Colt Python

[HandyDave]

Hey guys and gals. I havent posted any projects lately mainly cause been doing alot more basic items thats not as fun to look at and talk about. But i got a job for colt python pancake holster. And the guy has seen alot of my wilder pieces and ask if i could do a python on the holster. I said yes sir and the fun started. Hope yall enjoy. I know im having fun building it. Ill post some more pics once further along.

[Bert03241]

That is freakin awesome like WOW!  can't wait to see the finished holster WOW

[Hags]

I really like this!

[Brokenolmarine]

Love the design, just picked up a pair of 6" Colts today.  A Diamondback and a Python.  That carving Rocks!  I would have to make a two gun rig, if I was going to carry them.   They are unfired 1980s models, but not for long. . I could make a presentation case, with a dual carving on leather inside the top. 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Brokenolmarine

[chuck123wapati]

great start i cant wait to see the finished piece.

10 hours ago, Brokenolmarine said:

Love the design, just picked up a pair of 6" Colts today.  A Diamondback and a Python.  That carving Rocks!  I would have to make a two gun rig, if I was going to carry them.   They are unfired 1980s models, but not for long. . I could make a presentation case, with a dual carving on leather inside the top. 

woo you spent some dough! They do need a special place to rest.

[Brokenolmarine]

Back in the early 80s, I got a nice bonus to reenlist in the Corps due to my specialty.  I bought a pair of Pythons, sequentially serial numbered.  Miami Vice was all the rage, my dealer got me a Zero Halliburton aluminum briefcase with the pullout block liner for the two guns.  A year later, my daughter was born.  My ex (yup, ex)  had to have Ginny Lind furniture for the kid's room.  The quality stuff from the exchange wouldn't do.  So, the two pythons and custom case went, as did the Ovation Custom Legend 12 String... Never got back to playing.  I was just finger picking John Denver for myself anyway...

A friend gave me this shot... I took it.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Brokenolmarine

[doubleh]

Excellent.

[HandyDave]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. As most of you holster makers know we do alot of tonal pieces blacks and browns. Cause most times there meant to be more low key. So its alot of fun when these fun custom pieces come along and get to work outside the normal box a little bit. This has been a blast to build and ive enjoyed every moment. Front and back are 7/8 oz vegtan dyed with a thinned down medium brown. Fully lined with 3/4 oz vegtan lightly oiled but left natural. Hand sewn in a dark brown then hand painted the python carving after wet molding dryed. Heres all finished except final topcoat and polish.

[chuck123wapati]

beautiful work it is fun to get to do something a bit different. if i didn't already have two holsters for my Anaconda......lol

[alpha2]

On 11/17/2022 at 8:04 AM, Brokenolmarine said:

Back in the early 80s, I got a nice bonus to reenlist in the Corps due to my specialty.  I bought a pair of Pythons, sequentially serial numbered.  Miami Vice was all the rage, my dealer got me a Zero Halliburton aluminum briefcase with the pullout block liner for the two guns.  A year later, my daughter was born.  My ex (yup, ex)  had to have Ginny Lind furniture for the kid's room.  The quality stuff from the exchange wouldn't do.  So, the two pythons and custom case went, as did the Ovation Custom Legend 12 String... Never got back to playing.  I was just finger picking John Denver for myself anyway...

A friend gave me this shot... I took it.

BrokenolMarine is a specialty? I did not know that. I'll have to ask my broken old Marine Gunny brother about that. I'll bet he knows!

BTW, my ex...decided that I didn't need to keep flying. Well, I sure didn't need something, but she was wrong that it was the flying!

[alpha2]

Nice holster! I wish I could do that artistic carving stuff, but it just ain't in me. Believe me, I've tried. Didn't get that gene. 

I prefer the type of holster shown in my avatar picture for wheelguns, but I've got a Galco pancake that is excellent for my 686+ Smith. 

The Galco was before I got into leatherworking. So, here's the one I HAD to make to replace the pancake Galco...

 

[alpha2]

6 hours ago, HandyDave said:

Thanks everyone for the kind words. As most of you holster makers know we do alot of tonal pieces blacks and browns. Cause most times there meant to be more low key. So its alot of fun when these fun custom pieces come along and get to work outside the normal box a little bit. This has been a blast to build and ive enjoyed every moment. Front and back are 7/8 oz vegtan dyed with a thinned down medium brown. Fully lined with 3/4 oz vegtan lightly oiled but left natural. Hand sewn in a dark brown then hand painted the python carving after wet molding dryed. Heres all finished except final topcoat and polish.

Did you do addl. tooling on the dark areas on the snakeskin, or just paint the contrasting colors on?

[HandyDave]

3 hours ago, alpha2 said:

Did you do addl. tooling on the dark areas on the snakeskin, or just paint the contrasting colors on?

The random pattern was painted on free hand over the light tan/beige base color of the snake. I was going for a kinda desert python/ pibald mash. 

[HandyDave]

9 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

beautiful work it is fun to get to do something a bit different. if i didn't already have two holsters for my Anaconda......lol

Thank you. The customer asked for a snake design on a pancake style holster then pretty much let me do it how i seen it in my mind. Once i sent him pics of my renderings and templates he was pumped up and couldnt wait for me to get started. 

[Bert03241]

I'll just repeat my first post WOW its just freakin awesome

[Brokenolmarine]

20 hours ago, alpha2 said:

BrokenolMarine is a specialty? I did not know that. I'll have to ask my broken old Marine Gunny brother about that. I'll bet he knows!

BTW, my ex...decided that I didn't need to keep flying. Well, I sure didn't need something, but she was wrong that it was the flying!

 

[Brokenolmarine]

I spent most of my career as an aviation electronics tech, working on just about anything that had a wire running to it.  The military figured out it was way cheaper to retain those with experience in technical jobs, than to train new people with no experience and wait for them to gain it.  Hence, reenlistment bonuses.  Some were higher than others based on additional certifications.

 

For example, an airframes tech might receive $xx to reenlist.  The same tech with (NDI) non-destructive inspection certification might get double, add upper level welding, triple.  I don't know about now, but in my day, NDI techs could write their own contracts in the civilian aviation community, so they were hard to retain once they gained experience.

[alpha2]

On 11/20/2022 at 12:47 PM, Brokenolmarine said:

I spent most of my career as an aviation electronics tech, working on just about anything that had a wire running to it.  The military figured out it was way cheaper to retain those with experience in technical jobs, than to train new people with no experience and wait for them to gain it.  Hence, reenlistment bonuses.  Some were higher than others based on additional certifications.

 

For example, an airframes tech might receive $xx to reenlist.  The same tech with (NDI) non-destructive inspection certification might get double, add upper level welding, triple.  I don't know about now, but in my day, NDI techs could write their own contracts in the civilian aviation community, so they were hard to retain once they gained experience.

Sorry, I haven't been on for a while. My Gunny brother wanted to stay in, and would have if they would've let him. He was a weighmaster on Herky-pigs and others, specializing in what I would describe as "touch and go deliveries", getting loads yanked out of the back of cargo planes at "zero altitude", mostly C-130's. To the extent that he was chosen to train the Air Force in the process. He had an injury to his knee that prevented him from passing the physical related to 100 yd dash, or some such thing. He asked me, "how far do think I'm required to "dash" in a C-130?". I know he still regrets not finishing out his career. 

Not related to that, but I designed and installed the avionics suite in my IFR rated homebuilt aircraft, including building the marker beacon receiver and digital engine instrument stuff. I did have experience, long before, building a Heathkit oscilloscope for my Ham station. A faulty diode made that more difficult than it needed to be. (Mostly because I "assumed" it was a nightmare of a solder job on a multi-level rotary switch, it wasn't). Have you ever assumed the bug was something it wasn't? I didn't think so, nobody does. I do know that NONE of that would cut it for an avionics technician rate! I'm "not that guy". At the USCG AirStation San Francisco, the AT's were called "tweets", and there was badge the next to be discharged AT would wear that said, "Next Tweet Out The Gate". They also had to wear a ballchain that would have a ball cut off each day. When the "short timer" had two days remaining, they earned the nickname, "two digit midget". Radioman was the best I could do in the Coast Guard. 

[Burkhardt]

He had an injury to his knee that prevented him from passing the physical related to 100 yd dash, or some such thing. He asked me, "how far do think I'm required to "dash" in a C-130?". I know he still regrets not finishing out his career.

But they'll make it a priority to help with transgender surgeries, not help get their active duty help to continue to serve.

[Brokenolmarine]

A2,

My son did four years in the Coast Guard, served on a Cutter out of Little Creek, The Albocore.  It has since been decommissioned and sold to a foreign power. (Forgive me, anesthesia from 29 surgeries... My memory isn't what it once was... ).

He was on terminal leave and headed for a job in Texas to work River Patrol for Homeland Security when he and his family were T-boned by a drunk in a dually pickup doing 70+ mph that ran a red light.  My son was waiting to make a left turn.  The first deputy on scene called him in as a fatality.  They airlifted him when he gasped for breath.  He was in a coma for several weeks.  Took years for him to recover.

I hated troubleshooting that kind of problem, the worst was troubleshooting, identifying the issue as a bad component.  The new one comes in, you install it, and... No Joy.  Retroubleshoot... Same answer.  Bad part from supply.

[alpha2]

I need to correct this, "When the "short timer" had two days remaining, they earned the nickname, "two digit midget". The term took effect when he had less than 100 days left, not two days! (Hey, it's been a LOOONG time).

When I got on the USCGC Rush, it had just returned from Nam. It was still a very new ship. A few years ago, I read it had been decommissioned and sold to a foreign power also. Renamed the "Mohammed" something or other. I hope it sinks. I'm too old to be nice.

Edited December 11, 2022 by alpha2
Grammar failure.

[HandyDave]

Customer sent me a few photos with his colt in holster. The real deal allways looks better then the colored holster makin props. 

[HandyDave]

[AzShooter]

Most impressive work.  I admire your ability.

 

[HandyDave]

Thank you. I love leather work and really enjoy stretching my legs so to speak when i get these fun custom projects with mostly free roam on design. My regular customers ive dealt with for years dont even bother giving me a detailed idea of what they want anymore. They tell me there ideas of what they see maybe some colors there wanting. But mostly they just tell me to do my thing. Knock on wood i havent had anyone yet say they hated what they got and wanted refund. I still allways share my final design with customers before cutting leather. Just in case i do get one who dont like what im throwin down.