavy Machine guns. The Jawa gun is an old Enfield rifle with the muzzle sawn off. Even the Tusken Raiders were given weapons from a number of sources; the gaderffii handle is a polynesian war club with the tail fin of a rocket grafted on to the end! The famous Jedi Lightsaber is actually the handle from a camera flash!
ReplyDeletehttps://petapixel.com/2017/02/14/antique-camera-flash-became-iconic-star-wars-prop/
Stormtrooper armour was originally made from white pvc plumbing fixtures too!
To add to Wotan's post: Storm Trooper weapons didn't just resemble German MG-34 machine guns but actuall are that very thing. There's a rack full of them in the Death Star hangan guard room. One of the sentries in the "these rare not the droids you're looking for" scene carries one minus the butt but with a typical "double snail" magazine on top, while a number of hand blasters started as chopped down MG-34s (though hopefully not real ones :)
ReplyDeleteMore here: https://militaryhistorynow.com/2015/12/18/the-real-world-weaponry-of-star-wars-vintage-armaments-abound-in-skywalkers-galaxy/
Best -- Paul
Thats grand Paul - Great to see the actual weapon references! You can see a complete DIY store on the walls in the princess Leia capture scene next to the lifepods bay. There's plumbing fittings, pipes and all sorts of stuff stuck to the walls!
Deleteargh - sorry for the typos, I need more coffee...
ReplyDeleteThe mandalorians disintegrator weapon takes its cue from the god-awful Star Wars Holiday Special, where Boba Fett first appears in cartoon format, riding a dinosaur and wielding a two-pronged rifle or goad.
ReplyDeleteDarth Vader famously tells Boba and the bounty hunters in Empire "No disintegrations!" so the film version of the character does have a history with the weapon.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the extra information. I will have to pay more attention to the weapons next time I watch the films.
ReplyDeleteThe Tusken Raiders also use an unusual musket like weapon with a curved stock when they target Lukes landspeeder
ReplyDeleteFascinating stuff guys. So Lucas Film behaved a lot like Century 21 did then, raiding shops and stores and piles of junk to get their futuristic material. Great stuff.
ReplyDelete