One of the (too many) projects I currently have ongoing is a 6239 Daytona. I've got a donor Cartel watch and a Vietnam dial. This project was meant to be a simple dial swap, but it's going the way of all my projects... I predict that eventually the entire watch will be different parts to the ones I started with.
I mentioned in another thread how I disassembled the watch and then absent-mindedly threw the hands into the welcoming jaws of the carpet Gods when I moved my work mat and forgot I hadn't stored the hands. I found all of them over the course of the next couple of days, bar one subdial hand. So I ordered a couple of sets of hands from Alpha Watch. Then, I vibrated all the paint off the bezel markers in the ultrasonic cleaning bath. The Cartel bezel is pretty awful anyway so I wasn't too upset, and I have a replacement incoming from WSO.
Anyway, that's the gruesome background to another comedy p0pperini build.
Now to my first request for crowd-sourced advice... The Viet dial has a suitable "old dial" look, but it's missing the 12 and 6 lume plots.
My question is, does anyone have any advice regarding the repainting of these plots? I've made two attempts so far, using a fine oiler with a) some cheap Anchor lume powder and binder, and b) "Zupa Paint" powder with "Killabitz" medium.
First off, getting the right consistency is a bugger. If it's thick enough not to spread, it doesn't want to snuggle up to the metal plot by capillary action. But I'm scared of thinning it too much and it spreading. Plus, I don't have any "proper" lume paste thinner. I used water with the option B ingredients (I bought it because it can be mixed with water) but the result was the mix was then a bit transparent which looked useless on the black dial print.
So I'm after general advice. Can anyone give me any pointers to getting some form of replacement "liquid" into those lume positions (ie, I don't really care if it's not actually lume). It just needs to be something that's the right colour and consistency. If anyone who's done this can give me some ideas on it, that'd be swell!
I mentioned in another thread how I disassembled the watch and then absent-mindedly threw the hands into the welcoming jaws of the carpet Gods when I moved my work mat and forgot I hadn't stored the hands. I found all of them over the course of the next couple of days, bar one subdial hand. So I ordered a couple of sets of hands from Alpha Watch. Then, I vibrated all the paint off the bezel markers in the ultrasonic cleaning bath. The Cartel bezel is pretty awful anyway so I wasn't too upset, and I have a replacement incoming from WSO.
Anyway, that's the gruesome background to another comedy p0pperini build.
Now to my first request for crowd-sourced advice... The Viet dial has a suitable "old dial" look, but it's missing the 12 and 6 lume plots.
My question is, does anyone have any advice regarding the repainting of these plots? I've made two attempts so far, using a fine oiler with a) some cheap Anchor lume powder and binder, and b) "Zupa Paint" powder with "Killabitz" medium.
First off, getting the right consistency is a bugger. If it's thick enough not to spread, it doesn't want to snuggle up to the metal plot by capillary action. But I'm scared of thinning it too much and it spreading. Plus, I don't have any "proper" lume paste thinner. I used water with the option B ingredients (I bought it because it can be mixed with water) but the result was the mix was then a bit transparent which looked useless on the black dial print.
So I'm after general advice. Can anyone give me any pointers to getting some form of replacement "liquid" into those lume positions (ie, I don't really care if it's not actually lume). It just needs to be something that's the right colour and consistency. If anyone who's done this can give me some ideas on it, that'd be swell!