My daughter recently turned 21, and as is the tradition in the family, she was given the choice of firearms. She was not sure, So I suggested a 597 in an Archangel stock set. She agreed. I am thinking, score as I have a brand new 597 siting in the safe, so I ordered the kit, the kit arrived, and.......... mine had the wrong barrel. No external sights, no holes to mount the kit. What to do, Its my baby girl. So I took to Gunbroker.com lickity split and located a used 597, and procured it asap.

It had the correct barrel but was filthy. I mean, never cleaned, dragged in mud, stored in dirt, cussed at dirty. A lengthy full detail disassemble and cleaning, followed up with reassembly and .... watch that little spring, %^$#@, as they will fly off into your shop and cease to exist where my eyes can see them. I had to offer up a $5 bribe to get my 18 yr old to use his good eyes and find it. ( yes it only took him about 5 minutes) . So the rifle is built and in black and looks excellent. I am thinking I need to order a second stock and have my barrel threaded for a suppressor.

So there I am thinking that I done good. Then she says, "Daddy, can it be pink?" I of the often modified Duracoated project say "Of course." Then I got even more twisted around her little finger, as fathers of daughters are known to do and offered to show her some photos of a Hello Kitty AR15, and then she says, "I want that". (Learn to just shut up, really, how many times have we all said that in hind sight.)

So the Hello Kitty Home Defense Project was born.

I decided not to go the DuraCoat route, and wanted to try something I have been reading about on many gun threads about using new technology and high heat ceramic paints for engines and plastic bonding paints for plastics. I did some research and decided I will try Duplicolor Engine High Heat enamel ( in white for the barrel and action) and one of the new plastic bonding paints in pink for the plastic stock and bayonet. I chose Rustoleum's version as Home Depot no longer sells Krylon. By the way, not many stores sell the PINK Fusion paint. I also had to go the mall, armed of course, and enter the Hello Kitty Store, I did not take backup and soon regretted it, as this is not our environment guys, not at all. You think Mars and the bra department is alien territory, not even close. Who is Choco Kat, and how many millions of items exist with that little kitty on them anyway? And it must all be made of gold as it aint cheap. A pack of stickers and 2 little rings, set me back $20.00. Yes, TWENTY dollars. The things we do for our little girls. On a positive note, in an attempt to project some semblance of heteromanliness I told the tiny girl behind the counter about the project, and to my shock, she was very interested and requested I show her the finished product. I managed to escape the mall minus only $20.00. Triumphant horns of accomplishment rang out as I walked past the Medieval Jousting restaurant and exited the mall. ( okay, not for me but I could dream)

The barrel and action will be high temp white, the plastics will be pink, the red dot, plastic bayonet, 30 rd magazines, will all be a mix of white and pink and Hello Kitty stickers will be applied to random areas to create a useful and functional Hello Kitty camo pattern.

Please, ghost of Jeff Cooper, do not haunt me. My 1911 is all black, and built to your Gunsite specifications. In fact, other than my wood stocked rifles, all of my guns are black, or stainless and black. Save for the desert tricolor Mossberg 500A. I am keeping the faith after all.

So now my next step is to move the pics to photobucket to post as the build progresses.

Wish me luck. Follow along and what ever you do, do not let your wife or daughter see the photos, it could create a situation.

SO IT BEGINS

FIRST TEST ASSEMBLY

INSPIRATION

LET THERE BE PINK

IF YOU BAYONET HELLO KITTY, WOULD IT LOOK LIKE THIS?

2nd Coat after 30mins


Handguard 1st coat


The only place to hide with a pink rifle.

In process

I look forward to seeing this build completed. Thanks for sharing.

The lower in process


Using the SUN as an oven to bake thoroughly dry


First app of Duplicolor High Heat Ceramic white - kind of fuzzy

Lessons learned so far. Good Prep is the key. Check

Spray painting in your small shop, where you assumed you had adequate ventilation, can cause strange thoughts, such as painting your sons Black 50cc scooter, shiny pink.

Heat the parts with a heat gun until warm only, to much heat, and HOT POTATO part to the floor.

The Duplicolor Ceramic high heat stuff has a mind of its own. My first coating was horrendous, horrible, heinous, hideous, so I stripped it back, went over entire area with steel wool, then more brake cleaner.

I had thoroughly prepped the barrel, it was clean and suspended, but this stuff will run. I even did the required 2 minute shaking of the can.

Time will tell if the 2nd go round produces better results.

I am not painting the actual receiver as it is fully hidden inside the stock.

So far so good.

Color Combo


More pink

[quote=

The only place to hide with a pink rifle.[/quote]



Keep it coming !
I gotta see more...

You asked, You shall receive.





I will take many more and higher quality photos. This was a test assembly.

I managed to find a pair of matching HOT PINK Winchester ear muff hearing protectors and now I am looking for a pink softball gear bag to use as a tactical transport bag.

This build has me wanting to put several 597 kits together, especially one with a shorty barrel and suppressor.

If you own a 597, and can operate a screwdriver and an allen wrench, then you owe it to yourself and your 597 to wrap it in polymer goodness.

Basically you end up with a VTR for about $110 bucks more. The rifle handles really fast, and accessories are only limited to your imagination. Why by an M&P22, or other AR 22 when you can get 30 round capability, solid build quality and pure plinking fun.

Now to add the stickers, screw it all down tight and do a range test run, then hand it off to the daughter.

Life is good.

My fiance wants me to build her one like this now!

Cool!


Sent from my Sig P938 using Tapatalk

Update: finished assembly and Hello Kitty sticker application. This was a truly fun build. Now I am eyeing a little H&R 9shot snubby .22 revolver as a companion piece for a Hot Pink Hello Kitty Kowboy setup.

More on that later , but for now, PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DHonovich wrote:My fiance wants me to build her one like this now!

Absolutely!!!!! I have had 2 requests so far for additional similar builds.

I am scouring the web for low priced 597's and Archangel stocks.

I am going to build myself one very soon. With a threaded barrel for a suppressor of some sort.

Congratulations on the pending marriage. May you have a blessed union, and many children.

Tomorrow we shoot.

I will post my build soon also. Unfortunately it will be boring black, with a bunch of tactical stuff. Or will it?

Stay tuned.

Comments - Questions are welcomed.

Awesome build and paint job !!

...and she looks like one happy camper !!

Started on mine.

Going to have the barrel cut to 16.5" threaded for 1/2-28 and then look for a flash suppressor - suppressor combo

Also looking at doing the Volquartsen tango on the trigger group. Went over to the rimfirecentral.com and read up on the ways people are accurizing and making these uber reliable. Will be buying some used bolts and doing lightening machining and truing the guide rails , polish etc.

Should be fun.

Looking good rusty...

I found a really awesome tactical carry case for the Pinkness.

I had to replace the trigger. The one on the rifle I bought used just simply failed. Not what was wrong, but found a seller on ebay or gunbroker that has complete units for $20.00.

100% reliable now.

The black build is in process as we speak.

Rusty you did a very nice job painting this. I showed the pictures to my 7 year old daughter and she said she wants one.