Photographing Lugers

Went Blakely · 01-07-2009, 09:58 AM

Used it on one Luger and on my M1 Garand, i had fantastic success with the infamous 'china marker' grease pencil technique. The process :
Use rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol on a rag, (of course, tested on an inconspicuous, small area first), to clean the surface you want to mark, right inside and around the markings, you really have to get them C L E A N, as any oil or dirt inside will screw up the process. There are various rubbing alcohols, the straighter, the better, it works much easier. I believe there is 30 percent, 60, and 90-99, you want the 99 percent (or whatever it is) pure rubbing alcohol.
Next, you take a china marker, whatever the desired color may be, and rub it over the area, in little circles, completely filling the indentations, until the area is completely covered over. Then the tricky part, you very gently alcohol dampen the rag, just a tiny bit, and slowly go side to side and in little circles, cleaning off the excess, and even pushing it into the indentations further, until the area is nearly completely clean. Go very easy, too much pressure will lift the stuff out of the indentations. When its nearly all clean, use a regular rag to wipe the excess off, then just rub/buff the area off with a silicone gun rag, and presto, should look a million bucks!

The China Marker - this is exactly what it is called, a china marker penicl, (chinagraph pencil) that is used for writing on china, pottery, crockery, porcelain etc, it's just a soft grease pencil found where most stationary etc is. Sounds very similar, if not the same thing Mr Tinker has mentioned, the lacquer sticks. Any type of greased base marker should work, but i prefer to keep it the china marker

Anyhoo, that's the way i've done it, i found that on an M1 website which i can't seem to find at the moment, and it works a treat, can be removed with a blunt toothpick or such tool, and the rubbing alcohol. It's not completely permanent, but it's definately pretty durable

01-07-2009, 09:58 AM	#4
Went Blakely User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 231 Thanks: 4 Thanked 8 Times in 6 Posts	Used it on one Luger and on my M1 Garand, i had fantastic success with the infamous 'china marker' grease pencil technique. The process : Use rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol on a rag, (of course, tested on an inconspicuous, small area first), to clean the surface you want to mark, right inside and around the markings, you really have to get them C L E A N, as any oil or dirt inside will screw up the process. There are various rubbing alcohols, the straighter, the better, it works much easier. I believe there is 30 percent, 60, and 90-99, you want the 99 percent (or whatever it is) pure rubbing alcohol. Next, you take a china marker, whatever the desired color may be, and rub it over the area, in little circles, completely filling the indentations, until the area is completely covered over. Then the tricky part, you very gently alcohol dampen the rag, just a tiny bit, and slowly go side to side and in little circles, cleaning off the excess, and even pushing it into the indentations further, until the area is nearly completely clean. Go very easy, too much pressure will lift the stuff out of the indentations. When its nearly all clean, use a regular rag to wipe the excess off, then just rub/buff the area off with a silicone gun rag, and presto, should look a million bucks! The China Marker - this is exactly what it is called, a china marker penicl, (chinagraph pencil) that is used for writing on china, pottery, crockery, porcelain etc, it's just a soft grease pencil found where most stationary etc is. Sounds very similar, if not the same thing Mr Tinker has mentioned, the lacquer sticks. Any type of greased base marker should work, but i prefer to keep it the china marker Anyhoo, that's the way i've done it, i found that on an M1 website which i can't seem to find at the moment, and it works a treat, can be removed with a blunt toothpick or such tool, and the rubbing alcohol. It's not completely permanent, but it's definately pretty durable __________________ Went Blakely Last edited by Went Blakely; 01-07-2009 at 10:14 AM.