Artsfeng & Fred Lohman Tsuba - you decide...
May 6, 2012 2:37:20 GMT
Post by stickem on May 6, 2012 2:37:20 GMT
So I am customizing my Hanwei Raptor. What began as a saya repair job has now morphed into a reworking of all the fittings
So not liking the eagle fittings on the Raptor because they are too cliché American/tails-side-of-a-quarter looking, I decided to go with an avian theme. Since my fiancée calls me "Goose," it seemed appropriate the bird of choice should naturally be a goose... and of course, this way she'll be more cooperative about all the loot I'm spending
So now it's fun time. Here's what came in the mail today...
Please note, honorable ArtsFeng, if you are reading this, yes, I can read too. I didn't copy your photo - just posted the URL - the listing for which is here:
www.ebay.com/itm/390251979120?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
My 1st thought coming out of the envelope is it looks like a gigantimous brass belt buckle The Marlboro Man left on Brokeback Mtn. YIKES! Yes, I knew it would be a bit gaudy when I ordered it, and it was only $25, so no harm done.
My question now is, "What do I do with it?"
I might actually like it if the coloration was different... the brass look really sucks, IMO, and there are areas on the tsuba which should be colored silver or gold that were skipped and remain unpainted/unfinished.
So my ? is "Has anyone here ever paint a tsuba? If so, what were your results?"
My 2nd thought is to go get the Testor's paint I used on all those little metal knight figures I painted when I was a kid, if for no other reason than their paints stick to metal and really look like metal. Your thoughts?[/i]
Obviously I'm not going to invest much $ in refinishing this "SAMURAI KATANA GUARD BULRUSH WIDE GOOSE TSUBA" (do they mean "Bullrush Wild Goose Tsuba?" We may never know...)
Anyway, it is just something creative to play with and see if I can make chicken salad out of chicken $h!+.
So with apologies to anyone who felt like washing their eyes out with Comet after seeing that one, I'll make it up to you now with the next one. Now for the actual art (no pun intended to ArtsFeng).
Here's the tusba I will actually use on the Raptor. It also came in the mail today from Fred Lohman:
Geese Against the Moon - (Moonlit Flight).
It is made of iron and I really like the way the geometry of the circle being thickened at the bottom makes you feel like you are looking up at the moon. At $125 it is expensive, yeah, but if I'm going to spend $ on fittings, I'm gonna get exactly what I want instead of the cookie cutter stuff.
Your thoughts on this one?
Also any thoughts on where to find other silver/iron, goose/bird fittings (e.g., fuchi, kashira, kojiri, and so on) to replace the Sam-The-Eagle fittings that come on the Raptor with a classier theme are also appreciated, as always.[/b]
So not liking the eagle fittings on the Raptor because they are too cliché American/tails-side-of-a-quarter looking, I decided to go with an avian theme. Since my fiancée calls me "Goose," it seemed appropriate the bird of choice should naturally be a goose... and of course, this way she'll be more cooperative about all the loot I'm spending
So now it's fun time. Here's what came in the mail today...
Please note, honorable ArtsFeng, if you are reading this, yes, I can read too. I didn't copy your photo - just posted the URL - the listing for which is here:
www.ebay.com/itm/390251979120?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
My 1st thought coming out of the envelope is it looks like a gigantimous brass belt buckle The Marlboro Man left on Brokeback Mtn. YIKES! Yes, I knew it would be a bit gaudy when I ordered it, and it was only $25, so no harm done.
My question now is, "What do I do with it?"
I might actually like it if the coloration was different... the brass look really sucks, IMO, and there are areas on the tsuba which should be colored silver or gold that were skipped and remain unpainted/unfinished.
So my ? is "Has anyone here ever paint a tsuba? If so, what were your results?"
My 2nd thought is to go get the Testor's paint I used on all those little metal knight figures I painted when I was a kid, if for no other reason than their paints stick to metal and really look like metal. Your thoughts?[/i]
Obviously I'm not going to invest much $ in refinishing this "SAMURAI KATANA GUARD BULRUSH WIDE GOOSE TSUBA" (do they mean "Bullrush Wild Goose Tsuba?" We may never know...)
Anyway, it is just something creative to play with and see if I can make chicken salad out of chicken $h!+.
So with apologies to anyone who felt like washing their eyes out with Comet after seeing that one, I'll make it up to you now with the next one. Now for the actual art (no pun intended to ArtsFeng).
Here's the tusba I will actually use on the Raptor. It also came in the mail today from Fred Lohman:
Geese Against the Moon - (Moonlit Flight).
It is made of iron and I really like the way the geometry of the circle being thickened at the bottom makes you feel like you are looking up at the moon. At $125 it is expensive, yeah, but if I'm going to spend $ on fittings, I'm gonna get exactly what I want instead of the cookie cutter stuff.
Your thoughts on this one?
Also any thoughts on where to find other silver/iron, goose/bird fittings (e.g., fuchi, kashira, kojiri, and so on) to replace the Sam-The-Eagle fittings that come on the Raptor with a classier theme are also appreciated, as always.[/b]