by Hawkeye » Thu Mar 31, 2022 7:00 pm
This build was a first for a lot of etching and working a theme down into the grip.
The first challenge was getting a Glock 21 magwell to fit a PF45, It does fit but its short. I had to fill in the back end with JB Weld. Then recess the screw and blend it into the frame as well as the rest of the magwell for that solid one piece look.
You can see some pit holes in the buildup of JB Weld, not to worry just take a small ball diamond burr and make the pit holes bigger then refill with JB Weld.
Now just shape and sand.
Now some etching fun
There are some good right ups on Etching if your interested in etching. Its really not hard to do. I think the most work was getting stencils that I could use.
Now for what I really like to do molding that one-of-a-kind build into shape.
Maybe I should back up and let you know what I learned in this part of the build.
If you notice the tattered flag is not what I ended up with, that's because the first plan was for a tiger camo.
I wanted to try something else I found instead of JB Weld. It is a JB Weld product (plastic bond)
All thou it didn't sand as easy as I hoped, it does not bond like JB Weld. You can pick at it and just comes off like tape so I had to remove it and that is when I changed the theme to the tattered flag.
The best way to do stuff like this is to have a bunch of stencils to help you layout as you go.
Before any paint start laying out your theme with stencils.
You can see how I labeled the flag tips for a reference later.
I used some 1/8 inch silicone to make a mold for filling in with JB Weld, I use the tips of the flag for a guide for cutting out silicon for the shapes I needed.
don't worry about getting JB Weld all over, I doesn't stick to the silicone.
Then use the same flag tips as a guide to shape the flag tips.
after getting things all shaped and sanded It is time for the first coat of paint OD flat green.
You can see I masked off all the grip I plan on doing stippling. Paint make a mess if try to stipple it (don't try it) JB Weld will not stipple ether (again don't do it) just saying I did try it just to see man!! don't do it!!
Here you see how I put stencils back on, covering up the flag tips that are all ready painted, getting ready fpr the coat of flat black.
This was a real challenge, I had to bring two flags into one. Its ok but should have planed this out earlier in the build when I could have moved the flag on the sides to line up better.
All said, it turned out pretty good for a big learning experience.
My stippling still needs some fine tuning but it's not bad. A lot better than the first stippling job I did. (don't want to talk about it)
The way I came up with molding in the magwell and covering up the set screw came out good.
I really don't like how this turned out, again you have two flags meeting. I should have done more planning at the start.
Etching came out good.
All finished I finished this just before MGB shut down and he came out with his slides (another build)
I am glad I had a chance to do some MGB builds after all I learned a lot of stuff being part of the MGB gang! (luck to you my friend)