This is the process I use after painting is finished and I have move on to the next step.
This is a new process I am trying out to see if it works better than cutting border layouts.
What I did was just use tape to mask off the area I wanted to stipple for the index finger rest.
In the past I would try and cut a boarder to lay out the area but what I found was masking did not work well after cuts and I had a lot of over spry to clean up before stippling. Remember you cannot stipple over paint so you have to clean up all paint that gets into you stippling area, this is why I mask off my grips and any other area that will be stippled. All I have to do is clean up just around the edges, this also cleans up the line between the stipple and painted areas for a clean look.
Here is what I used for laying out boarders, I started off with a small carbide bur, then cleaned up with a diamond burr. I like this process a lot and will be doing this on more build. It makes it easy to see layout lines and keeps over spray for getting into stippling areas that has to be cleaned up.
You can see I now have a start for boarders without the over spray from painting.
his is the tip I use for this stippling job. It is just a small round tip. I have some smaller and some bigger, the tip you use depends on the type of boarder you want to be able to see between the painted edge and stippling. For instants, if you want HD boarders, I will use a bigger round tip to push a more defined edge, for a finer edge without HD boarders I use a small round tip to blend into the stippling texture.
I plan on two types of stippling on this build, one type will be a small random pattern without HD borders. The tip I am using is small but not the smallest. If you want a sandpaper looking stippling use a very small tip. When making small random lines they seem to blend and look like sandpaper. I used a little bigger tip that when random lines swirl around you can see little lines that show up in random directions.
You can see the pattern that is emerging, the trick is to start with little swirling lines in different direction that merge in different directions. What I do is start in different spots and let them merge. Different round tips will give you different textures. This the easiest way to start stippling and you cannot mess this up and if you want to try something different just flatten out and start over. I recommend this for anyone that wants to start stippling.
I have my index finger pads stippled along with the thumb rest and trigger finger recess. I have my boarders finished on the grip sides and back. The stippling here will be different from the rest and I have to do some more planning to get this right. The grip will be the high light of the stippling, I made my own tip for this and has to be planned out for a balanced, even look. I'll post more on this when I get it figured out.
I need to add this fix for doing stippling on a Freedom Wolf.
This is the line that is showing on these LW builds where the back strap insert goes. You can have a hump back strap or a flat back strap but ether way both has this line that just F***s up the flow and look of the build. On my first Freedom Wolf build (Young Wolf) I was able to stipple over it and hide this line, but with the stippling I plan to use on this build I am afraid it will not only show but the mis match hump next to the line doesn't has a blending type of flow but a hump next to the insert line.
SO, I used the same technique for fixing stippling to start over to fix this,
I used a flat foot looking tip to melt plastic moving it towards the insert line filling it up and taking off some of the hump next to the line to give it more of a blending radius into the back strap.
I probably should mention here that some say you don't need to remove factory stippling before you do a custom stippling. I would say it depends on the style of patter you use, but those that don't remove factory stippling, I can see where the new and old stippling meet and I prefer to start with a flat surface, it makes it easier for laying out patterns.
I like to take just enough factory stippling off to make a flat surface this way after stippling, the thickness of the grip is still the same width. I find starting with a flat surface give a cleaner burn and the look is more consistent looking.
Ok
My plan for the grip area is a pattern that will give the look of old amor, like the kind made up of small leather disks layered over each other. I thought that it would be easier to start off with a center line to make the burns balance out going from side to side.
I made my line on the back strap and started my burn here.
Well it did not turn out well
The problem was my patter got off (lines not straight) so I called a do over.
I used this round flat tip to melt back to a flat surface.
I used this flat foot looking tip to clean up the edges.
SO!! see you can fix stippling if you mess up!!!! Now I can start over, actually I did this three times, four if you count the seam, I melted over to blend it into the frame.
his is the best side after three tries, at least the lines are horizontal and not going downhill.
All I can say is it is ok, and I was able to blend the sides together where they meet in the back strap.
This side sucks but turn out better than my other tries. That one row is messed up and at the top the boarder is messed up too. I think I will have to live with it for now. Once I improve on stippling planed out patterns, I will think about another do over.
Now I'll show you how I finish my stippling.
I use these buffer wheels to knock off the high spot that makes your grip too course for a comfortable feel.
You need to keep this moving, if you hold it in one place too long you can melt plastic so keep it moving.
As long as you don't use a lot of pressure you can touch your paint, it should be ok but don't keep going over the same spot, you can remove paint.
Next, I took some Black plastic polish and a soft brush to put black into the grip for an even color look.
I say black polish, but this stuff will bring back any color plastic. I have used this on tan frames, and it works just as good.
Not as good as I would like but good enough for now. Seeing how I did not paint this stippling I have the opportunity to upgrade this later as my skills improve.
This where I am at now, just a little tweaking and deciding on bling and assembling.
I fell my skills are improving but still have aways to go.