Sweetheart Grips?

Watchdog

Watchdog

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I'm sure a good many forum members have seen the film, Fury, starring Brad Pitt as a WWII tank commander. There was some discussion about his sidearm and the grips on it.

Does anyone know of anyone who makes these old style "sweetheart grips", and maybe makes them for other Smiths like a Model 28? Or for 1911s?

I know Rio Grande Custom Grips makes similar grips for 1911s. Their grips use a user-furnished photo, but they sort of turn it into a graphic that's imbedded in the grip panels, rather than being under it. And once it's in there, you can't change it. Plus, theirs don't appear to be really see-through.

If I wanted to get some of these grips, I'd want the old style. They were usually made from the plexiglass taken from airplane cockpits. I'd want the old do-it-yourself look once I got through with them...kinda scratched up, maybe a little cloudy, and using my own black and white photos between the grip panel and the frame.

So...any ideas, any suggestions? Thanks.

 
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I may make some with photos in between plexiglass panels. It's easy to get a hold of a pane of plexiglass.

I just haven't decided which gun to make them for. An N frame would be a good candidate. May have to get that 1917...
 
Plexi glass grips

Here is a pic my brother took off the TV during the last scenes with the 1917 was on Pitt's lap. It is the other side of the gun. You can clearly see the woman's face. The first side in your pic looks like it has a pin up pose of her body.. My understanding is that these are plexi glass grips with a picture on the back of them... Actually common in those days.. I have no idea where you get them now, but, it was a fantastic idea for a war movie.. Loved it !

 
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grips

I have seen the type grips before, it is my understanding that the material is called Lexan from air plane windsheilds.
I have a hand made knife that my neighbor carried in WW 2, and it has spacers made from the same material, but unfortunately no girly picture.
 
I haven't seen any "sweetheart" grips in a long time, but they were commonly seen (but not plentiful), at gun shows, etc. years ago. Most I remember seeing were for the .45 Autos. I had always understood they were a variety of "trench art" made up by GIs themselves using plexiglass salvaged from aircraft windows, etc. Almost always, they had pictures of women, on either or both sides. I wouldn't be surprised that there might be other subjects, maybe parents, kids, or dogs, but I don't remember seeing any. I'd guess most came from AAF sources, as they would have the plexiglass available to them. And of course the flat .45 grip panels would be relatively simple to make as compared to revolver grips. I have seen the "sweetheart" grips on some other guns aside from .45s, and I think I may have seen a Luger so equipped, and some kind of smaller semiauto, maybe a Beretta. I do not remember seeing revolvers with them, but I am sure they existed - maybe more likely in the Navy/USMC, as they had both revolvers and planes. Plexiglass is readily available in about any thickness desired, and is easily worked, so about any reasonably competent woodworker should be able to make up a nice pair to fit any revolver. I have no idea as to whether these were mainly from the WWII period, or if they are also found from the Korean War and Vietnam War era.
 
ronnie gore said:
...it is my understanding that the material is called Lexan from air plane windsheilds.
Click to expand...

Yes. I used the word "plexiglass" simply because it's a generic term. I've seen the material referred to both ways. Whether it's the same or not, I don't know.
 
hjdca said:
My understanding is that these are plexi glass grips with a picture on the back of them... Actually common in those days.. I have no idea where you get them now, but, it was a fantastic idea for a war movie.. Loved it !

Click to expand...

If you google "sweetheart grips", you can see numerous images of examples...mostly on 1911s. My interest now is finding someone who can actually make the things. I'm not a talented enough do-it-yourself person to even make the attempt.

I'm thinking any talented grip maker could make them once the proper material was found in a thickness that would work. I believe for double action grips, the maker would have to start with a thickness of at least half an inch.
 
WATCHDOG said:
Yes. I used the word "plexiglass" simply because it's a generic term. I've seen the material referred to both ways. Whether it's the same or not, I don't know.
Click to expand...

Lexan is a relatively recent polycarbonate plastic (commercialized in the late 1950s), and did not exist during WWII. So nothing could have been made from it at that time. Plexiglas (sometimes Plexiglass) is a trade name for polymethyl methacrylate. It also goes by the trade names Perspex and Lucite.
 
"I'm thinking any talented grip maker could make them once the proper material was found in a thickness that would work. I believe for double action grips, the maker would have to start with a thickness of at least half an inch."

It's available in several grades and colors, and in about any thickness you want. At one time I worked in a job where we made up prototype chemical process equipment models of plexiglas. We had one very talented guy who did that work using mainly woodworking equipment, and we used every thickness from about 1/8" up to (I think) 1-1/2" We had a storeroom full of it. It comes in flat sheets and pipes/tubes. It's not cheap. Virtually any plastic supply house will stock it.
 
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About 2 years ago, there was a pair of early "sweetheart" grips on eBay for a Victory model. Had a picture (I believe) of the soldier's wife or GF. I watched the auction and almost bid even though I didn't own a Victory. Wish I'd bought the grips then found a Victory to fit. These were from the original Perspex/Perspix windshield. Recently, there have been some clear plastic grips--new made--on eBay.
 
I would think lexan would be the way to go on these as well. I looked into doing something like this when I saw the movie as I have a n frame project frame. Never got around to sourcing a few small 1/2 or 5/8 chunks of lexan to try it.

I would also say this is where a guy with a mini CNC would be nice, as I've made wood grips from blanks and the time involved would make then costly to produce one-offs, even at 2hrs for shaping and polishing, cost of materials you'd be looking at $150-200 retail. But a guy making 6-8 pairs on a CNC could run the program in a hour for 6 pairs rough shaped you'd only be left with minor fit and the polishing.
 
Acrylic plastics can be molded easily, but the cost of dies to do that would be cost-prohibitive unless for a fairly large production run. I doubt there is any mass market for sweetheart grips.
 
Boy, that gun is sure rusty. Looks like pitting, too, and what seems to be scale rust on the barrel. I'd think that a ponderously rich guy like Brad Pitt would have sprung for a nicer gun.

Ponderously rich? Means that his pockets probably sag badly from change alone. :D

BTW, I saw a video recently of his wife greeting US wounded from Afghanistan, signing autographs and spreading cheer.
 
I think BP and AJ are a little out of mainstream Hollywood in several areas, and I suppose they're well enough off to be that way. She did get snubbed at the Oscars for "Unbroken" which she directed as a result, at least that was what many believe. It did get some minor Oscar for sound editing or something like that, so I guess that's better than nothing. I didn't see it, but my son did, and he thought it was super.

The condition of the M1917 was probably in character for having traveled across North Africa and France in a tank and killing Germans for over two years.
 
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If you are going to use Lexan or any type of Plexiglas, make sure you remove them from the gun before cleaning. The chemicals used in gun care will turn it white and cannot be removed.
 
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