Thanks, fellas. The carving was the biggest challenge. On existing specimens the tang carving is sometimes obliterated through wear. I also noted that his Gordian knot carving behind the cheekpiece of his rifles is interesting but not overly modeled, so I decided to do limited modeling and keep the carving low as possible. I decided to go extravagant with the tang carving and try to “channel my inner Fainot”. I wanted the design to be as long as the lock moldings, something I find attractive from a design standpoint.
Next up is a Fainot rifle based on the one we have here in our wonderful collection on ALR.
Asking for personal preferences here. Would you do some additional patination of the stock or cut back on the patina on the metal, to better match? This is going to be a spec piece for sale, part of my daughter’s Masters tuition.
Wish I could bring it to Dixon’s but we are flying, and shipping would add to our costs, and make me more nervous than throwing it in the car. Ideas there? Best case scenario would be to deliver it to a customer!
