Who is this "Sidkit" and why don't I own his Mal Reynolds pistol?

Anyone know if Beechwood Casey's Permablue liquid will work as well as the Blue Wonder stuff? The Blue Wonder stuff seems awfully expensive and hard to find (in the UK anyway).
 
I'm going for the Plum Brown color used on the original prop. Birchwood Casey makes a Plum Brown barrel finish that I ordered last night from Dixie Gun Works.
 
Nah Man, you're thinking of MASH, Martain Aliens - Spliff Hounds, it was a 70's tv series about a couple of alien narcotics agents, based in Hawaii. Their name were Sonny and Crotch and of them drove a really cool car IIRC.

Cheers,

Kraig

All joking aside, I would SO watch this show.
 
I'm going for the Plum Brown color used on the original prop. Birchwood Casey makes a Plum Brown barrel finish that I ordered last night from Dixie Gun Works.

I had considered this, but I thought that it might not get the desired effect since this metal is silver in color, as opposed to the original's brass...plus, the Blue Wonder they used in the instructions seems to make a brownish color anyhoo. Your thoughts? Don't take me too seriously, since I've never dealt with bluing a gun and have no idea how it'll actually work.
 
Yeah -- I was gonna get the BLUE WONDEr stuff, too -- but I woiuld also like ot more closely match the bronze-ish color -- is there a web site for the plum brown stuff? or do I just need to Google the manufacturer you had listed? -- (EDIT) - found it -- thanks -- anybody have any direct expereience with this stuff? will it create a closer match on color??
 
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There was a member here that I believe offered some sort of plating service, it was so thin that there was virtually no loss of detail...I forget who it was. Either way, it was pretty costly I believe.
 
Oh also, you don't want bronze but rather brass, too much copper in bronze so it'd look way too red.
 
I'm going for the Plum Brown color used on the original prop. Birchwood Casey makes a Plum Brown barrel finish that I ordered last night from Dixie Gun Works.


I read the one on-line review of this product -- here it is:

=========================================
Review:

Works good, only takes a long time to do right, need a blow torch and lots of propane, not a ordeal for the faint of heart
=========================================

I've never done this before -- WHY would you need a BLOW TORCH for this?? I don't mind giving it a shot for $8, but I don't want to order it if I need to torch the gun because I have no idea how that metal would hold up to the heat. has ANYONE ever used this stuff or stuff like it????
 
Here's another method you can use to color and age any "white metal": automotive gold candy clear. The method more or less requires an airbrush.

Method (briefly... I've got a cheesecake in the oven):

1. Get a two-part automotive (matte if at all possible) clear coat paint and a GOLD CANDY pigment additive (or whatever color you want the metal to be). There are colored clears available in cans and from Tamiya, but they're not nearly as durable as a two-part, and you will want that durability later. Alsacorp has one called "clear4chrome" that also has candy pigments available, but there are others as well.

2. Spray the parts until you get your desired shade of gold/brass/bronze. The more layers, the darker and less transparent it will become. The metal will shine through the clear/candy preserving the look.

3. If you had to get a glossy clear (quite probable... I've never heard of a matte 2-part clear paint) then you need to buff it with a good, gritty rubbing compound. Get one of those meant for SOLID auto paints that aren't supposed to be used on metallics and clears (we want to destroy the gloss). Make sure you wash off the compound thoroughly with soap... you don't want any wax to remain. You can also use very fine grit (2000) paper to dull it down, but if you're working on a complex shape with lots of small spaces and corners, using rubbing paste/compound is easier.

4. Assemble your gun and spray the entire thing with an acrylic (water-based, like Tamiya acrylics) matte black, mixed with a little blue or brown depending on what effect you're after.

5. When it's cured, get a polishing cloth (or paper that won't easily break apart when wet) and get it moist with Ajax dish washing liquid (the regular kind) or a mild alcohol and then gently rub over the parts. After a while, the alcohol will dissolve and take off the airbrushed acrylic coat, but not touch the gold clear underneath.


I've used this technique lots of times with good results. It also works on things like Pulse Rifles if you substitute the clear coat for a silver metallic. I used it on my Phillippes Mal pistol cast, substituting the clear with gold and on my Jayne LeMat, adding a black additive to the clear to give it a smoky appearance.

Still, there is one additional motivation for getting the licensed Serenity version if you're a big fan of the Verse (even if you aren't happy with the way QMX is handling things) and that is to show Universal that it's still a viable property. QMX selling some paper props and a few pistols may not be mega-bucks, but every extra bean the money-people get to count gets us one tiny smidgen closer to more of the show. It's a small point, and I don't mean to start a debate with it, but perhaps it's worth keeping in mind.
 
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If I would guess, I'd say that it would melt or warp almost as easily as a Warhammer/Citadel pewter miniature.

I have no idea how that metal would hold up to the heat. has ANYONE ever used this stuff or stuff like it????
 
I read the one on-line review of this product -- here it is:

=========================================
Review:

Works good, only takes a long time to do right, need a blow torch and lots of propane, not a ordeal for the faint of heart
=========================================

I've never done this before -- WHY would you need a BLOW TORCH for this?? I don't mind giving it a shot for $8, but I don't want to order it if I need to torch the gun because I have no idea how that metal would hold up to the heat. has ANYONE ever used this stuff or stuff like it????

Yep...seems you need a blowtorch for all the "browning" methods. Good thing I ordered a bluing kit too :rolleyes

Though it seems the heating portion is only needed for the final step. I would imagine you could pull this off if you carefully used a good torch lighter...

http://www.laurelmountainforge.com/barrel_brown_inst.htm
 
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Yep...seems you need a blowtorch for all the "browning" methods. Good thing I ordered a bluing kit too :rolleyes

Though it seems the heating portion is only needed for the final step. I would imagine you could pull this off if you carefully used a good torch lighter...

http://www.laurelmountainforge.com/barrel_brown_inst.htm



WOW, thanks. This all seems a bit complex for my small brain and meger talents -- I will either cough up the $100+ for the bluing product SIDKIT site suggests OR just paint the damn thing with acrylic paint...its just that I hate to paint a metal model -- it tends to take away the metallic finish of the natural metal.
 
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