Coloring in your engravings: the Write Up

[Chunky Monkey]

Where does one go to buy such a stick?

[BoomerBSG]

Originally Posted by Chunky Monkey

Where does one go to buy such a stick?

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[dave_in_delaware]

In my probably not-so-humble opinion, I think the Crayola Crayon idea is cool to "test" out the colors, to see what you really like. But we're talking about our guns here. Make the coloring permanent by using the lacquer stiks that James sells. That way you don't have to worry about any heat from range visits melting the wax. As far as heating your slide up with anything, I would NEVER do that to my guns. A simple rub on the crayon, and wipe off the excess should be fine.

I had my fiancee's subbie Gun-Koted blue (slide) and silver (small parts), then took a silver lacquer stik (from James) and did the lettering myself.

I have a few write-ups on the lettering process around the forums somewhere. You can do a quick search (advanced) and type in "lacquer" and my user name. Here's one of my posts:
Lacquer Stik

One of the tricks is allowing the lacquer to dry as long as is needed, we're talking about more than overnight (I don't have the post here in front of me). I had emailed the Lab Manager at the company that makes the stiks, and he told me setting and drying time is 16-24 hours. Less than that, and you might wipe more than just any excess off of the slide.

The biggest tip I can give everyone: be PATIENT. You can't hurry this process.

Here's my fiancee's gun:

[USMC-8154TL/DM]

If you can find these they work better than crayons and are easier to do than the lacquar sticks. I got my lacquar info from dave months ago and tried to use a lacquar stick by his steps and I could not get it to work right. I got some of these and tried it and they go on and off with minimal effort. I shot a couple of boxes through it without it running off.

1st clean your slide very good, no oil residue left on it, otherwise it will not stick.

For this you need to peel the hard layer off and work it in a circular motion to cover all the grooves. Then use a clean rag and lightly pass it over it and change it after each pass, until it is cleaned off.

Dave knows what he is doing and if you have the patients go for it. I gave it a fair shot but it didn't work.

I know the main thing with lacquar is it needs to dry (mine dried for 36 hours and didn't work right) and then use a clean rag/paper to clean it off and keep changing it.

[deepdiver]

Originally Posted by dave_in_delaware

Here's my fiancee's gun:

I typically prefer pistols in black. However, that may be the sharpest looking colored pistol I have ever seen!

[CTrider XD]

I tried the same thing with the lettering on the XD but I used a Stablo Pencil. These are found in most art supply stores. They seem to mark on most surfaces. I only put this on to make sure I like the white on the XD. I went to the range yesterday and discovered the white in the lettering seems to hold up but the ultimate is permanent color fill.

Originally Posted by USMC-8154TL/DM

If you can find these they work better than crayons and are easier to do than the lacquar sticks. I got my lacquar info from dave months ago and tried to use a lacquar stick by his steps and I could not get it to work right. I got some of these and tried it and they go on and off with minimal effort. I shot a couple of boxes through it without it running off.

1st clean your slide very good, no oil residue left on it, otherwise it will not stick.

For this you need to peel the hard layer off and work it in a circular motion to cover all the grooves. Then use a clean rag and lightly pass it over it and change it after each pass, until it is cleaned off.

Dave knows what he is doing and if you have the patients go for it. I gave it a fair shot but it didn't work.

I know the main thing with lacquar is it needs to dry (mine dried for 36 hours and didn't work right) and then use a clean rag/paper to clean it off and keep changing it.

[CTrider XD]

The blue om the slide + lettering and the trigger etc. looks great, If you don't mind me asking, what did they charge oyu to get the slide colored. Nice looking XD.

Originally Posted by dave_in_delaware

In my probably not-so-humble opinion, I think the Crayola Crayon idea is cool to "test" out the colors, to see what you really like. But we're talking about our guns here. Make the coloring permanent by using the lacquer stiks that James sells. That way you don't have to worry about any heat from range visits melting the wax. As far as heating your slide up with anything, I would NEVER do that to my guns. A simple rub on the crayon, and wipe off the excess should be fine.

I had my fiancee's subbie Gun-Koted blue (slide) and silver (small parts), then took a silver lacquer stik (from James) and did the lettering myself.

I have a few write-ups on the lettering process around the forums somewhere. You can do a quick search (advanced) and type in "lacquer" and my user name. Here's one of my posts:
Lacquer Stik

One of the tricks is allowing the lacquer to dry as long as is needed, we're talking about more than overnight (I don't have the post here in front of me). I had emailed the Lab Manager at the company that makes the stiks, and he told me setting and drying time is 16-24 hours. Less than that, and you might wipe more than just any excess off of the slide.

The biggest tip I can give everyone: be PATIENT. You can't hurry this process.

Here's my fiancee's gun:

[dave_in_delaware]

Originally Posted by deepdiver

I typically prefer pistols in black. However, that may be the sharpest looking colored pistol I have ever seen!

Thank you. My fiancee absolutely LOVES it. You should have seen her face when she opened the case for the first time.

My fiancee's favorite color is cobalt blue, and that's the closest thing I could get. I must admit, though, that the color scheme isn't original. Another member here (R/T Performance) did it first.

Originally Posted by CTrider XD

The blue om the slide + lettering and the trigger etc. looks great, If you don't mind me asking, what did they charge oyu to get the slide colored. Nice looking XD.

I don't mind you asking at all. Rich Dettelhouser of Canyon Creek (highly recommended through the forum) did the KG Gun Kote coloring. It was $100 to do the slide and small parts, or you can also just get the slide colored for $60. You, of course, pay for FedEx (or whoever) shipping.

[deepdiver]

What small parts besides the loaded chamber indicator did he do?

[5spdfrk]

Originally Posted by USMC-8154TL/DM

If you can find these they work better than crayons and are easier to do than the lacquar sticks. I got my lacquar info from dave months ago and tried to use a lacquar stick by his steps and I could not get it to work right. I got some of these and tried it and they go on and off with minimal effort. I shot a couple of boxes through it without it running off.

These look like lumber crayons that you can get at the hardware store. Do you know if they are the same?