White paint
 

Is the white paint in the word Gesichert and in the serial number factory? Or did some one add the paint after the war?

it is factory, the only place on it that was done like that. All other "whiting" you see is added to make the letters / numbers show up better.


Ed

Thanks

Steve, I'm sure Ed meant to say the "Gesichert" was colored in the factory. The rest of the information was "whitened" to make them show up better!!

correct, sorry Frank, I read it as Gesichert was colored at the factory...


not the serial number


Ed

Some of the "paint" has been removed (not by me). Should I put new on or should I just leave it alone. If I should put new on what should I use???

Steve,

The GESICHERT mark was highlighted with sealing wax at the factory. Do mean that some of it remains on your Luger? If this is the case, I would recommend leaving it alone, as this is one of the benchmarks demonstrating original finish.

--Dwight

Dwight,

Do you have more information on the "sealing wax" that was used at the factory? I have one pistol that was reworked and I used the Testors paint to fill in the stamps and this worked fine. The problems with the Luger is getting the correct color.

Marvin,

There have been a couple of discussions abou this on Jan Still's board. Apparently the original material was white http://luger.gunboards.com/topic.asp...ms=sealing+wax (see an entry near the bottom of the discussion) and the material has yellowed over time.

--Dwight

Dwight,

Thanks for the Link! I had always assumed that the "yellowing" of the paint on the Luger was from age and oil applied. The earlier WWI and Weimar Luger letters seem to have a more "yellow" to "pumpkin" color (actually looks like baby poo color, LOL) that I have attributed to age and oil. The later 1940 - 1942 Mauser Lugers always seemed to have the more "white" color and this is because it is not "aged".

Testors flat white will make a good substitute for the wax. I believe the loaded chamber indicator was also in the white. All other proof marks and s/n's are colored in by collectors to make them stand out.

ironcross4148,

Thanks, I have used the Testors white before to fill in the majority of a stamp on a P.38 where most of the original paint had chipped out.

Having been away from the Forum for a while, the paint in the loaded chamber indicator is new information to me!