Hi everyone,
so, even though I'm on my way to an airsoft-only collection (with the exception of a Shoei FG42, this just HAS to stay
), I decided to not just sell my Hudson Thompson off, but rather made a trade deal with Kickback and traded the Thompson for his MGC MP40.
Thanks a ton to you, Kickback, for a flawless deal and this nice example of one of the most "famous" modelguns out there
Always wanted to hold one of these in my hands and as expected, seeing that "68"on top of the receiver makes you kind of awestruck...
While the MP40 was (and is) in great shape regarding cuts, damages, modifications etc. - it has none of those - it had two minor setbacks:
1. it was missing a detonator pin
2. it had been painted rather sloppy by one of the previous owners
Disclaimer: by no means is this thread meant as a rant regarding the condition of the MP40 or anything - condition is very good for such an old gun!1. was pretty easy to fix: Shazhib got two pins from a guy in Japan, who custom builds these, they are on their way right now. Thank you Shazhib and thanks Kickback for the hint
2. was a bit work.
A friend of mine is a very exprienced model-building veteran (from complicated classic cars in huge scales to RC controlled trucks and tanks) and gun / airsoft owner, additionally, he is retired and does have a lot of time for his hobbies
I brought the MP40 to him and he gave it quite a bit of love.
We decided, not to go for bluing the gun again (as my friend feared, that it might get splotchy with one of those small cold bluing bottles), but rather for a better paintjob with high-end "baking varnish" and a "good as new" look.
So I thought, I'd post some fotos here, a "foto love story" you could say
This is how I received the gun from Kickback - nice to look at from a few feet away (especially on fotos as bad as I have taken them here
), but the paint was pretty much everywhere, too much of it in several places and even the brown handguard halves were painted black with several layers:
He disassembled the MP40...
...and gave it a thorough acetone treatment:
Magazine had thick paint on it, too, the markings were partly filled with paint.
He even got rid of the black paint on the plastic handguard halves by bathing them in steryllium over night.
The grips and the barrel rest were the only parts without paint, the grips look fine, the barrel rest comes from a Marushin MP40 and will be replaced.
The parts were then painted with a special varnish, that hardens at about 200° Celsius - my friend used his gas barbecue for this. Worked very well, and he didn't have to explain to his wive, why there are 50 year old gun parts in the oven...
Whil this baking varnish gets harder and tougher than normal paint, it still is just varnish and will probably come off here and there over time, when handling the gun. We do hope, that it lasts longer and better than the paint that was on it, though
Another advantage of this paint is, that is takes on a slight anthrazite tone when heated up, this looks pretty authentic.
The bolt was also painted...
...and additionally got a treatment with some kind of steel powder / steel paste (a secret trick of my friend, he doesn't want to share
) that gives it a very convincing steel-look:
Magazine now comes with visible, crisp stamps:
The leather sling was refurbished, too, and now is softer and looks better.
He assembled the gun and here are a few results.
Note: This is not the final look of the MP40, I'm waiting for original Bakelite handguard halves and barrel rest, we might also touch it up here and there a bit more, but so far, we're pretty happy with how it turned out.
I really owe my friend here, he has invested a lot of time and effort to get this old piece refurbished Thanks a ton to you mate!
Work in progress, will post again, when the MP40 is finished.
Sat Sep 19, 2020 7:03 pm
