I'm about 95% finished with the K4. I might try to do a bit more topical weathering on the emitter, I need to get the set screws for the blade plug, and I want to secure the pommel better + add the d-ring, but all-in-all I'm fairly happy with how this turned out.
My machinist friend trimmed the top grenade ring down to the correct shape and removed 6mm off of the top of the brass windvane stem. I then stripped the anodizing off of the grenade and booster with oven cleaner. I tried this on the emitter, but whatever it was coated/plated with wouldn't come off with the oven cleaner. I ended up knocking back the finish with some steel wool.
I used aluminum black on the booster and grenade, doing several passes until the pieces were darkened to my liking, then sealed them up with some matte clear coat. I mixed up some rusty colored acrylic paint and then mixed that with water to make a wash. I brushed on the wash and blasted the pieces with a hair dryer, doing several treatments interspersed with the occasional steel wool buffing until I got satisfactory results.
I ended up replacing the stock clamp with a Roman replica Graflex clamp + washers & transistors. To mount the transistors, I took some 8-32 nuts and filed the corners of them so that they would fit down into the cavity where the buttons for the electronics were intended to fit. I was then able to pass the threads of the transistors through the rectangular holes of the Graflex clamp and screw them into the nuts. I'm pretty proud of my engineering on that one ;-) Rounding out the clamp is a Wannawanga bubble strip.
I used a carriage bolt, some washers, and a section of a 7/8" oak dowel to rig up the AS handwheel. This is a temporary fix, and I've already got some ideas on how I can attach it and still have room for electronics. In that case, I will ditch the end cap on the pommel and let the holes in the end function as sound vents for a speaker. I also need to get a hole drilled for a d ring.
I let the brass windvane pieces sit in an ammonia vapor bath for 24 hours. The tarnishing was a bit too blotchy, so I buffed the finish out more evenly with 0000 steel wool and let it sit for another 12 hours in the vapor. I may let it sit for longer to get it even darker.
Mance
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