It should be noted in the beginning that "Presentation Cases" are exactly that...They are designed and constructed for PRESENTATION or DISPLAY, not STORAGE nor TRANSPORT...If used for any purpose other than their original design, deterioration can occur rapidly...
After acquiring several S&W's with original presentation cases, and then adding a few cases to guns which were not in the original shipment, I began to wonder what some of my other caseless S&W's would look like if they were available as a factory option...I had a few non-S&W cases which I paired with caseless guns, then when I bought a .44 Model of 1950 Military which had a law enforcement history, I decided to go all out with an extra case I had bought...This wooden box probably dates to mid 1990's or 2000's which is much later than my sphere of interest, but the project appealed to me...
I have a good friend who enjoys woodworking, and he refinished and detailed the exterior...Living up to his talents is difficult, but I determined to give it a shot...He was unhappy with the brass plaque that was glued to the lid by a previous customizer as the adhesive's solvent made the mahogany under it turn a lighter shade...No amount of cleaning or staining would restore the original color, but I am not at all displeased with the result of his efforts...
Here is how his work turned out...The S&W logo on top was originally bare wood, and he carefully filled in the factory cuts by hand in black...He also wanted it noted that the remaining raised wood left by the factory laser cutting of the logo is fragile, and is susceptible to damage by sanding...
For those trying this yourself, I will say I tried putting a coat of RenWax on the exterior, but it seems to leave smear marks which may take some time to evaporate...I may try furniture polish later...The next photo shows the interior as it was shipped from S&W while I was taking measurements...The black foam rubber was glued down to the inside of upper and lower halves at the factory...My friend carefully masked off the rubber and removed all the hardware before beginning work...
Next I chose some scrap styrofoam (being a packrat I rarely throw away anything I might find useful) from my stash, and cut two pieces for upper and lower halves...
The seller from whom I bought this gun had obtained it from the son of the Kansas City Missouri police officer who carried it on duty...He also included the officer's department shield and speedloaders...I sourced what I believe to be an era correct KCPD shoulder patch myself...I experimented with different arrangements before settling on using two speedloaders vertically...I couldn't make all three speedloaders work in the space provided without losing some integrity in the styrofoam...
I wasn't entirely sure how many depths of cuts I would need to be able to seat the N-frame gun to a level that would allow the lid to fully close without crushing the foam...I started cutting until the frame was flat on upper and lower then started taking away necessary material to allow the cylinder, the grip adapter and the stocks room to rest...The pieces which were cut away from the styrofoam were saved (remember I'm a packrat) and came in handy making a flat surface at the bottom of the cuts in the foam rubber...
After I had made enough cuts to allow the gun to rest at a depth sufficient to allow full closure of the lid with a slight squeeze, I began to make cuts for the other pieces...All cuts are made freehand after outlining the components...I made the circular cuts for the speedloaders with cookie cutters...Not being happy with the depth of the holes for patch and shield, I cut cardboard spacers to slightly raise both...
At this point I decided there was not enough support in the styrofoam nor the underlying foam rubber to support all three speedloaders, so I cut holes for two instead...I'll make a cardboard vertical support for the area between the two, and glue it in place...
Below is a preliminary mockup for fitting...
Thanks to a fellow collector clean, primed, empty .44 Spl. brass all headstamped R-P, were obtained for the speedloaders...Here they are test fitted...They bottomed out evenly in the holes with the spacers I added to the bottoms...
The locking knobs of the speedloaders were still above the level of the lower half of the case, and clearance holes had to be cut in the styrofoam of the upper half...This was done after careful measurement by applying pressure in a circular motion with the appropriate sized cookie cutter...The upper half now fits flush on the lower half with the speedloaders in position...
In thinking the more deeply cut surfaces in the original foam rubber portions of the case halves might be harder to reach than the styrofoam overlays, I wanted to flock them separately...To do so I masked off the rubber from the wooden case with paper and card stock, then masked the foam rubber which would adhere to the styrofoam using wax paper in an attempt to give the remaining rubber surface a cleaner chance of bonding with the adhesive...
Now for the flocking of the cutouts in the underlying foam rubber...This tends to get a little messy, and I prefer to do this step outdoors on my covered back porch in moderate weather...High humidity is not the friend of flocking, but it can be tolerated if done quickly...I like to gather all tools and supplies first, then begin the job...First is the flocking booth with tailgate that I made from a cardboard file box to use when re-flocking the inserts from S&W presentation cases...In this case it holds the entire box with the masking...
Some of the supplies needed are shown next...I use Flock-It flocking material and color adhesive...For best results use the same color for both items...They are available in a variety of colors, but the one closest to S&W blue seems to be their medium blue...I keep the unused flocking material in a ziplock bag until use to prevent moisture contamination...The small can is the color adhesive...I use the least expensive 1" brushes which can be discarded after use, or if you're cheap like me you'll clean with acetone and reuse them...
Shake the adhesive can well before opening to mix the contents, then use the brush to coat all the surfaces you wish to be flocked...While it's still tacky use the applicator to pump the flocking material on the desired surfaces - in this case the cutout areas in the foam rubber and the styrofoam filler pieces in the bottoms...
Don't be afraid of getting to much flocking material in the holes...It will only stick to the depth of the adhesive, but you do want enough to prevent exposed raw adhesive...Remove the project from the flocking booth and set aside...Then carefully pull up the wax paper which was tucked in the sides of the foam rubber...before discarding it, shake the loose flocking into the cardboard booth - any loose material can be returned to the bag of material...Remember I told you I'm cheap...
I then use a clean brush to move all the loose flocking on the surface of the foam rubber into the cutouts...Leaving it as is would reduce the effectiveness of the adhesive which will be used in the following step in which the styrofoam panel is attached to the foam rubber...After this turn the case half upside down and shake the excess material into the cardboard booth...Then carefully shake the loose material from the booth back into the bag for use later...
The upper half was a repeat of the lower half...
I like to let the project sit overnight at this point to allow all the adhesive to dry and retain as much flocking material as it will hold...The following day any excess can be loosened from the cutouts with a small dry brush, and shaken out for reuse...
Special Note: I ran low on the Flock-It brand colored adhesive, and before ordering more, I looked into alternatives, especially since most ordinary paint will adhere to the flocking fibers...But many paints will also have solvents that will dissolve the delicate styrofoam I'm using for the top surfaces...Water based acrylic latex paints are said to be safe with styrofoam...I chose Sherwin Williams Infinity interior paint from the Lowe's website to experiment since it is sold in sample sizes also...Dignity Blue was the closest color I could find to matching what I was already using...A bonus is that it's also much cheaper...
Also, the Flock-It brand of adhesive is no longer available in medium blue, only black...Being loath to changing horses in the middle of the stream, I chose to use the color matching latex paint even though drying time is a factor...I will be ordering a can of Flock-It black adhesive anyway to test with blue flocking fibers on a future project...
I made cardboard inserts for the cutouts to hide the visible seam between the styrofoam overlay and the foam rubber base on both halves...Seen below painted and flocked...
The styrofoam is very porous so I applied a sealer coat of the acrylic latex paint and let it dry before adding a second coat to function as an adhesive for the flocking fibers...Both halves received the same treatment...
Seen below are styrofoam and foam rubber panels after having been prepped and flocked...For those wanting to try the acrylic latex I chose as a substitute for the Flock-It brand adhesive/paint, I can report it dries very quickly and flocking material should be applied just as quickly to promote adhesion...My idea of first applying a sealer coat and letting it dry thoroughly seems to have been wise...
Here is a photo of the upper case half with flocked styrofoam layer installed on the foam rubber layer with rectangular cardboard insert...The protective fence is removed, and I'm happy to report the fence did its job in preventing any adhesive from reaching the wood...However, I am not happy with the coverage of the flocking on the styrofoam or the cardboard insert...At this point, I am going to finish the bottom half without gluing the styrofoam or any inserts to the foam rubber layers of either case half...I want to first evaluate the fit of all components including the revolver when fully assembled...I can always reflock the components before gluing any pieces together...
Flocking is now complete and as seen below the latex paint dried so quickly that the flocking fibers had nothing to adhere to in places...What did stick is firmly affixed and does not rub off...I have since been in touch with the lady at the Flock It company who tells me their non-color matched paint will work well with the flocking...All it will need, according to what she told me, is to make sure to use more fibers than needed as the excess will shake loose, and to recover what comes off for reuse...She recommended the black paint for my medium blue fibers, and white paint if I used lighter colors such as beige or yellow...They also have a clear version...
Pictured below is the lower half with the flocked inserts installed...
In these final pictures the finished product is seen with all accessories - badge, patch, speedloaders with primed empty brass, and the gun positioned for display...I have another step to go, that of gluing the styrofoam panels to the original foam rubber using 3M adhesive from a spray can...It will still look exactly as seen below...Before pressing the glued styrofoam into the rubber, I will mask off the wood by tucking Cut-Rite wax paper between the wood panels and the rubber to prevent damage to the wood...After installation of the panels the wax paper can be pulled out and discarded, and a heavy book placed on each half to assure the styrofoam is completely against the foam rubber until the adhesive is cured...
At some point I may try recutting the styrofoam for a smoother appearance and re-flocking it, but for now I'll let it stand with all its flaws...I hope my presentation in this article is instructive and helpful for those who can learn from my many errors in this project...Any comments below are welcome, and I'll try to answer any questions...Bear in mind there is a lag in time between when comments are posted and when they will appear, so don't be alarmed if you can't see your comments immediately...They will be posted and answered as I get to them...
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