Han Chinese Silver Cloud Dagger 1911 10mm Auto

[DuffMan]

Bear with me here, as my photography skills and camera are subpar.
Also, the project is not yet complete (Bernie is making me custom rosewood grips with Tang dynasty caligraphy on them). Djbordie engraved it.

This is my TM 1911 with a Guarder FMU kit. Everything else is stock. (The rear sight is a little fucked up. Hopefully Manchovie can fix it, but I'm not holding my breath, as the plastic has been ravaged. Anyone with a spare 1911 rear sight?)

The Data Stamp reads: "Silver Cloud Dagger, Calibre 10mm Auto" Cheesy? Yes, but in Wuxia fiction (think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)and through history, many great warriors and generals named their swords, spears, etc. similarly.
The other side is a quote that translates to: "10,000 bones will turn to dust for every general who achieves fame", kind of like "How many must die so Caeser may be great?"
My family surname is on both sides, behind the grip serrations.
The serial number is 18, the signifigance of this is that the numbers 4 and 10 sound a lot like the word for death, and those numbers commonly symbolize death. The word for 8 sounds a lot like Chinese version of "huh" or "eh", essentially meaning "die already" or "go ahead and die".

The sanding job is rough, but I kind of prefer it to a perfect mirror polish free of burrs. It adds character, kind of what I would imagine Chow Yun Fat use in a Hong Kong detective story. It also compliments the black furniture and controls better. It also means I can field it without being too paranoid about scratches and the like.

The pictures were taken by a generic Canon Powershot with natural sunlight (except one shot) and were taken on a gold leaf Chinese chess board with (cheap) crystal pieces.
EDIT: Yes, I realize that it is supposed to be a 10mm, and those are .45. 10mm ammo is not easy or cheap to come by.













To come:
A Nighthawk Custom "Yue Fei" Tactical 1911
"Poison" Sig P226
Detonics with poem-etched grips.

[stokes]

That looks freakin sick! How much did it cost your for all those engravings?

What was the waiting period?

[The Saint]

Classy.

[Daiviet]

thats absolutely stunning, the engraving is beautiful. Are you going to colour it in with anything or just leave it metal?

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by stokes

That looks freakin sick! How much did it cost your for all those engravings?

What was the waiting period?

$70, $20 setup, $10 per engraving per side, and $10 shipping.

Once we sorted out the graphics and got it into his hands, it was about a week.

Originally Posted by daiviet

thats absolutely stunning, the engraving is beautiful. Are you going to colour it in with anything or just leave it metal?

I think I'm just going to leave it, I want it to look kind of humble, used a bit, subtle.

[RacingManiac]

that's one of the kind.....I'd personally still sand it a few grade higher though, which would look more like a brushed steel finish, and perhaps a more hand-caligraphy-like font for the Chinese character(like the Woo on your slide).....can't wait to see it with proper grip.....

[KNIVEZS]

nice engraving very classy

[RacingManiac]

btw that Chinese chess set is quite fancy... Mines just wooden particle board with plastic piece....

[ILLusion]

Wow... really stunning piece.

My take on it: Polished a couple of grades higher, silver controls and cream coloured tan grips would be mad sex - but to each his own. Very original. I like.

[the_griffinator]

That's real pretty. Can't wait to see the other ones.

[Bowers]

gorgeous!

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

that's one of the kind.....I'd personally still sand it a few grade higher though, which would look more like a brushed steel finish, and perhaps a more hand-caligraphy-like font for the Chinese character(like the Woo on your slide).....can't wait to see it with proper grip.....

Originally Posted by ILLusion

Wow... really stunning piece.

My take on it: Polished a couple of grades higher, silver controls and cream coloured tan grips would be mad sex - but to each his own. Very original. I like.

The problem is that all the nice calligraphic fonts I could find had a very limited library, and one word in the data stamp (part of the word for caliber) and half the words in the quotes would've been in print style while the other calligraphy. I had planned to polish it to a slick mirror polish too, with silver controls, bushing, etc.

When I realized I had to go with Microsoft's print-style font, I decided I wanted it to look like it came from the factory like that, with minor personalizing (the Woo/Ng family name). It's looks like less of a showpiece and more of a duty gun or something, that just happens to be pretty unique.

Thanks for all the kind words! I'm pretty happy with it.

[S.H.I.E.L.D.]

Duff that is one sexy .45 man. Very unique for sure. I wouldn't change a thing it looks great as straight metal

[Krame]

Very nice! Your not going to be able to find a 10mm marked chamber unfortunately, but you can always buy a non marked Shooter's Design chamber and their coresponding outer barrel then just have the chamber engraved with "10mm Auto".

[MadMax]

I'm inspired. I'm going to have to metal up my latest pocket rocket (TM Detonics) with a super shiny slide with Chinese engravings. I'd like to do a variable weight stroke so it looks more in the style of brush calligraphy.

Could you help me with a Confucian translation: "Man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day"