The 1016: The Under Appreciated Thread

[dpd3672]

I was chatting with Manodeoro on the same thing.
He started by doing simple mods, and now has delved into movement...and of course his spectacular dials

It's funny how quickly "I think I want to get a nice watch" can turn into "Wow, $40k for a Rolex? I'll get one of those $500 reps instead."

Then becomes "You know, the watch I really want requires some customizing and tweaking, I wonder if I can do it myself..."

And ultimately, "I'm now taking orders for watch customization..."

You know someone from this thread will get there.

 

[Karbon74]

It's funny how quickly "I think I want to get a nice watch" can turn into "Wow, $40k for a Rolex? I'll get one of those $500 reps instead."

Then becomes "You know, the watch I really want requires some customizing and tweaking, I wonder if I can do it myself..."

And ultimately, "I'm now taking orders for watch customization..."

You know someone from this thread will get there.

I think 369mafia is alredy there and waiting for us

 

[dpd3672]

I think 369mafia is alredy there and waiting for us

Yeah, now that I think about it, I'm wearing one of his watches now.

 

[Karbon74]

I wonder if I can do it myself...

... I probably can, and if I don't make it today, maybe tomorrow.

That is the unsaid common belief of all of us here. That's why I think we all stuck together so fast.

 

[316lad]

Of course the other problem when you get in to servicing movements is this one;
I'm not happy with that un-polished Ratchet Wheel.

Going to have to sort that out - it's not fit to be there amongst the Perlage.

 

[dpd3672]

Of course the other problem when you get in to servicing movements is this one;
I'm not happy with that un-polished Ratchet Wheel.

Going to have to sort that out - it's not fit to be there amongst the Perlage.

That would look so gen if you could make it purple...

 

[dpd3672]

I think I'm almost ready to do the 6098, just have to tweak the dial size and technique a bit...the print seems to be VERY sharp, with none of the pixelation that a lot of these files can get. I need to make sure the dial is completely clean and free of grease, print it a bit bigger, and somehow make the "EVEREST" font red. I suspect a pad printer or a decal printed in red will work.



And here it is in a gen case that needs a new crystal:

 

[Karbon74]

just bought this for experiment.
I like the water color technique but the spill over bothers me, and the furniture spray technique does not really work out for me.

From what I read, this leaves a film that creates a reserve area. so you can really target a clean painting of the lume plots.

 

[316lad]

just bought this for experiment.
I like the water color technique but the spill over bothers me, and the furniture spray technique does not really work out for me.

From what I read, this leaves a film that creates a reserve area. so you can really target a clean painting of the lume plots.

That looks good - a bit like the Liquid Mask we used to use in preparing artwork for camera.
Vetry interested to see how you get on with that.

 

[Karbon74]

just bought this for experiment.
I like the water color technique but the spill over bothers me, and the furniture spray technique does not really work out for me.

From what I read, this leaves a film that creates a reserve area. so you can really target a clean painting of the lume plots.

as usual, I am bering crazy and lazy, and testing directly on the dial

 

[316lad]

as usual, I am bering crazy and lazy, and testing directly on the dial

That's the spirit Brother.
Testing on a non-critical surface to ensure no mishaps can occurr with the real thing - is for wimps!

 

[dpd3672]

as usual, I am bering crazy and lazy, and testing directly on the dial

Next time you're ordering from AliX, just add a couple dozen of these to your order. They're dirt cheap, and great for practicing techniques. When I'm trying to do something to a dial, I'll do it to 10 or so of these at a time, so that at least one winds up how I want it. .5mm thick, 29 or 30mm in diameter, cost less than $.40 USD each.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805939419106.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.275.755f1802SaQho9&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

They're great for practicing with gilt dials, luming, aging, etc. If you totally screw one up, just clean it off and try again...if it comes out perfect, add some dial feet and build it up!

I've got a few of these that started out as beaters that turned out so nice they'll eventually wind up in a Raffles case, lol.

 

[1675lover]

just bought this for experiment.
I like the water color technique but the spill over bothers me, and the furniture spray technique does not really work out for me.

From what I read, this leaves a film that creates a reserve area. so you can really target a clean painting of the lume plots.

Interesting… this could solve the problem that I had in mind for reluming the 3 6 and 9 lol

My plan was to use painter’s tape for every hour marker and paint some non luminous stuff on, but the 3,6,9 has curvatures and small circles in the middle and tape wouldn’t work…

Do share ur progress!

 

[Karbon74]

Applying the stuff is awkward.
It's very liquid but it gels very fast.

It's light blue on application and turns transparent on drying

The tip is supposedly 0,7mm but it is much larger. I am guessing only the hole is 0,7mm
so I used a 00 brush to do the perimeter

I am now applying layers of watercolor and letting them dry in between. lets see what happens

I was thinking about the amount of time we spend on such minute things

 

[dpd3672]

Applying the stuff is awkward.
It's very liquid but it gels very fast.

It's light blue on application and turns transparent on drying

The tip is supposedly 0,7mm but it is much larger. I am guessing only the hole is 0,7mm
so I used a 00 brush to do the perimeter

I am now applying layers of watercolor and letting them dry in between. lets see what happens

I was thinking about the amount of time we spend on such minute things

Building a watch from parts takes maybe 30 minutes if things go your way.

Making a rep look "real" can take weeks or months, and that's not including the dead ends we go down trying new tricks to improve on the existing methods...or waiting for parts to arrive, lol.

 

[Karbon74]

Interesting… this could solve the problem that I had in mind for reluming the 3 6 and 9 lol

My plan was to use painter’s tape for every hour marker and paint some non luminous stuff on, but the 3,6,9 has curvatures and small circles in the middle and tape wouldn’t work…

Do share ur progress!

it's supposed to be removable with the finger or an eraser

 

[dpd3672]

it's supposed to be removable with the finger or an eraser

What about simple wax? You can heat it until it's the right consistency...from thick sludge to nearly water. Paint it on the dial, and when you're happy with it, lume away.

Warm water should remove it after everything dries, and worst case scenario, it leaves a protective, lubricating film on the dial if you don't get it all.

 

[Karbon74]

What about simple wax? You can heat it until it's the right consistency...from thick sludge to nearly water. Paint it on the dial, and when you're happy with it, lume away.

Warm water should remove it after everything dries, and worst case scenario, it leaves a protective, lubricating film on the dial if you don't get it all.

worth a try indeed.
I just stumbled upon this stuff when I was shopping for some watercolor pencils to wide my palette.

 

[369mafia]

What about simple wax? You can heat it until it's the right consistency...from thick sludge to nearly water. Paint it on the dial, and when you're happy with it, lume away.

Warm water should remove it after everything dries, and worst case scenario, it leaves a protective, lubricating film on the dial if you don't get it all.

I would worry that it would leave a residue on the dial surface., Cause there is always a little bit the permeates the surface and leaves a mark. or at least whenever Ive gotten wax on something

that gum stuff looks rather promising tho @Karbon74
however are you using this on a raffles dial , painting it on then scraping off the lume and reluming ? or a blank? where you are painting it on and then applying lume? either way it seems like you are free handing one element of this process and I think you would have better control of the lume than the gum ? Am I missing a step? I just got work up lol

 

[Karbon74]

So I just finished my test.
The masking function is just awesome and the stuff just comes off super easy with a finger rub, with no residue. even with the dried water color in it.

Now, the masking is so good that application has to be quite precise. hint, mine was not

I was trying it on the jkf 5513 dial that I posted on the other thread. What I am doing is to try to lighten and better color match the hands, as the dial plots are a shade too dark as it overbaked.

Ideas:
putting it around round plots is easy with a 00brush or smaller. The surface tension makes a good circle, then it dries and removes well

on the straight plots, not so much. I would need a guide.

I would not use it for lume

It would probably work best on a fresh raffles dial. Mine had already been matte varnished sealed.