Bruce Pennington Posted March 12, 2016 Report Posted March 12, 2016 Guys, any tips on what kind of paint and where to get it, for re-painting my Type-95 saya? It had been totally stripped and painted gold before I got it, so I've stripped the gold and would like to paint it something more original. There is a small section on the screw tab of the kabuto-gane of the original color. Quote
christianmalterre Posted March 12, 2016 Report Posted March 12, 2016 Bruce, go to a specialist and do let it repaint professionally... this should not cause any problems if he does get the exact info on the paint which got used for this kind of stuff originally.... don´t know ? don´t you have something like this here( https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAL-Farbe) at your´s ? Christian Quote
paul griff Posted March 12, 2016 Report Posted March 12, 2016 Hello Bruce, Tamiya models green acrylic paint on a dark undercoat is very close to the gunto green. I have used this in the past using a nice soft 1/2 inch brush to good effect...used to be able to get the spray cans in the same colour but I think they have discontinued them in the U.K....not sure about the U.S. ? Regards, Paul. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted March 12, 2016 Author Report Posted March 12, 2016 Thanks guys! both of those look good. I will investigate them. I know a couple of guys that do good model aircraft and model train painting. I will contact them to see if they'll do the job for me! Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted March 13, 2016 Author Report Posted March 13, 2016 Ok, saya is finished. Pics distort the color a bit but I think I got a good close color. I actually looks TOO good! But it's way better than that gold. A friend that does primo model paint jobs is working on the tsuka. 3 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Posted April 8, 2016 Well here's the final product! I hate that it looks too perfect instead of worn with actual use, but the only other choices were all gold or all silver bare metal. So I decided to have a friend do a total re-paint. 3 Quote
paul griff Posted April 8, 2016 Report Posted April 8, 2016 Hello Bruce, Nice paint job.When I've had to do similar work on a gunto I keep it in the living room and handle it as much as possible even take it to the garage when working on the car or chopping wood...the wife understands and kids don't take any notice anymore. That said it is not to deceive anyone but just to add a bit of patina.. Paul.. 5 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 9, 2016 Author Report Posted April 9, 2016 Thanks Paul! I think that's a great idea. The whole problem is that it doesn't look used, so I'll give it a try, and man-handle the thing a bit! Quote
Shamsy Posted April 9, 2016 Report Posted April 9, 2016 I think it'd be a shame to artificially age the repaint. Sure it doesn't look like 99% of the originals without some paint loss, but it is a good reminder of 'how it left the factory'. 3 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 10, 2016 Author Report Posted April 10, 2016 Ok, Steve, that's a good point! I won't do anything rash, and think about it for a while. Thanks guys! Quote
Stoney Posted April 10, 2016 Report Posted April 10, 2016 Isn't it funny how Americans like to " Brand New " old Gunto swords and koshirae, and that brings better money for them. In Australia if I came across a " Brand New " Gunto ie Repainted, Restored, Tampered with, and Unoriginal it is actually worth less money. Quote
drbvac Posted April 10, 2016 Report Posted April 10, 2016 You can always throw it down a set of concrete steps in the rain and leave it sitting outside for a week = that will make it look beat up pretty quickly ;) Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 10, 2016 Author Report Posted April 10, 2016 Thanks for the laugh, Brian! Chad, I'm fairly new at this, but I haven't run into any re-painted gunto's on the market, have you? I'm not selling mine and just couldn't stand to see it painted gold. Even the blade was gold painted. Quote
paul griff Posted April 10, 2016 Report Posted April 10, 2016 Hello Bruce, I have been collecting Gunto's for years preferably ones with a bit of history but even I couldn't live with a gold one and I've just been offered an officers one painted in what looks like metallic gold car paint seen on 80's fords...! If it was an nco,s I'd probably take it and do the same as you...I've known for gold and silver painted gunto,s and also talked to the veterans who brought them back and thought it was a good idea at the time to paint them with paint from where they worked..That said - they had lived through death and destruction but were still teenagers when they brought them back...! In the U.K I do come across ' Frankenstein ' officers swords with badly painted saya but not that many nco's models...there was one at the Brecon arms fair a couple of months ago and someone did buy it.....so maybe not common but certainly not uncommon... Regards, Paul.. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 11, 2016 Author Report Posted April 11, 2016 Paul, powerful story! If I knew the story of one like that, I'd keep it too!!!. So far, counting your story, I've hear 3. The other two were swords painted gold, laying in the corner of a theatre in Avon-on-trent, England, for plays; the other a kid who painted his dad's sword for fun. I don't know the stories behind mine. All I know is that in 1926, a new Emporer was inaguarated in Japan. There were scabbards painted gold for that occasion, but due to the date, 1926, they couldn't have been guntos. So, I gave in and re-painted mine. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 2, 2017 Author Report Posted April 2, 2017 A recent update on the gold painted gunto. Our good freind IJASWORDS sent me these pics of the saya of a copper handled Type 95. He's a metals guy and analyzed the gold and found it was gold-gilding. By the wear patterns it seems to have been there from the war. Quite a mystery! I've added it to my growing discussion of gold painted gunto on SFI: http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?115526-Gold-Painted-Shin-Guntos!&p=1226353#post1226353 1 Quote
EdWolf Posted April 3, 2017 Report Posted April 3, 2017 Hi Bruce, Your sword turns out great. Was the blade also painted with gold paint or covered with varnish? Regards, Ed Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 3, 2017 Author Report Posted April 3, 2017 It was a clear gold and came off with acetone. Don't know if it was paint or varnish, but yes they had painted the blade too!! Quote
EdWolf Posted April 3, 2017 Report Posted April 3, 2017 It looks like varnish. It was common practice by collectors to cover the blade with varnish during the 70's and 80's. I have seen a lot of bayonets, all covered with a coat of varnish. It protects the blade and luckly easy to remove. 1 Quote
vajo Posted April 10, 2017 Report Posted April 10, 2017 On ohmuras site all swords have bin restored. Some more some less. Your sword is nice looking Bruce. But i would prefer a original mint condition :-) Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 10, 2017 Author Report Posted April 10, 2017 On ohmuras site all swords have bin restored. Some more some less. Your sword is nice looking Bruce. But i would prefer a original mint condition :-) Don't we All! I bought this one very early in my collecting and couldn't stand to leave it painted gold. Quote
vajo Posted April 10, 2017 Report Posted April 10, 2017 I meant the other bruce. Not the golden one Quote
BenVK Posted April 13, 2017 Report Posted April 13, 2017 Bruce, I think you did a great job which involved craftsmen who are your friends. Personally, being a modeller myself, I would have added some washes and other techniques to tone down the newly applied paint. That takes skill and effort though. Much easier to let time and handling take it's course! 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 14, 2017 Author Report Posted April 14, 2017 That's some really cool models, Ben! I'll certainly do something like that when I can get enough of my Spring house chores out of the way! Quote
BANGBANGSAN Posted April 14, 2017 Report Posted April 14, 2017 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Imperial-Japanese-WWII-Helmet-SPRAY-PAINT-HELMET-NOT-FOR-SALE-/121649789848?hash=item1c52e47b98:g:LDIAAOSwv0tVUkV~ This is good. 1 Quote
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