Custom KWA MK2 WIP + Pics (So Much Grinding - March 24)

[Summers1000]

I recieved this back in the summer for something to help me out in the future, and after a while I got sick of the black grips and the black frame because it looks bland. So I've started work on doing 3 modifications to the gun the first being to make a set of maple grips, after which I am going to strip and polish the body, and then work on modifying the recoil spring guide and outer barrel so I can put a thread on it.

The grips started out as a piece of scrap form the guitar neck I'm working on, and luckily for me it was barely the right width.

The piece of wood (I took the pictures after) was then cut donw in half with a table saw from 13/16 down to 3/8, and then traced the old grips on to the wood using the edge of the wood as a side so I would have as much room as possible incase something went wrong. After doing a rough cut with a bandsaw, I sanded down the sides with a vertical belt sander leaving burn marks on the tops and bottoms of the grips. After that I used a drill press to drill a 3/32 hole for the screw, a 9/32 hole for the screw head, and a 11/32 hole for the nubs, trying to get as close to the dimensions of the screw as possible so there would be less room for the grips to move about once on (unfortunately I drilled a tad bit to far in on the first nub hole, but the screw still has enough of a lip to stay on).

For the right side grip I used a rat-tail file to form the indent for the mag release, and for the left grip I used a circular sander for the plunger tube to fit.

The grips as they are currently, until I sand them down and put a design into them with a dremel.

The next step of this project will involve stripping the paint, and then using the grinder pictured to polish the frame so that it has a similar lustre to the front shock pictured.

Update March 2nd (Feb 24th)

I took the "bricks" and using the regular grips as a guide traced the curve on the bottoms using a pencil. I sanded down the grips using the belt-sander (not fun having a 3/8 gap between the belt and your hands, as it tends to give the wood some "man-made" stain) to slowly sand them down, makeing sure to go with the grain so the wood did not get to scratched up.

The next step that I did to the grips was to go over with the pencil the approximate area that my thumb goes, enableing me to sand it down with the curved end of the beltsander so that my thumb is able to reach the mag release easier.

I then sanded down the wood with some resin sanding sheets from Princes Auto to finish off the wood, and the thumb groove (The sandpaper can take off a good amount of wood and still leaves it smooth)

The next step(s) are to
1. Make a symbol/insert to put in the grips
2. stain the wood
3. and perhaps put a design in with the dremel tool

[SuperCriollo]

I would also cut off the orange part of the outer barrel if I were you, or I would simply get a new one.

[Summers1000]

Originally Posted by SuperCriollo

I would also cut off the orange part of the outer barrel if I were you, or I would simply get a new one.

I'm planning on getting the KWA metal barrel, and the MK3/4 guide rod and doing some modifications so I can put a thread on the end of it.

But that will come after everything else though.

[Potenza]

I got my metal barel from airsoft gi. Imported no problem and no duty/brokerage surprises.
Nice work! Looking forward to the final shots.

[Summers1000]

Just updated the main post.

I'm going to go look for my mini sand-blaster...

[Summers1000]

I apparently have no tiny sandblaster (only a tiny paintgun) and so I'm going to use the polishing wheel (used for those shocks in the other pictures) with some rough grit paste to remove the paint. The current problem that I'm having is trying to strip the gun fully apart, as I can't figure out how to remove the safety levers. I'm not sure if I need to push out a pin, work of the lavers manually, ar remove a very tiny hex screw. Does anyone have any idea how to remove it?

[Styrak]

Have you removed the retention pin at the top of the grip on the left side? After that, pull them apart while in the safe position.

[Summers1000]

I was trying to get at it (after googling 1911 takedown) but the problem is that the left lever does not go up far enough to let the pin out.

[Fuzzy]

Don't know if you've seen this takedown guide.

http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/KW...w-t187853.html

[Summers1000]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Don't know if you've seen this takedown guide.

http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/KW...w-t187853.html

Never saw that before, thank you.

This gun will be redone in no time now.

[Summers1000]

Update March 24th - Polishing/stripping begins.

I've taken a picture of the Serial Number in case it ends up being taken off while I do this, just for reference later on.

I'm going to be using a variable speed table grinder fitted with cloth wheels and some black (roughest) polishing paste. The work that you can see here took about an hour to do so I still have to finish up the other side and the most tedious bits that are a pain to get at (like the RIS, and the grip nubs). There is also a picture of the dirt and crap from doing just this little bit.

The slide will hopfully be faster and easier as there are more flat spots on it (barring the slide serrations).

Also Look at Picture 192 for a good example of the sheen just from the black paste (that big black thing is the camera, as there are still 3 more to go until blue (finest).

[louisriel]

I ended up getting a MK 1 and I've been thinking about polishing it up too.

Two questions.

Did the serial completely buff off?

Did you end up putting some sort of sealant on it? I've been looking into maybe doing a duracoat clear coat.

[Summers1000]

Originally Posted by louisriel

I ended up getting a MK 1 and I've been thinking about polishing it up too.

Two questions.

Did the serial completely buff off?

Did you end up putting some sort of sealant on it? I've been looking into maybe doing a duracoat clear coat.

The serial number did come off (not engraved in the metal, only the paint), and I'm still working on getting the buff nice and shiny, but I don't see any problem if you did put some clear coat on it.