Original film gun in display case

[racprops]

[ridleyville]

I am on my way, thanks for the invitation.
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More human than human

[racprops]

And you might like my friends site;

http://props.steinschneider.com/

Rich
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I never have enough time to do all I want to do!

[andy]

Most of the stunts were one piece rubber and all black.



Some of the stunts the cops had in their holsters had their grips painted an orange, almost wood grain that may have been trying to simulate the amber grips.





Deckard is also seen in a few shots with a rubber stunt that has the orange grips attached, albeit shrunken and deformed ones. This stunt is at the Seattle Sci-Fi museum. This may have been what some people have referred to as the "2nd hero" or "hero stunt". It is the gun that gets pulled through the wall at Sebastian's apartment by Roy. You can even see the seam on top.





Nobody except Deckard and Holden for one brief split second ever drew their guns. There would never have been a need for multiples except as holster fillers.

Some resources here...
http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?title=Blade_Runner (created by our own Noeland Collins)

An oldie but a goodie..
http://brprops.com/MO_weapons_deckard.php
Unfortunately a lot of Shawn's info is outdated and incorrect. It hasn't been updated in years, but his site got me started.

Andy

[joberg]

Yes and let's not forget the scene when Leon trew the gun away in the street before his battle with Deckard: that's not the hero gun believe me!

[eltee]

[racprops]

[andy]

[andy]

For consolidation of info here is a thread showing the gun used and drawn by Holden. Very much looks like one of the stunts....
http://propsummit.com/viewtopic.php?t=716&highlight=stunt

Andy

[propsjonnyb]

I agree with almost everything said upto a point and the scene Andy refers to is one I have the most trouble with as in any film production you'd always have a 'hero' standby prop for scenes like this , unless you used a stunt prop- as dropping the 'real' gun from that height might damage it - so you'd use a stunt one fixed up with electronics , rather than the 'real' one and the subtle cutting would swap between stunt and 'real' oncethe prop was on the floor.

[andy]

Watch the scene. I am sure the one he dropped from up high is a stunt, but the one hitting the ground is not, and there is no cutting at that point. Supposedly the hero cost so much to make another one was never made, and the gunsmith left production part way through (this is what Phil S. States in his article). Since the gun was supposed to look beat up and was made from very durable parts for the most part, I think they may have just been willing to chance it. Knowing Ridley he probably insisted on the shot despite the fears of the prop handlers.

Andy

[racprops]

And I agree with Andy, the cocking lever pops open in the droped gun shot, no stunt woulld /could do that.

Rich
_________________
I never have enough time to do all I want to do!

[joberg]

Andy's right; knowing Ridley he gambled with the hero when dropping it on the floor (I would say a foot...two feet sounds scary )...another question to ask him when some of us will have the chance.
Eltee, Andy, Rich: you're right about customized side arms/rifles in the Police Forces/Army, etc...that's why it's fun to see so many stunts being used in BR.

[Gaff87]

[andy]

I think PJB might have been insinuating that there could be a second full metal hero. I know we had back on the RPF identified it at as the same gun from Karl's Worldcon photos because of the scratches on the butt plate and other unique details. I will have to go back and reread the thread again to be more specific, but I know we had no doubt it was the same gun.

Andy

[racprops]

Again Andy and I are in totally agreement.

There is a mark/scratches on the butt plate that is in the shape of a 1/2 curve, and for many years many of us was convinced it was a round depression in the butt plate.

When all it was is scratches and these is one of a kind of a mark.

Along with the missing paint on the handle frame just above the butt plate is one of a kind marks that only show up on the hero.

And these only show up in every shot of the gun in every close up.

The only other gun in a close up is the rubber stunt used in the fight for the gun though the wall. And that is only one shot at the wall.

The Hero is used just before Batty punches thought the wall, then the stunt when they struggle, then the hero again when Batty takes the gun from Deckard’s hand, and breaks his fingers, the hero again when he gives the gun back and the hero when Deckard pulls it back though the wall, and then tries to shoot Batty.

And as does the flat round head screw on the cocking lever side cover, every shot of the gun on the right side, all have this screw, the weaver knob never shows up in any shot.

Rich
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I never have enough time to do all I want to do!

[propsjonnyb]

I wasn't insinuating anything , all I was saying was stating a fact, every fim set I've ever been on and that's a few ( probably not as many as Rich ), whenever a gunsmith is employed or prop guns used in a film or TV show for that matter, there is always a back up hero ! - simply to save valuable production time if ever there was a problem for whatever reason - granted you do get films where the guns are limited in terms of firing weapons eg Aliens., and they pad them out with non-working resin or rubber stunt ones. In my 30 odd years of involvement in this industry - again granted on the fringe and also by association -, I have not come across any other film, in production, where only one weapon was ever made or used. Especially when the hero prop ( gun) is featured heavily in many scenes. Andy and Rich are both right about the hero and it's identification absolutely !!, but I still say it's highly unusual to find a film, that features only one gun , and on a final florish - what about Leon's hero ?? only one ???

[racprops]

propsjonnyb is totally right that two hero props minimum is the rule.

I too thought there had to be second gun/prop.
Blade Runner broke many rules and this seems to be one.

Leon’s gun is a common unchanged store bought gun other that the two barrel trick, but again perhaps there was only one on set.

One way to think of it is there is only on Harrison Ford as well.

Rich
_________________
I never have enough time to do all I want to do!

[andy]

There were some stories that a second firing gun was made using a bulldog and Rubber Stunt for the Steyr parts. Only here say and never in any way validated. It is also possible that they may have tried to make a second hero, but trying to match the first, with cutting up another very expensive rifle to match something that was basicly hand done to begin with, may have been a totally improbable task. I heard both Rich and Craig Kovach went through a lot of test versions before they got a configuration to work, and in Rich's case that was with resin casts of the Steyr, and not a real Steyr made of hardened gun steel.

The Hero is a little crooked in spots. Anybody who has ever had to custom fit two parts together know that two custom fit parts never fit the same way twice. I forgot what the bill for the first gun was, but if I remember correctly it was astronomical, well over $40,000. Less than it is worth now of course


Andy
Andy

[joberg]

Rich is right also when he said: "BR broke many rules and it seems one of them"...was that they didn't have 2 hero guns. The more I see, for example, the scene with Holden, the more I see the stunt one being used for that scene.
Andy is also right to say that when putting 2 different pieces of 2 different kind of weapons together to make 1 whole gun, you'll run into technical/engineering problems that will necessitate some major fixing to now make that weapon work! And to come back to the main topic: that gun in the glass case has a real Steyr piece attached to...a real Bulldog?...or another model with machined parts? As I said before: gunsmith/professional propmaker; this is not the work of an amateur.