Just shows!Now,for you,there is something special about this pistol.trev
I just purchased a Tell 3 which was in good shape except for a cracked grip and one lost emblem. I made a clay empression of the emblem from the other side and used it as a cast. Here is a slideshow of the restoration. I would like to age the emblem a little with a patina of some sort, any thoughts about how to do that would be appreciated.
http://s168.photobucket.com/user/ski...%20Restoration
In a picture story : I kind of like this better than the slideshow?
http://s168.photobucket.com/user/ski...toration/story
Last edited by 45flint; 06-05-2017 at 03:01 AM.
Just shows!Now,for you,there is something special about this pistol.trev
Great result and well worth the effort with such a rare pistol.
Can you provide any details about the casting process you used?
Thanks,
John
I hesitate to share my casting method cause I'm came at it with no real experience and I found my method very problematic. It only produced one useable emblem after 5 attempts, but that's all I needed. Lol. I went to the local hobby store and got modeling clay that would dry hard. I just made the clay casts by pushing it onto the grip, pulling it off and letting it dry for several days. It seemed to hold the detail pretty well. Luckily the Tell emblems are silver metal. I have worked with solder and just bought some used in plumbing. I also bought some flux. The problem I had in my experiments with just a spoon was the solder always had 'bubbles' on the surface it was never smooth. I thought the flux would help it flow. I rubbed the flux into the clay, heated it so it melted and whipped it off. It seemed to soak into the clay. I then heaped solder on top of the cast, melting it with a micro butane torch I have. I got a large bubble of molten solder above the emblem and then quickly pushed it down onto the cast with a flat knife. Held it there till it cooled. Like I said most all were failures. I had made four clay casts and used them all. I think they are only good for one attempt. There is probably a better casting metal than solder but I never really investigated.
Last edited by 45flint; 06-05-2017 at 02:01 PM.
Last edited by 45flint; 06-05-2017 at 12:03 PM.
Congratulations on what looks like a really nice substitute for something I guess would be almost impossible to obtain.
A missing emblem really sticks out, so even without any attempt at ageing, it provides a significant improvement to the appearance.
Brian
What is cool, now my favorite side is the one I hated just two days ago. Adding valuing to a collectable in this class is very rewarding.
Last edited by 45flint; 06-05-2017 at 02:02 PM.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, very interesting. Who cares how many times you have to repeat a process to get it just right, if it works just once then it is worth all the effort
As you say, there is nothing as satisfying as restoring a damaged gun to as close to its original condition as possible, especially if that gun is rare - and as you have found, it can enable you to acquire rarities that would otherwise break the bank.
You can buy two part polyurethane casting resin on the net, and if you add very fine metal powder ( brass powder for example ) to the resin on mixing you can cast pieces in silicon rubber moulds with the look and feel of metal ( similar weight too ) You can even buff them up to a shine. Very effective method. Just Google "Polyurethane Casting Resin" for your nearest stockists - it mixes 50/50 by weight.
Lakey
Probably a better way to go. One concern is you are casing over a emblem on the pistol that has old red paint. It is easy to pull off or effect that paint. I do like the idea that the emblem is cast metal as opposed to metal impregnated resin, but that is a head game I guess, it's all a substitute for the real thing.
I have UTubed this method and it certainly makes sense. Since many emblems are bronze, like the Haenel 28, it would be the only way I could make those and I have seen many of those missing.
Last edited by 45flint; 08-05-2017 at 12:11 PM.