The Framers Forum

I have been asked to frame an antique flintlock pistol...which cost £900.....simple, I hear you say. But the owners are two very flamboyant gay guys who want a gaudy frame....and a Lego figure in the frame....and a ‘bang’ coming from the muzzle. Don’t ask.
Firstly, what are the best things to use to secure the pistol to the back board (pink velvet)
Is anyone on here able to do the ‘bang’ (comic style) on 4mm Perspex?
And ideas would be appreciated re the gaudy frame....I was thinking diamanté. Yes, I have patience.
No, I haven’t been drinking but I’ll need some after this.
Thank you.

It occurred to me that you could buy one of those joke pistols where a flag shoots out with BANG written on it and
pinch the flag off it. I'm not sure if you can actually still get them. Firearms (real and fake) are not regarded as jokes in this
day and age. But it's a thought.... it's not rocket science to make one. The tackier it looks the better.




A pistol is something that is not really a delicate thing and could be fixed to a backing board with thin lacquered copper wire. You can
get this from specialist electrical component suppliers. I use to canibalise old radios/TVs for this stuff but suitable ones are practically extinct.
The finest gauge wire is thinner than a hair but is very strong and almost invisible. You would maybe need to fabricate some small wood pedestals
to 'cradle' the pistol on.

You're on your own with the gaudy frame.

..... Simons do some really OTT readymade frames. You might find one that fills the bill.

Are you going to use something like this for the backing
I might be able to help with the 4mm Perspex, I have a laser cutter and a vinyl cutter, so might be able to cobble something together for you, let me know in a bit more detail of what you have in mind,

Once, a long time ago I got a serious telling off for framing an antique pistol. I hesitated before passing on this observation, but the person, who took me to task was an ex-military armourer, turned private gunsmith and had acted as a valuer for some prominent auction houses. At the time I was quite amused by his reaction, as he had mistaken my efforts for a genuine firearm, it was in fact a resin copy I had made and was a prototype for a decor item I was developing.

I later took his reasoning more seriously. Commissions to case the real thing, suggested I should pass on the advice received at the back of my van whilst loading empty bullet brass, and went something like this.

Put a metal object behind glass and the metal heats up quicker than the ambient air, the colder surface will attract condensation, even from a minimal ambient atmosphere. This will most likely be on the inner surfaces such as the inside of the barrel and trigger lock. How long is a framed object likely to go without inspection and routine maintenance? So if the original valuation is wished to be maintained on the current condition these risks should be discussed.

This may seem a pedantic observation in this context but it is valued at £900. We did come up with a solution, accessibility was the answer but this requires a different approach to the fixing furniture than the usual framing options.