Sep 05 2006
VZ58 furniture color change
As I said in the last post, the paint (truck bed liner at that!) began to come off the stock of my VZ58. I blame my prep work, I know I rushed that job knowing that the truck bed liner would hide most faults. Ah well, I really wasn’t happy with “tactical black” anyway.
Went with tan for a little variety in the cabinet, excuse the poor photography, I’ve yet to find my tripod amongst the unpacked items.
I like it, but then I say that about every paint job immediately following the work. We’ll see how I feel about it in a week or so.
Thoughts?
I really like the new paint!
I think the integrated flashlight with a sling is a superb idea!
Are you sure about the optics? I really like these models with just irons… But hey, that’s just me
Hehe, thanks Derek! My darling Lisa tells me the new color scheme makes the rifle look like a toy. Meh.
Nah, not dead set on the optics. Frankly I think the red dot I threw on the AZR Mk.I was lots of sizzle and no steak, it’s a nifty toy but I didn’t see any increase in accuracy or acquisition time.
I’ll keep my eyes open for something nifty for the VZ58, but I’m trying to keep the modifications limited to items I found a need for, as opposed to stuff that “seemed” like a good idea.
If you realy wanted to make that look good, put some unfinished wood on it.
Get yourself a butterfly knife and carve some kills on the stock (The hate will keep you warm).
I hate to tell you, my unfinished AK with a drum on it looks way meaner then yours.
It kind of looks like you melted down some ken dolls to make the paint.
You know I love ya Bro. even though you can’t have the realy cool stuff.
I didn’t even notice………..
Is that a 50 rnd mag, pinned at 5….?
Say it aint so.
Piet: Hey man, yeah right. Try finding real wood furniture for these bad boys. I am always a fan of a good wood stock, but the best I can find is the buttstock ONLY. Gonna take a bit more hunting around.
Your AK looks meaner? Natch, it’s an AK.
-GRIN-
Nah, the rifle came with three magazines, 1 20/5 and 2 30/5’s, the pics have it wearing a 30/5 mag.
As far as the color scheme goes, that tan is growing on me. Day 2 here and it still looks pretty slick, but as I said before lets see how I feel on day 7 and 14 respectively.
I may have to refinish it again before too much time has passed (if I proceed with the previously mentioned flashlight mod) and I may got for a two tone desert style pattern on the stock.
We’ll see how the color is rubbing me when that time comes.
OK DAMMIT! I spoke too soon.
Just did a search on spec for VZ58 wood furniture and found, in two minutes, what I couldn’t find for love or money before.
VZ58 Oak / Walnut Furniture (US Made).
Might need your help in ordering a set in the near future if you’re game.
I have to agree with Piet. The tan kinda looks like melted Ken dolls. I think a darker colour would have made it look meaner. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an E-Bloc rifle in that light a colour. Plus, load it up with gadgets so it looks like an 80’s action hero’s handgun. That’ll make up for the pin and semi-auto.
Looks like a rather pale wood … maybe an IKEA-47?
Theodore: Agreed, the old black color made it look plenty mean, but didn’t really appeal to me. Not sure what other color we could have gone with, wasn’t going to try an OD, black was out, I guess I could have gone with a dark brown.
Nah, the point this time is to keep the gadgets to a bare minimum.
Kristopher: Hehe.. all it needs is an allen key.
well i was surfin and somehow came across your blog. i own a few rifles and your sks shure did catch my eye, but in your ar 15 build you stated that there were norico versions. i was woundering how you learned of these and if there is a gun store or website you could direct me too.
Oh ya…arte et marte.
Ayup, my cousin Mike has a Norinco clone of the AR15. Referred to as the CQ311 (and here) mainly it appears to be a copy of the A1. Fit and finish is typical of Norincos, but function appears fine.
Some quick googling resulting in no joy, last time I saw them listed for sale was through Dark International, but they no longer list them.
They do pop up from time to time over at Canadian Gun Nutz, but there are importation issues if you’re located in the US (as with all Norinco products available up here).
Some good close-ups of a CQ311 available here.
Hope this was some help.
ya well i’m in canada. so importing isn’t to hard for norinco. mainly i’d like to find the best selection. so far all i found was marstar. but there have been some others floating around out of milarm(edmonton).
Adam, I’d still say your best bet is to keep surfing the EE at Canadiangunnutz, I’ve seen the norincos float across there for $600-$700 (+/-) from time to time.
Personally I’m conflicted on the ARs, as I’ve seen Colt A1s going for only a few hundred more than the Norincos. Still a nifty little rifle, all things considered.
Good luck with your hunt!
Nice base coat. Whe are you applying the colour?
I like it, makes it looks modern.
With 14 snarky comments already, only my brothers would be the snarkiest. I am red with envy that I didn’t come up with any creative insults.
Ken doll was good.
Ikea was better.
base coat is as good a finish as I can think of.
Erik, you are slipping leaving yourself open to such ridicule. And without a “let me see your handywork you useless schmuck!” in return.
ah….good times.
Hehe, slipping. must be the fatigue.
Nah, you know I like the tan color for the rifle, holding at day 3 and still it isn’t knawing at me like “Van Halens SKS”.
I may change it yet (what are the fricken odds of that? It’s already been changed twice in under a year), but for now I think that’ll be entirely sufficient.
Some good jabs none the less, and I don’t mind. When I see my detractors putting forward their own efforts to compare I may grow concerned, but for now it’s almost purely a spectator sport.
As for the color scheme, on reflection I think this sort of thing comes in phases. I think it’s a natural evolution of thought applied to gun mods (and likely other arenas of “personalizing” stuffs).
Speaking for myself my earliest efforts at modifying the boomsticks was about making them unique. The modifications were not driven by a defined “need” but by the perceived value derived from the mods (also know as the “LCF - Look cool factor).
As time passes the mods take on a more conservative flavour, more driven by experience and addressing specific issues the user has with the boomstick in an effort to make it more user friendly, ergonomic or practical and avoiding the easy modifications that dot the firing line.
These days the mods I make, along with the color schemes are conservatively tailored to make the boomsticks more palatable to me, and not in an effort to make them generically “tactical” or “evil” (not that either of these are bad things in and of themselves, but considering none of these firearms are going to see action, a bit of a pointless excuse except as an intellectual exercise).
I can’t speak for all shooters, this is just my experience.
Is it the photos or is the black parts kinda bluish like my AR?
‘Cause if they were a matte black (If that’s possible on the metal parts) it’d look pretty sweet.
Good eye Mike, yep, some of the components have a slight blue hue, strange as some of the other parts are a flat black.
I’ve been considering refinishing the rifle as another project (now that I can muck around in my own backyard), but we’ll see.
it should look more like this.