Now you guys got me interested in the project again.
'Couple of things I've realized though; First, I got the proportions slightly wrong when I laid out the drawings for the waterjet. It's not "way" off, but I did notice a few bits here and there that I must have mis-drawn. I'd taken that same photo, blown it up to what I thought was normal size (going by the length of the rail, which was about the only dimension I had to go by) and sketched the outline on a light table.
But I can see now a few places I misinterpreted a line or a fingergroove.
Second, for some reason this is a lot easier now.
I remember working for
hours on that shaping years ago, going slowly and carefully. Today I just had a few minutes to kill waiting on something else, so I got out the air tools and roughed one into shape. Two-plus hours later...
The lines are just marker, to show placement. I haven't drilled any screwholes or anything, it's just been rough-shaped so far.
It's not perfect or "identical" to the original, but it's pretty close. Like Dan, I really wish I had a better or higher-resolution photo of the original.
I'll make a few more tweaks before I call it "finished". It's surprisingly comfortable. I've never been a huge fan of the "palm swell" grip profiles, but this one doesn't seem to get in the way. Just for looks though, I might try reshaping it to a more conventional straight-back .45 style and use some grip panels...
Last: Someone E-mailed me inquiring about the other body. I tried to reply and AOL kicked the message back. If you could try again with a different address, I'd be happy to discuss details.
Doc.