Just wanted to share a few pics of my recently distressed custom Raiders holster and MK-VII bag strap. The Holster was custom made for me a few years ago and the bag strap was from What Price Glory...also a few years old now.
Here's the link to the pic of the distressed holster:
The strap always seemed too red to me and the holster always seemed too orange, so I went to town with the polish, leather conditioner and some sand paper. Enjoy the pics
Thanks! looks like you really know your stuff when it comes to distressing...all of your gear looks great! I especially like the strap and the boots. (Are they Aldens or a look alike? Either way they look awesome!) What method did you use to distress the boots, I'm plannin' on pcikin' up a pair of Aldens soon and wanted to get some pointers on distressing them. Thanks again for the kind words!
Nice job on the distressing. I have a Noel Howard bag and strap that I would like to distress, what tips do you have (i.e. what polish works best, did you use sandpaper and if so what grit). Also, did you re-dye the shirt? If so, did you follow the directions on the site?
I like the results but since I am new to this I'm a bit nervous about breaking in my new stuff.
I distressed the bag strap and holster with a combo of fine and medium grit sandpaper, regular brown and black shoepolish and leather conditioner.
I used the snadpaper on the holster in a circular motion so as not to have too many big scratches in the leather. I found (for the holster) it was best to have the item the holster is going to contain (i.e. your gun, whatever kind it may be, real, prop, toy etc.) IN the holster while using the sandpaper. This gives the holster a more realistic look as ceratin areas, the areas more prone to getting scraped and bumped in the field, get more distressing than others. Kind of like a gun can develop "holster-wear" in the finish, the holster, too, can acquire a kind of wear based on frequent use and the way the gun sits in it. After sanding I applied generous amounts of the polish. I used brown first, then black (a lot) then brown again. Finished it all off with a coat of conditioner.
The strap I just sanded, conditioned and used the black polish, then a top-coat of brown. I also slightly sanded the buckle. (Bear in mind I did NOT sand or use polish on the back side of the strap, where it would touch your shirt, I left that raw) The strap was also conditioned again after the polish dried. You may not need as much black polish as the MBA straps don't seem as red as the WPG straps.
The MBA shirt has not been dyed at all...it's one of the few items that has been allowed to "naturally distress". It's going on 5 years old and has been worn (and washed) a LOT. As I say in my album, I think it has faded nicely to a more screen accurate color. Give it some time and it'll look great...mine began to look right after a year or two of regular wear and wash.
Good luck, don't let the distressing get too distressing.
-GCR
Last edited by GCR on Thu Feb 05, 2004 5:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I have actually never had the pleasure of using Pecards on anything. I had some old leather conditioner laying around I used to use on my old leather jacket and simply used that, but I'm sure Pecards or any brand will do fine. As for the polish, I used Rockport brand shoe polish which can be found at any Rockport store. I used it because it's what I had and it was easy to apply. It comes in squeezable tubes that have sponges attached to the bottom so it makes it easier during application. I don't suggest you use the same brand as it is a bit pricey...as I said, I used it because I had some laying around, but like the conditioner, I'm sure any brand would do.
GCR wrote:The strap I just sanded, conditioned and used the black polish, then a top-coat of brown. I also slightly sanded the buckle. (Bear in mind I did NOT sand or use polish on the back side of the strap, where it would touch your shirt, I left that raw) The strap was also conditioned again after the polish dried. You may not need as much black polish as the MBA straps don't seem as red as the WPG straps.
I'm curious about this, since the WPG strap I'm seeing out there now has a fairly visible light gray back. WPG confirmed that it is not a backing of some sort, just the untreated leather, but I would have expected brown.
They were thoughtful enough to point out that I should be careful dying the back as you mentioned.
But I've stained leathers before and had them not come off on clothing once they dried and got a little rubbing. Are you more concerned because you are using polish instead of a leather stain?
If you use a leather conditioner/lotion to seal it and then rub away any excess I find that the dye will sit and leave no marks. I also did this with a WPG strap I had a while ago, even on the back of it, and it worked just fine. A little elbow grease and you're good to go.
