Hey folks,been a while since I posted anything remotely useful so time to make amends (Mods- please do move if I've put this in the wrong place).
So,I will finally be getting my awesome KRORssguard installed in a few months hopefully,but the installer doesn't do the weathering so I had to either pay for the service elsewhere or do my own.Here is the beast as I first opened it:
...& I decided to take the plunge!
So after carefully experimenting on the pommel of my old first saber (a US Consular,their take on a Qui-Gon),I found that using the stainless steel brush wheel attachment on my rotary tool took off enough anodising to get me pretty much exactly the heavier TFA weathering look I wanted:
I carried on to do the rest of the hilt:
The side emitters were kindly heat treated for me by one of the toolmakers at work thus:
As you can tell he suggested we do it by heating under a steel strip from below & watching the colours spread up by conduction,but it was happening so slowly we went to direct heat which was much more effective.It didn't end up as even as I wanted,so polished it mostly off (as can be seen in the previous pics) & will redo at a later date.
Then I took the rotary tool to the little tabs that affix around the grip & lower sections of the hilt.I got carried away after the success of the main hilt body & went in way too heavy,taking off far too much of the original black anodising,d'oh.So decided to aluminium-black them back up for another attempt:
Started looking much better with the judicious use of mid to fine sandpapers:
So far so good.So I did the whole batch,aiming for a difference between upper & lower tabs based on how much contact I imagined they would receive in long use on an aged hilt,then matt clearcoated them to seal in the Birchwood Casey business:
Moving on to the plastic upper & lower engines,I basecoated them in Rustoleum Metallic Chrome (in practice,it comes out looking more like a brushed ali finish than chrome,which in this instance doesn't matter,but just FYI):
Then I weathered them up with black acrylic washes,blotting & reapplying to taste as necessary:
Have also added "dirt" weathering to the recess & edges of the red pommel cap,& generally on the brass belt clip,in Humbrol matt black enamel.
That's where I'm up to at present,so thought it might be a useful reference for anyone else weathering their own crossguard or purely as process documentation.
All pointers or comments welcome!
Topic: KRORssguard weathering (Read 315 times)