Building a Tudor 9401/0 on the basis of a milk case

[matzemedia]

Actually, I have already built enough watch projects this year. But since it's so much fun, I've been looking for something new. The Tudor 9401/0 is one of my favourites, especially the blue model.

Here on the forum I have found some very nice superstructures, which I am using as a guide. Above all, I would like to mention:

• @jackflash 's model: https://forum.replica-watch.info/th...or-submariner-snowflake.9470509/#post-9475028
• @Solution6 's : https://forum.replica-watch.info/th...ent-case-info-request.10222860/#post-10248778

I will report here in this thread about my construction and if I get stuck, I will ask one or the other question.

 

[matzemedia]

What I have so far:

• case set: milk 1680/5513
• Movement: ETA 2772 (21.000)
• movement rotor: Ali
• dial: Vietnam from ebay (seller: bivintagestore2014)
• handset: Ali
• crown: various from ali
• crystal: star cross tropic 19
• strap: nato from ali

What I am currently still looking for are:

• caseback with engraving
• movement ring (I will probably make it myself)

 

[matzemedia]

1. challenge:
The Milk Case is designed for dials with a diameter of 26.3 - 26.5 mm. As far as I know, this is the original diameter of the dials. Unfortunately, the dial I ordered is only 26.0 mm, so it falls through the case. Do I have to increase the diameter somehow? Are there any other tricks? Is it not a problem at all in the end?

 

[Solution6]

1. challenge:
The Milk Case is designed for dials with a diameter of 26.3 - 26.5 mm. As far as I know, this is the original diameter of the dials. Unfortunately, the dial I ordered is only 26.0 mm, so it falls through the case. Do I have to increase the diameter somehow? Are there any other tricks? Is it not a problem at all in the end?

Great dial!

Did you get a 1680 or 5513 case set?

I know his older stock was designed for different movement heights and dial sizes, not sure if anything hand changed since. (At least this is the info he shared at the time therefore I always stuck with the 5513 case sets).

The blue build I had was with a 26mm dial and fitted well in the 5513 case.

 

[matzemedia]

Did you get a 1680 or 5513 case set?

I know his older stock was designed for different movement heights and dial sizes, not sure if anything hand changed since. (At least this is the info he shared at the time therefore I always stuck with the 5513 case sets).

I didn't know that he has different cases for the sub. As long as I know are the gen cases for 1680 and 5513 identical. I asked @milk051506 for 1680 / 5513 case to build this tudor.

The blue build I had was with a 26mm dial and fitted well in the 5513 case.

May be your dial was a bit bigger? 26.1,...?

 

[Solution6]

 

[bigtiddygothgf]

I was thinking about a very similar build myself but wasnt sure if the milk case was correct/would fit 9401/9411 dial. Good to know the 5513 variant does work out!

Would you mind sharing a picture or two of the bivintagestore2014 dial in natural light/sunlight? Unsure if its the color I'm after and in his ebay pictures the fonts look quite fat/bold compared to gen.

 

[ward1991]

I just built a 7928 with his 5513, used a 26mm dial from raffles and it fit perfectly.

Movement ring from helenarou.

 

[matzemedia]

Would you mind sharing a picture or two of the bivintagestore2014 dial in natural light/sunlight? Unsure if its the color I'm after and in his ebay pictures the fonts look quite fat/bold compared to gen.

 

[matzemedia]

Unfortunately, the project is not taking off as I had hoped. Milk also confirmed that I don't have the ideal case for a 26mm dial. The best thing would be to change the case. But thanks to tax, shipping and the associated uncertainty, I won't do that. My solution now is to fit a second larger dial (26.3mm) under the 26.0mm and then it will no longer fall through the case. Not pretty - but it seems to work.

 

[matzemedia]

Then we come to the next challenge. The crown! Unfortunately, I have two crowns whose screw threads don't fit into the case. The thread of the crown is a little too big. My research has shown that there is a 24-7030-0 tube for the Gen 1680 cases. The outer diameters are 5mm for the crown and 3 mm for the case. Since the thread of my two crowns is also 2.9mm on the outside, the 24-7030-0 tube can't really fit.

Can anyone help me to find out which tube fit the Milk Cases 1680?

 

[Solution6]

1 - the extra dial might add a bit too much thickness and it will put pressure on the stem or movement once the holding tabs get screwed in, you need to test it out, if pressure is too big, the movement might get poor amplitude or stop.

2 - sometimes the case needs a re-tap of the threads (happened to me 3 times on Sub cases).

 

[matzemedia]

Re-tap of the crown threads
My research has shown that I need a 3.0mm x .35 tap. And that worked. I recut the thread and the tube from my crown fits. Add some Loctite and the crown fits.

 

[matzemedia]

Mounting the crystal
From my 1680 build using the milk case I already know, that the common crystals are to big for the case. To fix this I used the same method as last time described here: Build a Rolex 1680 replica based on a milk case
I I machined a small 0,3 mm spacer ring and glued it at the case. Now the outer diameter of the case is 28,3mm and I can press the crystal as it should.







I don't know If this is also fixed by using the milk 5513 case instead of the 1680 version. Maybe you have some better luck.

 

[matzemedia]

Coming up to the next problem - the movement doesen't work any more!

For the project, I bought an ETA 2772 movement second-hand. It is almost the same as the original Tudor movement, has 21,600 A/h but a date disc.
During my first observation, the movement ran well. The amplitude was 290 and the accuracy was 5 seconds plus. Now that I have mounted the dial and the hands, I have unfortunately noticed that it stops after 20 minutes. The balance can be pushed but after 5-8 seconds it stops and the second hand does not move at all. Once I took everything apart and moved the second wheel a little, the movement ran again for just 20 minutes. Now, when I push the balance wheel, the second hand does not turn again.
I am at a bit of a loss.

 

[Caril]

It's interesting following your progress.
I will attempt to build a 9401 soon, hopefully with easier steps

I have no experience with watches - so excuse me having a go at this:
I think @Solution6 had predicted this - the extra dial thickness caused the movement to be pressed ("squashed") inside the case, therefore increasing friction and causing it to stop after 20 min.
Not working when its again out of the case might mean something was messed on with a bit to much? here I will stop, because I know nothing

 

[matzemedia]

I think @Solution6 had predicted this - the extra dial thickness caused the movement to be pressed ("squashed") inside the case, therefore increasing friction and causing it to stop after 20 min.
Not working when its again out of the case might mean something was messed on with a bit to much? here I will stop, because I know nothing

Oh, maybe I didn't express myself correctly. The movement is not yet mounted. It already stops when it is on the table. I also assume that it stops without the dial and hands. But I will try that out next.

 

[Solution6]

Coming up to the next problem - the movement doesen't work any more!

For the project, I bought an ETA 2772 movement second-hand. It is almost the same as the original Tudor movement, has 21,600 A/h but a date disc.
During my first observation, the movement ran well. The amplitude was 290 and the accuracy was 5 seconds plus. Now that I have mounted the dial and the hands, I have unfortunately noticed that it stops after 20 minutes. The balance can be pushed but after 5-8 seconds it stops and the second hand does not move at all. Once I took everything apart and moved the second wheel a little, the movement ran again for just 20 minutes. Now, when I push the balance wheel, the second hand does not turn again.
I am at a bit of a loss.

If it's constant at every 20 min you need to check the wheels to see if there is any damage/dirt in a specific point. Second hand movements should be serviced before use to be safe.

 

[matzemedia]

Today I spent several hours analysing the movement and, above all, understanding how it works. There for I found some good pictures ETA Calibre 2772 Service Walkthrough Pictures. I also took the opportunity to clean a few parts. That was the first time for me.
My error analysis is that the escape wheel and the fourth wheel do not turn together. On closer inspection, I could see that the upper pin on the escape wheel had broken off. So I have to order a new escape wheel.

 

[matzemedia]

Experiment with modding the insert
The Snowflag set-up with the blue dial also includes a blue insert. I initially ordered two blue inserts from Ali. Both are a bit too bright and look too new.
My experience so far with modding inserts is based on the bleaching method. If you do this with the light blue insert, it becomes even brighter. See here my experiments with light bleeding water. It's based on a sodium hypochlorite (2-3%).



Somewhere I read that you can also bake inserts. To do this, simply place the insert on the stovetop for a few minutes. In contrast to bleaching, this causes the colour to change and, as in my case, to become somewhat darker.



Here with all the the blue parts for the build:



I am still not completely satisfied with the result and have ordered a new dark blue insert from Ali. The project will take a little longer this time.