Attempting to mottle a set of handguards before spraying green.  Colors are Rustoleum Kona Brown and Rustoleum Nutmeg (I took my real 601 grip into Home Depot and the Nutmeg color matches the lighter color of the grip, Kona Brown is a good match for the dark).  Sprayed an underlying coat of Kona Brown.  Applied Nutmeg with a sea sponge.  Applied a little more Kona Brown with a sea sponge.  Then applied a swirled mix of Kona Brown and Nutmeg with a sea sponge.  Dabbed with a dry sea sponge in a twisting motion as it dried.  Masked the heat shields and did the inside edges too - anything that could be visible.
It's actually pretty smooth now, but will be wet sanding with 800 grit just to completely smooth out any bumps/ridges after the paint completely hardens.  Will touch up as necessary after sanding (I've actually already touched up a few spots that were too Nutmeg after these pics were taken).  Will rub a candle over the handguards to mask areas before spraying Testors 1910 Dark Green.  Will focus the candle on the teeth, front and back edges, and the slight crack at the broken tooth.  After the green dries, I will scratch and scuff it a little.

Looks great

It's lighter than the brown that shows through on my real buttstock, but matches my grip fairly close.  I'm not going to let an excessive amount show anyway, don't want to get too excessive with the fake wear - just enough so it doesn't look out of place with my buttstock and grip.  Most artificial wear is going to focus on existing damage, like the broken tooth.  Plus, this gives me a chance to use a set with a broken tooth that I probably would just toss in a parts bin otherwise.

Looks exactly like the fomica countertops in my old house.   Good job Op

After comparing to my real 601 stock and grip more closely, needed to darken the handguards a little, so I mixed Kona Brown with a little Nutmeg did another coat.  Candle didn't work too well for masking, so I used paste wax.  Focused on damaged areas of the handguards.  Sprayed the Testors green.  Needs a little touch-up in a couple of spots, and I expect the green to darken a little with handling and exposure to oil.  Going to subject them to rough handling to wear-in and scratch up the green a little more.

Pics are the handguards on the barrel I will use (done by John Thomas, great work).  The buttstock and grip are real.  I still need to engrave and mill my lower, then refinish it and the upper I had done by Braceman.













Open to any suggestions for improvement.

The first Brown was a little light, the second looks like my original brown ones did exactly. The green is perfect. Great job!

Going to let the paint cure for a couple more days, then I'm going to sand out that rippled spot on the upper rear of the left handguard.

the chips and broken teeth add to the authenticity.

Here are a few original items for color matching:

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Nice write up