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I wanted to branch out and see what it took to build a PAM vintage of some sort so I decided to begin with a radiomir as that is my favorite PAM to wear. So I ordered a homage off Aliexpress. I figured the least expensive way to do this was to find a complete watch where I liked everything but the dial. So I ordered a 45 and a 47mm radiomir with an asso strap.
I looked a lot of this up on homage forum and asked some questions of some more expert people. This is kind of a beginners guide to taking these apart and playing a bit with them. So take off the straps, which require you to remove the wire lugs. Be careful with the screws, easy to scratch and strip. Use the blue screwdriver.
I removed the case back with a sticky ball.
You need to remove the retaining screws and tabs
To remove the stem you need to loosen the retaining screw. Just a turn or two, don't remove it.
Then flip it out onto a movement cushion.
Reinsert the stem and tighten back the retaining screw, then use a dial protector (cut up business card) and remove the hands. I use levers.
Now to remove the dial. There are two screws that hold the dial feet on most 6497 movements. They are located near the movement retaining tabs. One side is flat, so you need to rotate the screw until the flat side is against the feet. That releases it.
A sandwich dial like these are in two pieces, and they are usually glued together. I took a razor blade and carefully separated them. The dial feet can be on either the back plate or the dial.
So you may have a sec hand or not. I got one of each. If you have a movement with the sec hand and you don't plan on using a dial with one, you have to remove it. If you do it the right way you take the movement apart and carefully remove it. But most people just snip it off.
I'm using one without a sec hand.
So I'm building using dials I got from Ross on Homage Forum
I painted the dial with gloss paint, let it dry for a couple days and then filled in the engravings with a white crayon.
I then matte sprayed it. Let it dry, and hit it with 2000 grit sandpaper.
[URL="https://i.ibb.co/ZSTBBhd/IMG-6885.jpg%5b/img"]https://i.ibb.co/ZSTBBhd/IMG-6885.jpg[/img[/URL]]
I stripped the lume off the hands, and painted the back plate white. I then lightly traced the location of the numbers so I'd know where to lume.
[img]https://i.ibb.co/hWCbwxN/IMG-6880.jpg
I mixed up some lume, colored it with watercolors, and applied it to the dial
I used double stick tape to attach the two parts of the dial and reassembled tightening the dial retaining screws and putting the hands on. Put the stem back in, secure the movement with the tabs and screws.
For those who have trouble with those tab screws when reassembing the tabs and screws, a little rodico can help.
Grease the o ring and put the case back on. Attach the strap.
I looked a lot of this up on homage forum and asked some questions of some more expert people. This is kind of a beginners guide to taking these apart and playing a bit with them. So take off the straps, which require you to remove the wire lugs. Be careful with the screws, easy to scratch and strip. Use the blue screwdriver.
I removed the case back with a sticky ball.
You need to remove the retaining screws and tabs
To remove the stem you need to loosen the retaining screw. Just a turn or two, don't remove it.
Then flip it out onto a movement cushion.
Reinsert the stem and tighten back the retaining screw, then use a dial protector (cut up business card) and remove the hands. I use levers.
Now to remove the dial. There are two screws that hold the dial feet on most 6497 movements. They are located near the movement retaining tabs. One side is flat, so you need to rotate the screw until the flat side is against the feet. That releases it.
A sandwich dial like these are in two pieces, and they are usually glued together. I took a razor blade and carefully separated them. The dial feet can be on either the back plate or the dial.
So you may have a sec hand or not. I got one of each. If you have a movement with the sec hand and you don't plan on using a dial with one, you have to remove it. If you do it the right way you take the movement apart and carefully remove it. But most people just snip it off.
I'm using one without a sec hand.
So I'm building using dials I got from Ross on Homage Forum
I painted the dial with gloss paint, let it dry for a couple days and then filled in the engravings with a white crayon.
I then matte sprayed it. Let it dry, and hit it with 2000 grit sandpaper.
[URL="https://i.ibb.co/ZSTBBhd/IMG-6885.jpg%5b/img"]https://i.ibb.co/ZSTBBhd/IMG-6885.jpg[/img[/URL]]
I stripped the lume off the hands, and painted the back plate white. I then lightly traced the location of the numbers so I'd know where to lume.
[img]https://i.ibb.co/hWCbwxN/IMG-6880.jpg
I mixed up some lume, colored it with watercolors, and applied it to the dial
I used double stick tape to attach the two parts of the dial and reassembled tightening the dial retaining screws and putting the hands on. Put the stem back in, secure the movement with the tabs and screws.
For those who have trouble with those tab screws when reassembing the tabs and screws, a little rodico can help.
Grease the o ring and put the case back on. Attach the strap.
