So I got the blanks for the grips made, and am in contact with a plastics company. I've got about $100 of castable mold material, resin, and dye in my cart. Gonna call them tomorrow for one last question and then buy them. I'm expecting it to be around two weeks before I'll have the first set cast.
Backfill for those who missed it: i'm making some custom grips modeled closely after Spike's from Cowboy Bebop for my Jericho. Since I'm going to be casting them, I'll have molds and am planning on making sets to sell. I want to keep prices down (less than $50) because it's ridiculous how much people charge for gun shit and I like you guys. I got a good response last thread and I'm going to go forward with selling them if I can get the casting right and the grips are a good enough quality to sell.
Pic related is from last week, one of the almost finished scales. I just needed to do a little bit of filling and some cleaning up.
These are made out of paper, but the finished product is going to be made out of a durable plastic.
Are you not adding the upper portion on the right side? I realize you can't sell a laser that would work properly but why not make the actual grips instead of just stylized regular ones?
I could, but I wasn't getting enough of a response to warrant doing it. I suppose I could still, though. Just gotta make sure it wouldn't interfere with the gun itself.
I couldn't find a good way to cast that and still have it be strong enough for actual use. I don't want to make display pieces, I want to make something that can actually be carried/used. I also really like the way Jerichos fit in my hand and didn't want to fuck that up.
Why not? That grip looks real comfy.
Daniel Flores
Other side. I also needed to drill holes for the screws. These grips will fit on like the standarg Jericho grips.
Although I suppose if you’re just making a solid color, bubbles won’t be as big of an issue.
It’ll still be higher quality if you get rid of the bubbles, and it will get rid of surface imperfections
Thomas Davis
Pic related is what I'm using. I spoke to a company rep and they were saying that the plastic hardens to 85 or 86 rockwell(?). Basically that of a hard hat. They said that they shouldn't get brittle and should be able to take impact.
They also said that vibrating the mold right after pouring should get rid of bubbles. Also to pour as soon as it's mixed so it fills all of the spots before it starts to set up. It has ~6 minutes of pot time, I'm going to try to cast within 2. If there are any issues I could probably rig up a pressure chamber.
Also, the main issue I'm facing with wrap-around would be making sure it would attach well enough. I'd like to keep the finished product as close to the one on Bebop, so using external fasteners would be out of the question, and using a locking tab system would make it so they couldn't be removed without destroying them.
Samuel Perry
Whatever you do there will probably be some bubbles. Are you trying to make a matte black grip?
I especially ran into this issue with my grip since it was a one piece mold and a one piece grip. >pic related was my pre-pressure tank molding grip
where do you plan on selling them from so I can throw money at you as soon as they are available?
Tyler Turner
>the madman is actually doing it Good shit guy. I get that you're going for practicality but I think if the grips turn out well, you should make some more show piece grips like some anons in this thread were asking.
why are you putting these on a gun thats not even remotely similar to the one in the anime?
Nathaniel Hughes
Not everyone can track down the original railess Jericho, they are a bit of a pain to get ahold of at a reasonable price. Best ones I've seen were the philipino police versions and in trying to decide whether my autistic need for absolute accuracy is stronger than just being ok with the same gun with some silly text plastered on it from a very anti-commie country.
Regardless, the grips would work on any full size Jericho and that's what matters
Honestly if you made good enough versions and sold those and then upgraded to a fully wrap around version and sold that as a different product, I wouldn't mind buying another "upgraded" set just to support you more, especially if you want these to be cheap. Seriously dude if they are pretty comfy grips you could make a pretty penny from normies who just want cool grips on their Jerichos and don't know about being a Space Cowboy
The way I see it, what you could do is sell a good enough version that doesn't wrap around, not 100% show accurate but better than nothing. Then once you figure it out you could make a full wrap around version for 100% accuracy, and then on top of that you could make a version to mount a laser on. I'd buy all 3 if they turn out good
Honestly, if you're not gonna make them true to the actual version, don't bother.
Levi Kelly
Wrong.
Noah Anderson
This. >not show accurate >not a good grip Whats the point? If you make accurate ones I'll be one of the first to buy them.
Nolan Cruz
Fuck yeah. What colors are you going for?
Because I bought the gun to shoot. I prefer the frame mounted safety. I can't justify dropping $500-$600 on something that I don't like very much; pretty much the same reason I bought a Jericho over a CZ75 or an M&P. The fact that it's the space big iron and I can put these grips on it is just a plus.
Another issue is that a lot are beat-to-shit police turn ins. Not my reason (see above) but certainly another good one.
Hell, I'm having a lot of fun making these, I could see myself making them in the future. I had an idea for a one piece slide on grip made out of stretchy rubber. I love the feel of rubberized grips and I could give it a go. I really appreciate the enthusiasm and support, and I'm taking it into consideration for future projects. If I did a wraparound version I'd include the laser for complete accuracy. I wish I could make the laser work, but I don't think it's possible without a drop-in system.
So I've been thinking about it, and I'm heavily considering just making the laser and mounting it on the grip blanks so I can cast the whole thing. What do you guys think? Although I like the design I have I also really like the look of the laser.
Samuel Williams
Yeah, saw they posted this a few days after I posted my original thread. But I think they're overcharging, and I'm confident that I'll be able to beat them out on price and accuracy (theirs aren't even flat black/grey).
I'm pretty heavily considering putting the laser on. I don't want to fuck around with the full wrap around grips just yet, but the ones I make will be a lot more accurate than the other guys'.
Brandon Moore
>more accurate more accurate than not accurate at all isn't saying much m8
Levi Carter
I just realized that I should absolutely be able to add the laser, and to sell the grips with/without it. So that should be happening. I'll have to make a cutout (see pic related) so the slide safety will work, but besides that it should be accurate.
I'm not saying it's not going to happen, just not right now.
I just use red, blue, and yellow dye, and mix the three to create the color I want
Before, I was using a single dropper for all three, which muddied the colors. The bottles they came in also leaked like crazy. The new bottles have individual droppers inside the lid of each one. This will allow consistency in my color combinations
>I can't justify dropping $500-$600 on something that I don't like very much so why didn't you get a surplus one that you'd like more since it would be closer to your anime?
