Club Obi Wan

I just picked this up a couple days ago so I'd have a holster filler before I (someday?) get a real M1917.

It's an HFC HG-131 gas airsoft that I found online for about $40, so it was about $100 less than the Tanaka M10.

It doesn't have a tapered barrel, the correct grips, or the correct trigger guard profile, but I'm pretty happy with it. I sanded the grips to knock off the shine and give them a slightly weathered look, and did a little drybrushing with Testors gunmetal all over the rest of the gun to make it appear it had seen some adventure.

Enjoy!

Without flash:





And a couple with flash:

First of all, Welcome to the Club
Second, you did a great job, it looks very authentic. I think I will pick some of that Testors gun metal paint and age my the same way. Thanks for posting the pictures.
Cheers,
John

Yes, welcome indeed!:D

You did an excellent job! Personally, I wouldn't worry about the small details.

Thanks for the welcome and the kind words, guys!

I've been a member at the RPF for about 6 years now and I've been a long time lurker here, but I've finally decided to jump in and start on my Indiana Jones collection, and there's no better place to learn than here!

The Testors buffing metallizer paints can do some really nice effects, I've done a few other replica guns with a mixture of those and the Krylon BBQ black and they usually look pretty darn nice.

Sanding the grips for a better look and texture was something of a backup plan, because I bought some nice old beat-up vintage S&W grips that matched the Indy gun but sadly the airsoft doesn't have a full size butt so I couldn't upgrade to real wood.

I've actually jumped in head first on the Indy stuff, having picked up pretty much the whole outfit and a couple key props all in the space of the last four weeks. I'll post more pics of the rest of my gear soon.

You might want to contact Capt_Zak via PM. He may be able to help you locate wood grips for your airsoft. He is a seller of sorts.
Cheers,
John

Thanks for the info!

Nice! The flash pics look great.

I have to agree with VP this time. It looks great!

Welcome on board

Where did you find it exactly? I've seen that model in two websites only http://www.hofeng.com/gas_gun2.htm (where i cannot see prices) is one... the other one ( www.bestpricebusters.com ) seems to be offline now

I originally saw it at www.shortyusa.com for $50, but at the time it was out of stock (it's back in stock now!) but I bought mine from gamesfantasy.com for $40.

However, the gun's box was tossed inside a larger box with NO packing material at all so everything was actually just rattling around in the shipping box.

It was also missing two shells (four instead of six) and when I mentioned it via email to gamesfantasy all he said was "sorry that's how it comes now" and sent me a link to where I could buy another box of six new shells from him for $25. He has also ignored all further messages from me.

Pretty crummy, so obviously I don't recommend them, but the ShortyUSA price is well worth it too. I think it's the closest airsoft to the Indy S&W in it's price range. It's pretty hefty and has a nice feel in the hand or the holster.

welcome aboard and thanks for sharing the pics with us. I love the peice of the action Jim Kirk avatar.

Thanks! :lol

I pretty much always use Kirk avatars, and I figured around here he HAD to be wearing a fedora, right?!? :p

it'd a great shot, leave it be.

Great pictures and excellent job with the distressing, Did it come with the extra grip portions pictured on the ShortyUSA? (that's what kept me from getting that gun before, but if you easily removed them I may reconsider)

Rusty Jones
If you remove the grips that extra piece does come right off.
Cheers,
John

Unfortunately ShortyUSA don't ship abroad. About the other website.. after your little story I would never order anything from it.

Just thought I'd chime in too buddy...that's a nice pistol you have there!

Congrats
TAZ

G-MANN wrote:Rusty Jones
If you remove the grips that extra piece does come right off.
Cheers,
John

Cool, Thanks for the info man... I may just get one of those, but I REALLY like my 38T... its a bit less screen acurate but I kinda perfer it to the indy gun anyway because I like the slightly longer barrel... plus The airsoft gun's are a bit weak compared to .22 pellet pistols... and I also just poured some sweat blood and a bit of cash for extra parts into getting my 38T back to tip top firing condition... (its a 30-35ish year old gun... so I had to replace some parts after a few months of use)

EDIT: If anyone's intersted in the Crosman 38T I can help you find 'em or parts for 'em... the one i have has a 6" barrel, shoots .22 caliber pellets and I'm not sure on the FPS but it shot straight through a milk carton 100 feet away. Its got a great look and weight too...

RJ,

That sounds like a great gun you have there already. As far as ALL my Indy gear, sometimes I go for what I prefer than to what may be 100% Screen accurate. I have 2 Westeds and an Expedition and none of them is the Authentic Brown because I prefer the Dark Brown. So whatever you have that you are happy with, that is the way to go.

I am sure some would disagree with me but hey it's a free country.

Cheers,
John

G-MANN wrote:RJ,

That sounds like a great gun you have there already. As far as ALL my Indy gear, sometimes I go for what I prefer than to what may be 100% Screen accurate. I have 2 Westeds and an Expedition and none of them is the Authentic Brown because I prefer the Dark Brown. So whatever you have that you are happy with, that is the way to go.

I am sure some would disagree with me but hey it's a free country.

Cheers,
John

no, indeed, practicality will always be a notch higher than accuracy for me... that's why I went goat instead of lamb... and why I a wore a gray fedora while (not that that isnt popular around here) until it went MIA on an adventure... heh I even substitute my motocycle jacket in for my wested from time to time

Just to let you know, this is based on the bull barrel K-frame Smith and Wesson Model 13 .357 mag revolver. Looks like an absolutely dead ringer too!

Regards! Michaelson

Great job Ken!

I agree, very nice job! After I got my black airsoft I started wondering how it would look if you started with the silver one. It looks good!

Since I took those first pics I've already completely repainted mine...I guess I'm never happy with my weathering jobs. My first go was just drybrushing the gunmetal over the black plastic, which looked good in a couple spots, but didn't look very realistic in a few others.

So, I repainted the entire gun with the Testors gunmetal and sealed it with the metallizer sealer. Then I painted the whole gun again with Krylon BBQ black and buffed it until it had a nice semi-gloss appearance. Last, I rubbed the whole thing down with very fine steel wool which polished up the black very nicely and exposed some of the gunmetal underneath on the highlights and wear points.

It's somewhat subtle, so it's kinda hard to pick out in photos, but I think it gives a pretty convincing worn blued steel appearance.

So here's my Version 2 Indy Airsoft with my Wal*Mart belt and Todd's basic holster...

You make me wanting one and it's not available out of USA from http://www.shortyusa.com :evil: :evil: :evil:

Erri,

Try this link and Select "SPRING GUNS" all the way at the bottom of the page.

http://www.airsoft.com/

They may ship it to you. They are located in Hawaii and it only costs $35.00 U.S.

Cheers,
John

G-MANN wrote:Erri,

Try this link and Select "SPRING GUNS" all the way at the bottom of the page.

http://www.airsoft.com/

They may ship it to you. They are located in Hawaii and it only costs $35.00 U.S.

Cheers,
John

mmh it doesnt look the same gun

Erri,

The grips look different, I stand corrected.
Although under GAS GUNS you can find the exact one that Ken, WW and I all own. It is more money though.

Cheers,
John

Erri-Wan,

You MAY want to try contacting gamesfantasy in spite of the problems I had with them and my gun. They seem like a fairly small operation that may not have the same issues with sending an airsoft to Italy that some of the bigger companies do.

I'm assuming, of course, that the problem isn't that there are any LEGAL reasons for not sending airsoft guns to Italy, just that many online vendors don't want the hassle. I'm not very well versed in what places do and don't allow airsoft guns into the country.

Otherwise, if it's not illegal to ship an airsoft into Italy I'm sure a board member here could act as a go-between and re-ship one to you.

Where would one go about getting a lanyard ring for this puppy?

As far as a lanyard on this model, the air valve is almost exactly where the lanyard would go. You would have to decide if you want to ruin the functionality of the gun.

Here are my 2 Airsofts. The bottom is a Tanaka with wood grips and an added lanyrard (of Sorts)




Cheers,
John

Hey John. Great looking grips on that Tanaka. Where on earth did you find those? How did you do the lanyard swivel? I would love to add one to my Tanaka.

Thanks for the compliments.

Capt_Zak wrote:Hey John. Great looking grips on that Tanaka. Where on earth did you find those? How did you do the lanyard swivel? I would love to add one to my Tanaka.

Yes folks, I got these excellent wood grips as a gift from our own Capt_Zak. The S&W tags are from the original grips that I transfered. The Lanyard is actually a black cotter pin with a tiny key ring. I drilled my own hole through the butt of the gun for the pin. It took all of about 5 minutes.

Ragingblues wrote:John,

The guns look great! Did you do any coloring to them, or is that just the was the light is hitting the barrel? They look good either way.

Ken

Ken,
The top one remains untouched, with the exception of the removal of the extra grip piece. The Tanaka has been lightly distressed with emery and a touch of silver enamel.

Cheers,
John

WinstonWolf359 wrote: Otherwise, if it's not illegal to ship an airsoft into Italy I'm sure a board member here could act as a go-between and re-ship one to you.

Air soft are legal here just considered as toys. This is a proove

I'll eventually try on gamefantasy hoping that I won't have bad experiences like you did

...although I'm still waiting for a blank-fire close enough

G-MANN wrote: Yes folks, I got these excellent wood grips as a gift from our own Capt_Zak.

Great job on the lanyard swivel John! I have to give it a try on my Tanaka. And for the record John...I was the one who received the gift. The grips were simply my attempt to even out our transaction. I have a few more goodies I'll be sending your way as soon as I finish them.

Here's mine with a little bit of distressing! I also packed the grips with some foam rubber and small weights to give it some more heft in the back.
Sorry it's blurry but my camera apparently doesn't auto focus without a flash, so it's 100% impossible to get a clear picture without the stupid flash. I think you get the idea anyway ;p