As I mentioned yesterday, the conversion on my OG is finished! (Except for the grips, which should be here by the middle of next week.)
Here are a couple of overall shots to start things off.
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Next, I'll show the work I did on each component. I didn't do a 100% teardown. I left the trigger and hammer assemblies intact on the Bulldog portion. As far as that goes, the biggest mod was to replace the existing barrel. I got a beautiful blued steel barrel from a vendor on ebay, and swapped it out by carefully cutting the Tomenosuke barrel off. This was the most nerve wracking step for me! I did it by hand with a fine hacksaw, and then sanded the nub smooth. It went really well though, and the real steel barrel looks amazing.
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I also used a red Scotchbrite pad to polish the exposed parts of the Bulldog body, including the cylinder. This lightened those areas and gave them more of a metallic look.
I also removed the grip frame and polished it with 0000 steel wool. This exposed the underlying silver metal so that it can be seen much better through the amber grips.
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On the Steyr upper and the trigger guard, I soaked the parts in white vinegar and then used steel wool to remove the factory finish. I probably soaked them for a total of around 4 1/2 hours, doing 2 or 3 rounds of scrubbing. I disassembled the parts before soaking.
I bought a bottle of Novacan liquid, which I had read about in another Tomenosuke thread, and applied it to all the parts, after I had cleaned them with acetone. After applying the Novacan and rinsing the parts, I lightly went over them with steel wool to even out the finish.
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I did some light overall scuffing on the plastic Steyr magazine, then used an X-acto blade to add some scratches. All scratches throughout the process were referenced from Karl Tate's incredible Worldcon photos.
I even carefully carved out the small missing chunk above the on/off switch.
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On the side plates, I used an X-acto blade again to add some surface scrapes and a minimal amount of chips.
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The right side plate was also the only place I used any paint at all: the little nick on the binding post. I used a tiny amount of brass metalizer on it.
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I did some chipping on the butt plate, and also added the small gouges on the rear area.
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I slightly reworked the weathering on the backstrap, as the stock weathering pattern was basically a smooth curve.
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So that's pretty much it! A very satisfying process to improve, in my opinion, an already outstanding replica.
Thanks to everyone who previously posted their tips and techniques on their own Tomenosuke conversions! They were immensely helpful.
"Have a better one!"
