Tan Commander

[RMB Custom Leather]

Great detail

[renegadelizard]

Made this holster for a Lightweight Commander. Leather is tan with white thread and black loops to match the belt. I'm quite fond of the two tone look with the loops.

I see a couple things I'd do better next time, but feel free to pick it apart.

Chris

Very nice Chris...did you vacuum mold?

[Abram]

That looks nice and I like the color.

[dickf]

Wow, thanks for all the nice comments!

I'm really liking the classic tan leather with white thread combination - something about it really speaks gunleather to me.

This holster was dip-dyed in Angelus dye and dipped in Angelus 600 acrylic to finish it off. I received some really good feedback from someone I consider to be one of the best, and I put it to use on this one. I feel it came out better because of it.

@TwinOaks - I used to build them with a shield that rises so high it covers the very tip of the beavertail, but to be honest, I think it's too much. Leather that extends like that on it's own gets flimsy and floppy and I much prefer the more classic subdued version. I've attached a pic I took of the back side - maybe it goes higher than it seems, maybe not.

@renegadelizard - I use a manual press to do the initial blocking, then hand mold the rest.

[TwinOaks]

I think it was the angle of the pic. The view of the rear makes it look quite a bit higher than the front view. In the front view, it looks like the entire hammer is above the shield which is what prompted my comment.

[olliesrevenge]

This holster was dip-dyed in Angelus dye and dipped in Angelus 600 acrylic to finish it off. I received some really good feedback from someone I consider to be one of the best, and I put it to use on this one. I feel it came out better because of it.

Beautiful holster Chris, your detail molding is perfect IMO.

I'm assuming that since the thread is not dyed tan that you dip-dyed the leather pieces before sewing. My experience has been that if I dye 1st it is much more difficult to get really good detail in the wet molding / detail process - would you mind sharing the secret?

Of course if I'm wrong in my assumption that you dip-dyed before sewing it up -- and you actually dip dyed after sewing --than I'd love to hear how you kept the thred from being dyed.

Thanks for posting & Take care

Edited November 11, 2012 by olliesrevenge

[Samalan]

Beautiful job !

[dickf]

Thank you for the compliments - I sure do appreciate it!

I think the trick to dip dying is to use good dye. I say it so often, but I stopped using Feibing's products for dye a long time ago because I could never get even shades of any brown without using an airbrush. Even then, after I got the holster wet, it bled all over my white thread and tinted it to off-white...or worse.

Angelus makes great dye that can be used for dipping, and yes - the leather panels get dipped in dye, then pulled out and left to dry. After they're dry, they get buffed and kicked down the line. There's no special trick (that I know of, at least) to getting detail after dying. I've tried molding then dip dying and my results weren't as good as my current method. I think it all comes down to the type of dye. When I started dipping, I had to buff for days using Feibing's dye, but as soon as I switched, a few quick wipes and I was moving on. There's no way to preserve white thread if you're building then dying.

Chris

[chadnorth]

nice! how do you get the leather so smooth after forming the shape of the gun?

[mattsh]

Chris - that's one mightly fine looking holster. I really love the look. 2 tone is always pleasing to the eye. I really like that tan color.