Mal's pistol; newbie prop

[Annie]

I have painted my first prop; Mal's pistol from Firefly. I am sort of pleased with it, except for the grip. The paint on the grip looked way too fresh, so I ran a piece of fine sandpaper over it to roughen it up, but it still looks weird instead of old. Does anyone have any sugestions on how I can improve it? Does the gun as a whole look okay for a first-timer?
Be gentle.
Also, I have never posted in a forum and added an image, so I hope this works.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Looking great, from what I can see... though, I would probably do a wash of thinned flat black all over the gun to darken it up and age it... :thumbsup

Also... iirc, in the tv-show, the gun was supposed to be black, where some of the paint had chipped off, revealing the brass color of the metal.

 

[SmilingOtter]

Looks better than what I could do.

I'm sure several of our experts will be happy to give you pointers.

 

[Annie]

Thanks for the feedback. I had actually looked at several screencaps, and the gun seemed both bronze and silver at different times. I had tried the silver first and didn't like the way it looked.
I appreciate any ideas or thoughts on it, as I am kind of clueless.

 

[gunnerk19]

Looks good.

For the grips, I would suggest starting over IMO...

Use a medium grit sandpaper on the grips first to get a grain texture, then a basecoat of a dark walnut paint; then use a slightly lighter shade of brown and spray it on a rag, then wipe the rag over the grips in the same direction as the "grain"...

Here's the low down on how I did these...
http://www.imperial-fleet.com/bbcforum/viewtopic.php?t=999

 

[Too Much Garlic]

I always liked the tutorial on this site:

Hyper Firm - How to Wood Grain

 

[Birdie]

Is that your own sculpt?

 

[Annie]

Looks good.

For the grips, I would suggest starting over IMO...

Use a medium grit sandpaper on the grips first to get a grain texture, then a basecoat of a dark walnut paint; then use a slightly lighter shade of brown and spray it on a rag, then wipe the rag over the grips in the same direction as the "grain"...

Here's the low down on how I did these...
http://www.imperial-fleet.com/bbcforum/viewtopic.php?t=999

Thanks for that suggestion.



<div class='quotetop'>(Birdie @ Aug 5 2006, 11:31 PM) [snapback]1294698[/snapback]</div>

Is that your own sculpt?
[/b]

No, it's a resin kit I bought at Shore Leave. Only the paint job is mine. I am not nearly good enough to do something that involved.

 

[MaddChinaMan]

That pretty good, But I'd prefer watering some black paint and brushing it all over the brass. It givs it a more realistic look.

 

[Annie]

<div class='quotetop'>(MaddChinaMan @ Aug 6 2006, 03:03 AM) [snapback]1294785[/snapback]</div>

That pretty good, But I'd prefer watering some black paint and brushing it all over the brass. It givs it a more realistic look.
[/b]

I actually have some black rubbed on there with a tissue, I thought it was almost too much.