How can I make ivory effect grips for a prop revolver?

[Alrightman]

Hello, everyone! I have been working on a PVC foam board six shooter. It is gold, so I need ivory grips. Does anyone have experience with painting an ivory effect, on plastic or otherwise? Any tips? I painted the grips in matte white (spray) but it looks too monotone. Thanks!

 

[Moviefreak]

Hello, everyone! I have been working on a PVC foam board six shooter. It is gold, so I need ivory grips. Does anyone have experience with painting an ivory effect, on plastic or otherwise? Any tips? I painted the grips in matte white (spray) but it looks too monotone. Thanks!

You can literally buy an ivory color paint. Spray the grips ivory, and let dry. Then use washes of brown and gray on edges to give depth. Then buff it so the paint and washes blend well. You can also add a wax or clear coat and then buff that so that it gets a nice gloss and smooth finish as seen on real ivory. I say, grab a test piece and experiment to see what works best for you. Try a few techniques and see what gives you the best result.

 

[Mad Monkey]

theres a Tested video Adam Savage did where he and Norm build blasters from Blade Runner and Adam makes his grips ivory, so he shows how it was done!

 

[mattycsi]

As Moviefreak says, but experiment with putting a grain into it with the back of an exacto blade or light brush with a wire brush before weathering with the brown and grey.
Which is pretty much what Adam savage does in the testes video mentioned above.

 

[Plokman]

Also heard Pvc can make a convencing Ivory too, Maybe get some of that make a mold, grind the Pvc up into small flakes and double boil it like you would candy pour the melted PVC in the mold and add weathering and scratches to get a good look? I'm thinking of trying it for a Quintaped fang in one of my Wand Core props. I even have real bone to use as reference to texture. Why are you all looking at me like that?

It's a pair of Turkey bones I kept after Thanksgiving, just soaked them in Hydroperox and trimmed off the Cartilage my puppy will not rest till he gets them but I'm not stupid. One the soak made it too dangerous chemicaly and it's a bird bone we all know if you want to lose a pet you give it a turkey feamur.

No just got to keep it hidden and safe for my use wish I has a Vacuum Chamber I'd stabilize it in Resin so it no longer smelled of Marrow.

 

[jddurst]

No just got to keep it hidden and safe for my use wish I has a Vacuum Chamber I'd stabilize it in Resin so it no longer smelled of Marrow.

A cheap and easy vacuum chamber can be made with a 2 or 5 gallon bucket and a plexi lid with a hole for a shop-vac nozzle. The ones I have seen had a ring routed partially through the plexi (it might have been lexan, about 1/2" thick with a 1/8" deep ring routed into it) with silicone RTV poured into it to form a gasket to fit on the top of the bucket. The bigger the bucket, the more likely it is to collapse.

Problem with resin stabilization is it affects the luster of the organic piece, my knife handles always come out glossy.

 

[Plokman]

A cheap and easy vacuum chamber can be made with a 2 or 5 gallon bucket and a plexi lid with a hole for a shop-vac nozzle. The ones I have seen had a ring routed partially through the plexi (it might have been lexan, about 1/2" thick with a 1/8" deep ring routed into it) with silicone RTV poured into it to form a gasket to fit on the top of the bucket. The bigger the bucket, the more likely it is to collapse.

Problem with resin stabilization is it affects the luster of the organic piece, my knife handles always come out glossy.

Your quite right a simple chamber can bemade inexpensively, but knowing my luck I'll stick with professional made designs (TKoR made his out of a bell jar some Protoputty (It's silicone playdoh just get the right kind add cornstarch and mold it before it drys) and a Harbor Freight Pump but I keep getting the wrong Silicone caulk to mix up, messy messy messy) Though I do plan to make a custome built PVC Pressure pot for my resins as that can be kept safe with a safety valve, a pump that I manually control like a bike pump and PVC is much tougher than Plexiglas or glass of a bell jar.

Your also right in that it will for sure ruin the texture, Peter Brown has stabilized bread and such with it and while it made it turnable and capable of being machined it was plastic no other way around it the soft look of the bread was lost instantly. So I'll just have to keep my pup out of my work shop when using it, he has a slight case of food anxiety so if he thinks your stealing his food or threatening it he goes into his instinctive protection mode. It only happens with foods he knows about in containers as I trained him off the worst part of it with bags and cans, but human food in a wood box well it's a trigger.

Good luck on your knife handles though while my carving knife I plan to pick up is called a Japanese Blade (It's forged in the same manner Katana replicas with sharp blades are) the handle is steel or a carbonfiber still mix not 100% but I'd love to add bone grips it would look amazing as well as functional, and the more organic the better on bone made materials.

 

[00fil00]

A good guide is on youtube. Type this in: Faux Ivory Technique Part 1

 

[robstyle]

The easiest ivory tone I know of is, if youre starting with a white material as the base, dust the surface with Mohawk pickle beige. Its rattle can number "M101-0303, Tone Finish Toner Beige Tone/Pickle". They have other colors that may suite your personal end result if the intention is older ivory vs a newer ivory. If you look at the Colt Walker that Michal Madsen uses in the Hateful 8, the grips are molded off originals and cast in high impact plastic then simply dusted with the Mohawk pickle tone. The ivory wouldnt have been that old at the time the film was set in. The only set back you may have with surface finish's is just that, they are only surface deep and prone to damage if handled regularly. For a display prop or even moderate on set use, its not a problem.

But if youre going to cast them, and know the materials very, very well, casting them in color locks the finish in. There is no paint in anything in this photo, everything is literally as is out of the mould in the attached photo.

 

[Potroclo]

theres a Tested video Adam Savage did where he and Norm build blasters from Blade Runner and Adam makes his grips ivory, so he shows how it was done!

'ere you go!: (t=21:10)