What AP Franken(s) do you have in the works?!

[SuperLory]

The one Franken I miss the most is my H-serial rubberclad. Had a beautiful black dial with silver sundial rings that really flashed in the sunlight.

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I need one of this !!! Stunner

 

[flofas]

This would be sicker with a blackened Date window and datewheel (like flying-tommy Marcus)

Black Venom also offer a different twist on the panda with black datewheel:

 

[SuperLory]

Black Venom also offer a different twist on the panda with black datewheel:

lol am i too choosy saying i think i like this lesser than the white dw ? Lol..just put Mikey new font black will do...

 

[jasonbaylee]

Black Venom also offer a different twist on the panda with black datewheel:

This dw has a “floating” zero gravity effect n I like it!
Cool

 

[slaughterer62]

Nice to see some of the latest stuff still on my workbench popping up here lately. So many options for Jan's fantasy Panda at this point being discussed, Jan is probably pondering them all, deliberating, deciding.

 

[Limpy]

Nice to see some of the latest stuff still on my workbench popping up here lately. So many options for Jan's fantasy Panda at this point being discussed, Jan is probably pondering them all, deliberating, deciding.

True, there are so many possibilities and toads you can go down at this point. as a decision neurotic i am considereing every possible thing what qould be best - but tbh i think the way it is now works fine with me. i can use silver screws in the bezel, black screws and the watch face has an ‚open‘ look referring to the silver colorscheme that is not ‚tunneled‘ by a black tachy. true a black tachy works aswell and looks cool but i like that its a basic panda in an modded case.

i just got my next self modded case ready for treatment. i am not sure what way to go but its highly scratched so it can not atay this way. i actually tried if i can polish or brush it but seems like indont have the right tools for it. so this hobby model will either get a heavily used look or some coating with pre surface finish.
on that i go crazy with dialchoice and maybe add a post2014 dial in the old case. will see what parts come cheap for this build

and the V2 caseback was definately a pain in the a... i shaved it down to the chamfer and ‚broke‘ the edge to get the flat area or at least the looks of it back. the outer diameter will be a little smaller though because of the missing edge (before - after)

i hope if i refinish it it will look better than now ???? but i can get used to tha used look. maybe i just need to collect rocks in different aizes and wash the steel parts in it...

choices choices

 

[Jurgenk]

I like the current color theme Limpy, it makes sense and it has many elements in common with the Marcus LE.

You can salvage that SS case but you need to get it to a professional, or develop a precise unidirectional technique with a whetstone for the flat and convex surfaces. I’d love to have a shot at it but slaughterer62 is your best bet.

The caseback without brushed sides is a nonstarter for me. I can’t even accept the JF old caseback which left only a razor thin profile after thinning. Those old Noob casebacks despite poor engravings and 8520 series markings are the best answer...

 

[slaughterer62]

"8520" - I am almost considering renaming myself that. Really, as we see years later, Noob APs were not so bad, in some respects. ... Panda fantasies are so variegated. I personally tried some of the options pictured on this thread, years ago (I am that old), but I went back to the standard issue design always. I think the AP Panda design is difficult to beat even if you try to compete with it through the game of algorithmically generated possible combinations. The aftermarket design houses who reconfigure APs almost always end up with something that excites at initial glance, but then you wake up next to it the next morning and you wonder what got into you. Sound familiar playas? But Jan's DLC is top. I know, I tried it myself.

 

[Limpy]

"8520" - I am almost considering renaming myself that. Really, as we see years later, Noob APs were not so bad, in some respects. ... Panda fantasies are so variegated. I personally tried some of the options pictured on this thread, years ago (I am that old), but I went back to the standard issue design always. I think the AP Panda design is difficult to beat even if you try to compete with it through the game of algorithmically generated possible combinations. The aftermarket design houses who reconfigure APs almost always end up with something that excites at initial glance, but then you wake up next to it the next morning and you wonder what got into you. Sound familiar playas? But Jan's DLC is top. I know, I tried it myself.

i know exactly what you mean with the initial excitement and the let down the net day. drinking to much and waking up with several unicorn rainbow tekachi watches.. when i think about it, not that bad at all when you are able to party like this.
anyways, it took me a while to except the strong contrast of the silver-black, but with most things in life you get used to almost everything over time. the basic Panda was my first ever ‚i want that‘ AP at all. i remember talking to tosoboso about it 2 or 3 years ago as he had hands on a gen dial that i did not get because it was promissed. i was on the hunt ever since although its kind of monotone with that silver in silver in silver. but with the gen dial/tachy in hand i am more curious than ever how that looks in real life on a steel case. maybe some day i port it from black to silver housing. its simply a classic.

reg. the caseback i can say that it looks much better now with that broken edges . its really a struggle with that caseback because the chamfer is so huge that its impossible to create a reasonable geometry for a franken. shaving the outside and regrave the thing again will not do it over time. probably more wrong with faulty engravings than with sharp edges.

 

[Limpy]

I like the current color theme Limpy, it makes sense and it has many elements in common with the Marcus LE.

You can salvage that SS case but you need to get it to a professional, or develop a precise unidirectional technique with a whetstone for the flat and convex surfaces. I’d love to have a shot at it but slaughterer62 is your best bet.

The caseback without brushed sides is a nonstarter for me. I can’t even accept the JF old caseback which left only a razor thin profile after thinning. Those old Noob casebacks despite poor engravings and 8520 series markings are the best answer...

would be reasonable to have someone professional clean up my mess i would not bother slaughterer62 with that kind of work. i have loaded enough work for now on him next to all the other projects he is working on and i would not want to pin him to the table for a full day for rebrush.

i guess there are more options available what to do with that surface that want to be figured out. even other colors or coatings.

 

[slaughterer62]

shaving the outside and regrave the thing again will not do it over time. probably more wrong with faulty engravings than with sharp edges.

When I saw that suggestion that modders should buy a professional engraving system to enable them to re-engrave the new thick JF casebacks after milling them from the bottom just to preserve that 1mm of vertical chamfer, I got a feel once more for the gap between member "good ideas" and modder under-support. Alot of the best new ideas for "super modification" would require, I think, a different forum designed around a crowd-funding base to group purchase equipment for forum benefit at this point. The current existing model of a moderated sales platform and member complaint management, while good for maintaining fair commerce, does not really assist in the development of after-market improvements. I think many modders I know have invested enough of our personal capital in machines to carry out high quality operations, even if we do not have a $50,000 CNC controlled case-back engraving system programmed with all of the AP caseback designs and possible serial numbers. But if a forum such as the one I imagine ever existed, some modders would be happy to put such a crowd-funded device in the last free space they have open in their machine shop. Of course, if there are modders with large amounts of extra discretionary capital laying around, maybe they can step up. But anybody closely looking at the economics of this type of expansion has to ask about the ROI at that point, because by my calculation about 500 casebacks would need to be re-engraved just to break even after purchasing a system like this.

 

[Limpy]

(PicHeavy - sorry lol)

alright folks,
i want to share with you my latest f. up.. lol

i had this case that was beaten and had scuffs and dings and dongs. i modded it to accept lwo and my movementholder with repositioned crown. as i tried different finishes like brushing, polishing i thought it will look stupid because i am not as accurate ir can bring the shine to it. i had the opportunity to beadblast it again, but over time thats also boring. thats when i thought of givibg it a conpletly different spin. it was demolished already so i thought i give it a good used look by stone and sandwashing it. it looks exactly like my daily wirn wedding ring, although its could have a bit mor washing for better coverage. i also washed the dial and tachy because they looked stupid because they were really clean. the rocks were dirty so they tonted the parts a little yellow sandish .
The dial is obviously rep and the tachy aswell. heart is a LwO with random LWO hands that actually have Roo hand shape.

this could go either way, i am torn my self but it actually looks like its sitting on or in a sandbank for a while and waiting for pick up. let me know what you think - i kind of dig it.

 

[SHB]

Roo reached vintage level, i really love the shape!

 

[slaughterer62]

Been doing that type of relicking to vintage Rolexes and vintage Pams for years... bravo to see it done with a relatively recent AP model, but I have seen APs on the second-hand market that looked like that.... The rock wash effect is kind of close to the media-blasting effect, but the media-blasting effect is more precise and evenly distributed whereas the stone washed effect is sort of stochastically random which is nice in a Japanese "Yabai" and [h=3]今夜は家でゴロゴロしてるよ (こんやは いえで ごろごろしてるよ[/h]
way.

 

[Limpy]

I just googled Yabai and it is quite everything close to F*cking that. an be nice and bad at the same time. So it really hits the nail on it head. The effect is purely random and messy - the beadblasting is more even. as every custom watch with altered case finish is veadblasted i find it nice for a change to be a little acting out. if i am over the looks of it, i can still beadblast it - i think...

in the end this is just a try out that comes quite nice with the messy dial. will see how it looks on the wrist.

so you have seen this kind of wear on a second hand watch? i guess a vintage blue battons combo would look great on it.

 

[Limpy]

watch is ready and strapped. on pics it does not look too besten.. just upclose. and the shine is gone. i like it. flys under the radar

 

[Jurgenk]

Well that pretty much takes away the anxiety of scratching up your watch.

 

[Tompa]

Well that pretty much takes away the anxiety of scratching up your watch.

Hahah true!


Skickat från min Sputnik satellit

 

[legend]

watch is ready and strapped. on pics it does not look too besten.. just upclose. and the shine is gone. i like it. flys under the radar

Why don't you go a bit further and even up the surface finish with light media-blasting? Or better yet develop into something which emulates frosted gold?
The watch looks unique as it is now, but as you know, a watch like this should be a story and possess a character. "Being heavily used and abused" is the best I could infer looking at the watch, and rather than giving it this raw industrial look, why not consider refining into something which is aesthetically more pleasing?
This is just my opinion of course. If you are keeping the AP brand and features, the watch needs to at least look like a luxury piece to maintain consistency with the brand theme.

 

[Jurgenk]

“Found” vintage