Xhiwar wrote:
BTW: The „Delta“/Propstore Pulse Rifle seems to have the Hero Thompson and full GL section. The SPAS is attached differently though, and the 8-hole-vent and shoulder stock are obviously different. However, even the shrouds seem to have the „rivets“ down the mag well. This seems for all intents and purposes to be the Hero rifle, except vent and stock. Or are there other differences? The front block and GL barrel front are a bit different too...
I would wager the 'shrouds' from the "Delta" are not original the 10-hole. My suspicion is they are actually from the "Ideal 8" (final prop production photos).
-Reason #1 is the front plate of the mag well on the "10-hole hero" was fairly large and was mis-shapen in order to wrap
around the GL trigger. The front mag well plate on the 'Delta' seems to be flat and fit below the trigger leaving the trigger assembly more or less exposed naturally.
Attachment:
10-hole mag plate.jpg [ 94.23 KiB | Viewed 3635 times ]
-Reason #2 I think this is because you see striking similarities between the the 'cut' of the edges on the shrouds. With so few pics of the bottom from close range, it is hard to say for certain, but look at the 'width' at the various points on the edges of the 'Delta' (modern) and 'Ideal 8' (at time of production) where the shrouds wrap around the bottom of the gun. Unless they were all lopsided (which I'll admit is possible) the similarity can't be ignored.
Attachment:
Ideal 8 is Delta.jpg [ 92.54 KiB | Viewed 3635 times ]
So for those two reasons, I think the shrouds from the "delta' are actually from the screen-used "ideal 8" and not the "10-hole".
And not to side-track, but more evidence of part swapping can be found on the "Zeta" (wood handle, tech manual) rifle. Someone got a photo close up that showed the Thompson's serial#. Compare it to the serial# on the "Ideal 8" from the production photos.
Attachment:
zeta - serial match Thompson to Ideal8 .jpg [ 246.64 KiB | Viewed 3635 times ]
It is pretty likely the tech manual rifle had reassembled what it could from the pile of screen used parts and filled in the rest with new stuff, including a new grip.
All goes to show: These "Screen used rifles" are not as great a reference as we all want them to be. In the end, they were all disassembled, some put back together for 'Alien 3' randomly, most repainted multiple times, and most had 'new' parts incorporated (like new wood grips, vac-formed shrouds, rivets where screws once stood, and welded reconstruction when no visible welds were present on originals). The existing batch of screen used "rifles" are very likely just screen used "parts" reassembled.
(BTW, the grip looks great! Sorry...got sidetracked there)