3:10 to Yuma "Hand of God" Colt SAA .45

Kwally89

Hunter
3:10 to Yuma "Hand of God" Colt SAA .45 DONE!!! PICS!

Well, I've always been a HUGE western fan as I grew up watching Bonanza and tons of old Clint Eastwood movies with my grandpa! I recently got a chance to watch 3:10 to Yuma with Russel Crowe and Christian Bale...all I have to say is WOW! I'm a huge movie buff and love both those actors...it is a great film!

On to the point...I also fell in love with Crowe's character, Ben Wade. For those that haven't seen the film, he is the smart, ruthless, and "religious" outlaw. He sports an old Colt Single Action Army .45 revolver with a blued finish. In the hilt there is a gold crucifix on each side. I decided to search the internet for these, and to my suprise, the guy that made the leather holsters for the movie lives in Des Moines, Iowa!! That is pretty close to where I live. I've emailed him because he has silver and bronze casts of the actual crucifix used in Crowe's Colt! I'm kind of afraid to mess with my real Colt revolver as it is an antique army calvary issued sidearm...soooo I picked up a full metal replica with working action, cylinder, and shell ejector.

My project is to first produce resin copies of the grips on the weapon to work on (don't want to dremel into the beautiful wood grips on the gun), make a cast of the crucifix, dremel into the resin grips, insert the crucifix, smooth out and fill the seams so it looks as if the crucifix was inlaid into the grip, and attach it to the revolver.....

I found a company that will fit your weapon with the "Hand of God" grips...but....it is around $500-600 for the lowest grade metal...sterling silver I think....a little too pricey for a wall hanger project :lol:!

Here is the weapon with no mods:
t_1001181m_82eb4b6.png

VERY nice quality replica. I'm very pleased!!

I also have a metal (and a wood one) CNC machine!! Those things rule!! I'm going to etch COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY .45 into the barrel as you would see on a "real" weapon.

DONE!!! Excuse the "grainy" feel to the picture! It is from my phone!
handofgodDONE.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
thats pretty awesome... and i'm glad you didn't try messing with the antique... my uncle modified a gun that supposedly belonged to an old-time gunslinger and it wouldn't fire anymore... o_O
 
thats pretty awesome... and i'm glad you didn't try messing with the antique... my uncle modified a gun that supposedly belonged to an old-time gunslinger and it wouldn't fire anymore... o_O

haha...thats really too bad :facepalm...I've always had the rule that if something isn't broken don't fix (or modify) it...i've had multiple times were I haven't taken my own advice because of money usually....unless you restore something with antique parts, the value of the antique wlll generally go down. Something ceases to be a true antique when you swap in modern parts :D
 
Finally got the grips off...it sucked! I had to drill through the screws to get them to loosen because I realized after nearly killing myself trying to unscrew them, they were dummy screws. They held the grips on with a lockin mechanism. I have sealed the wood grain (probably was already because it was stained but caution never hurts!) and prepped for molding.
 
Kwally,
Here's the gun used in the movie, if you need it for reference...
http://www.usfirearms.com/cat/gunslinger.asp

And here's some screen-used leather...
http://www.willghormley-maker.com/SpringSale.html

I like what you're doing....as a matter of fact, I was going to do something similar (as soon as I can find time!), but I dang sure can't afford the real Hand of God (Gunslinger) pistol, and I haven't found a decent zinc replica that has that patina "look" to it...where did you find yours?

I'll be watching this thread with interest!(y)
Rob
 
Kwally,
Here's the gun used in the movie, if you need it for reference...
http://www.usfirearms.com/cat/gunslinger.asp

And here's some screen-used leather...
http://www.willghormley-maker.com/SpringSale.html

I like what you're doing....as a matter of fact, I was going to do something similar (as soon as I can find time!), but I dang sure can't afford the real Hand of God (Gunslinger) pistol, and I haven't found a decent zinc replica that has that patina "look" to it...where did you find yours?

I'll be watching this thread with interest!(y)
Rob


Sweet, thanks! i knew that U.S. firearms did a Colt reproduction for the movie and the leather website you found is actually the guy from Iowa that I was talking about in the first post. I have ordered a crucifix from him to mess with and mold.
 
Update:

Got the grips in a silicone mold and casted two prototypes for fitting the crucifixes....hopefully they'll arrive soon so I can get this done!
100_1183-1.jpg
100_1184-1.jpg
100_1185-1.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You're welcome, bro!:D
Where did you get your replica Colt?
Rob


Its made from a company in Spain called denix...check out their website: www.denix.es...they have some pretty awesome stuff!! I purchased it from a retailer called netlinkenterprises.com...they have a bunch of sites with different names for swords, flintlocks, civil war weapons, etc. but they all sell the same stuff...i just went to this one http://www.replicaweaponry.com/bluedfin45ca.html reasonable price and VERY nice replica!
 
Thanks for the link, kwally...yeah, I've got a nickel plated .45 Colt replica with a 7" barrel made by Denix (plus, a couple of flintlocks, too)...and it's a pretty hefty prop, and well made!:lol:
Rob
 
Just got the crucifix in the mail, and it is a masterpeice!! Will Ghormley is a true craftsman, and this isn't even his specialty!! I'll hopefully have a prototype mold done tomorrow if I can stop working on Iron Man!
 
Looks like a cool project! I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've definitely been interesting in watching it.

Also cool to see another person in Iowa! I'm in Des Moines, south side. You ever been to a place called "Jay's CD and Hobby"? Lots of cool comics and toys, old and new. Cool place to go if you're ever in Des Moines. (y)

Can't wait to see more progress!
 
Looks like a cool project! I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've definitely been interesting in watching it.

Also cool to see another person in Iowa! I'm in Des Moines, south side. You ever been to a place called "Jay's CD and Hobby"? Lots of cool comics and toys, old and new. Cool place to go if you're ever in Des Moines. (y)

Can't wait to see more progress!

Sweet! I think I remember seeing that you were from Iowa when I was reading a post of yours. I've never heard of "Jay's CD and Hobby". Sounds like a cool place. I live in the Cedar Falls area except during the school year I'm at ISU. I just found out that the admin, Mirmax H...i think...is originally from Iowa and graduated from ISU...just seems like Iowa doesn't have too many reps here!
 
If you're ever in CF, you should check out "Limited Edition" on college hill. My buddy owns it, and he is crazier about Star Wars than I am!! He has every MR helmet, full leather and MR Vader costume, life size Han Solo in carbonite, married in Vader costume, named his kids Tarkin and Mara Jade!!! He's a great guy!
 
Finally had time to snap some pics of the crucifix and how it could look when it is all said and done. Will mold crucifix tomorrow hopefully...gotta work late :( Pics are a bit blurry...my sister's camera was VERY cheap.

DSCI0100-1.jpg

DSCI0099.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
No problem, Kwally....I went through the whole movie a while back, taking as many screencaps as I could of The Hand...if I find any more, I'll post them here for you....:)
Rob
 
Just got signed up, saw this and had to chime in.

Good job on those grips. I bought two of the crucifixes and a couple of Ghormley's buckles(plus about six of his patterns for various leather projects I'm working on).

Again good job.
 
This thread is more than 14 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top