The one that got away 1016 Tropical Explorer: a case study

[1016_idiot_savant]

UPDATE:
Spoke with Raffles and we shared some ideas back and forth and He is going to get a sample done closer to something like this - a caramel tropical dial with gilt print and aged lume.

I will update when I receive the sample images.

Thanks for taking the initiative on this!!

 

[369mafia]

 

[369mafia]

First attempt with the air brush. Working on technique and paint consistency. Cleaning the overspray is a bit tricky but this is doable ans will look wicked once i got it dialled

First impressions ?

 

[GenuineFool]

The coloration and gradient look fantastic! While a lot more work, I wonder if it would look better if you removed the lume, airbrushed the dial, lightly polished it, then relumed it. But at this point it’s probably only a small improvement. It came out really nice.

 

[369mafia]

The coloration and gradient look fantastic! While a lot more work, I wonder if it would look better if you removed the lume, airbrushed the dial, lightly polished it, then relumed it. But at this point it’s probably only a small improvement. It came out really nice.

Thx
far from perfect and this is a test dial that I have used a number of times so there is some build up on it
trying to clean the overspray while its wet is not going to work as well as planned
using a solvent to clean it off later is not ideal either.
but I think adding my aging color on the lume covering over the overspray will work best I think I just bought a new gravity feed brush so I am just getting adjusted to it but if I go in tight I might be able to avoid as much overspray as possible and the less clean up afterwards the better.

might mess with it a bit later today after errands , etc

 

[369mafia]

I know we aren't supposed to post porn on this site but damn....

 

[1675lover]

ok this is perfect lol

 

[magoohkg]

Great post, great work, well done!

 

[johnchpark]

Hello, i have a quick question.
Do your lumes still work after the aging process?
And do gen tropical 1016’s usually still have working lume?

 

[369mafia]

Hello, i have a quick question.
Do your lumes still work after the aging process?
And do gen tropical 1016’s usually still have working lume?

somewhat but its diminished because of the paint applied to dial . I have made a few attempts of the aging tropical effects , each time using a diluted isopropyl to clean off the paint and I think that also has reduced the lume a bit as well can not confirm.

gen watches will not have functional lume from the 60's however they will glow under UV lights

 

[369mafia]

Brief update :
ordered a 2mm needle for my airbrush so that I can get in tighter with more control , this should allow me to work around the lume and less overspray .

Experimented with some gold acrylic paint to give the appearance of a gilt dial plate this paint has a bit of a large metal flake so I may need to find something different but its interesting as it reacts nicely in light , it goes dark when light is not directly on it but really pops when in direct light I will source a proper air brush paint with smaller flake and it should do nicely
I find myself subconsciously trying to get the fade pattern even around the dial and it looks more like a sunburst than a tropical dial so I need to focus on it being less uniform

I think once raffles has completed the caramel tropical dials the gold spray will be just a small detail on the dial instead of a coat like I did on this example (to cover up the red ) so it could work nicely and give it a nice transition from tropical gilt to black edge

 

[369mafia]

I received the sample dial from Raffles yesterday
I was expecting a complete dial and it was just a sample of the colour.
(also pictured - his newest offering a 6350 explorer dial )





What do you guys think. He wants feedback... do you like the colour?
should we go slightly lighter, or darker ?





feedback welcome.

 

[Pinion Minion]

on my laptop it seems a bit too light- and needs a bit more brown tone.

 

[369mafia]

on my laptop it seems a bit too light- and needs a bit more brown tone.

It is a close match on the first image the other two I think are augmented by crystal and light. I think its pretty good . to replicate the examples I think some dry brushing of a dark brown or black will enhance the appearance and will make it look closer to the 2 later examples. I think the lume colour he used on the 6350 along with the gilt text will look good on that color.
I also want to be able to air brush them to achieve a variety of tropical effects.

 

[Pinion Minion]

not sure if it would help- but there is a color analyzer in the Google play store that allows you to take a photo of an object and i believe it breaks it down into R/G/B, CYMK, etc.

perhaps it would help to compare the two dial tones?

 

[369mafia]

not sure if it would help- but there is a color analyzer in the Google play store that allows you to take a photo of an object and i believe it breaks it down into R/G/B, CYMK, etc.

perhaps it would help to compare the two dial tones?

I checked out the app and it got very poor reviews. Have you tried it?

 

[Pinion Minion]

I have not. If you had the gumption - you could take the dials to a paint store and have them put it in their analyzer..

 

[1016_idiot_savant]

feedback welcome.

It actually looks pretty good - it is probably easier for us to make it darker if preferred, rather than make it lighter. What would be good if possible (a game changer) if the color was a little varied across the dial (part of the dial a little darker), like in the gen dials, rather than uniform. This could be done before applying the markers and text.

 

[369mafia]

It actually looks pretty good - it is probably easier for us to make it darker if preferred, rather than make it lighter. What would be good if possible (a game changer) if the color was a little varied across the dial (part of the dial a little darker), like in the gen dials, rather than uniform. This could be done before applying the markers and text.

I had similar thoughts. a light dry brushing of a dark colour to dirty up the dial surface and break up the evenness of the colour
I am not sure they would be able to add a secondary colour and make it look natural I will ask

 

[Winni1611]

I would prefer it a little bit darker too, it seems a little to much yellow in it , but as said its easier to darken it than to make it lighter. So it may be ok