1:1 Scale S&W Model 10 'Kit' - Part 3

 Moving on the base colour painting of the revolvers grips, I began with another round of masking!

First of all, as you can see, there was the fine masking of the outline of the grips. But then, as I had already base-coated the frame in black, I also had to find a way of quickly masking the rest of the gun to prevent any over-spray...

Yep, a plastic bag (actually a stay-fresh sandwich bag)! Quick and very convenient.

I then laid down a base coat of a hazelnut paint, but as the grips are meant to be wooden I wanted to try and create a multi-tonal background for the fake wood-grain effect I had planned to go over this. So, I did some light dry-brushing with various shades of brown to create a streaking effect...

This completed my base layers onto which I would apply my finishing weathering effects. But before I begin to start these I decided to take a very quick snap of the progress so far and apply a filter to get an idea of how I might approach the final photography for this project...

Will I eventually go with a sepia effect or just a straight noire-like B&W photograph for my set of props for this project? Sepia does give a bit of a vintage look but it's a bit false in my opinion as by the 1930s sepia photographs were already a little anachronistic.

I think I would prefer to go with a slicker and moody black and white. It's more evocative of the hard-boiled detective movies of the time.

While I now start to plan my weathering of the revolver model I'm also starting to look around for the rest of the period props to go with the gun for the photo-diorama (I plan a shot of a detective's desk with several items and nick-knacks relevant to a 30s detective). In fact, I've already picked up my next prop...

Above: Dress Up America 939 Kids Pretend Play Police ID Wallet

I thought a detectives wallet, ID and badge would complement the revolver really well. Obviously I would have to make up a realistic ID and badge - both of which will be the subject of my next project once the revolver is complete. (I was thinking - maybe - an FBI badge?) 

NEXT: Weathering the revolver.