You may reacall the pictures of Ken Hurst's work on my 16 ga. Smith - and some of you might have seen it on his table at the Southern. I just got it in the mail the other day, and I'm so tickled with the magic Ken did. My field grade is now well above the grade 5 I envisioned - I really wouldn't know where it would fit in the grading scheme. We scrapped the grey idea, and went with a sort of muted case color by Classic Guns. Each time I look at it, I see something new that makes me say, "Wow!"
My only regret is that it's now packed up and ready to ship to the stocker, Doug Mann. But having seen Doug's work, I'm sure I'll be rewarded by the last wait.
I feel very blessed that when this idea first came to mind, it was a Ken Hurst post I ran across. His guidance no doubt kept me from making some costly mistakes. Ken is not only a talented artist, but a great guy too. And his recommendations of Classic Guns for the metal finishing, and a then up and coming wood guy named Doug Mann, were great.
If you're thinking of a similar project, I can heartily recommend these gentlemen. If you think I can help in any small way, please don't hesitate to contact me.