Well, I'm still waiting for my restoration CD from bill to get to my house and get forwarded out to me by the wife, since the post decided to break the last one he sent in half, so for the moment this is my only advice regarding razor restoration. My eBay special came in the mail yesterday, and I've begun the hand sanding...and I have to say, wow, after hours and hours of sanding, my hands hurt.
The scales the razor came with were miserable. One was black plastic, and I'm not cool enough to tell what kind of plastic, but the other side looked like it was carved out of a table leg, and the razor was pinned with little picture frame nails that had had the pointy end hammered flat enough not to come out. If it was a car, it'd be a jalopy, and I plan on making new scales for it.
My question is about the feasibility of making scales out of 2x4's or plywood. I have at least several months, and potentially quite a few more, to work on this, so despite my scant access to tools, I can make up for that in patience. I think it would be pretty sweet to have a razor I restored / fabricated during a deployment -- I can't think of a cooler memento, especially since war trophies are no longer allowed. I'm not experienced with wood, though; would shaping scales out of a 2x4 be work, or is the wood not up to it?