Okay - so I made some huge progress.
since the ink dried green, i tried to dry brush on some Krylon dark brown dura coat (hardware store find)...turns out its such thick nice paint it didn't dry brush on, it just brushed on! I tried to drag the brush through the semi-dry paint a little, and it gave it a nice effect, but the original casting had physical wood texture on the handle, so that really helped. I don't know how I would have done this on c96 MGC grips..
Took some time to drill/tap a lanyard loop in the handle. I used a "wood screw" mount from china
and had to cut and bend a Colt revolver butt loop in there. The loop really didnt want to bend, like a D ring, so I cut it snd squished it in there, making the loop smaller and deformed, but it suffices
I then took an old drafting mechanical pencil, slid out the old thick "lead" and used coarse sandpaper to get a pile of graphite dust. I took my finger and smeared / buffed it all over the gun which turned it into a silvery gray! I even got some on the grips that I feebly tried to wipe off :lol then I hit the whole thing with a satin clear coat, which dulled the graphite but it still looks nothing like the original satin black paint finish. I like it! I was seriously surprised at the drastic change in the graphite layer
it was hard to photograph, but I think I got it.
