Slartibartfast

It was a bargain! I was tempted. But this was a speed of light sale, as I remember (or slightly faster ). Very good choice Pugwash. Enjoy it. Oh. I see you already are.

I have relumed a set of 1655 hands. The 24 hour hand on the 1655 has a large lume area, which was no problem at all to 're-paint' after striping the orignal lume and paint with paint stripper.

Funny how noticeable it is when a major league 'poster' quietens down for a while. Good to see your ugly avatar appearing more frequently again.

What a great reminder of your talents as a photograher! I particularly liked the flying saucer theme. what an Imagination! Well done freddy!

Great photos of a classic model. you must be pleased.

No gold to show, sorry.....but I was at a meeting last week in Regent Street, London, talking to two contractors. One was wearing a gold Yachtmaster. I believe it to be gen, because it was simply the 'goldest' thing I have ever seen (and also because the guy was loaded). Mesmerising! Not my cup of tea, to be honest. Just too much 'in yer face'. I looked up the retail price on this when I got back to the office.

I wish....I wish... Cash waiting!

Thanks freddy. Given your experience with this marque, I am pleased that you have found my efforts worth a read!

OK, so after some more printing, luming and building, the Explorer is now ready for some wrist time. Thought I would share a few pics of this little beauty. Again, the dial designed on AutoCAD and printed onto laser decal paper, all the same processes as the Ranger. In my prototype dials I had re-created a version with an outer ring at the edges of the minute markers. I couldn't get this to work properly, as when the dial was cased, the slightly off-centre home made dial blank was visible due to the outer ring. Ah well, never mind. When I can find a way of making better more precise dial blanks, I will have another go at that version. I have used a gold hand set, and think that this combo adds something different, and looks really cool (IMO). Here's a pic of a gen for comparison. Enjoy!

Very nice package, with the box and all. Which dealer? What movement? etc...etc..

Here's my 1655, that I relumed using Noctilumina. This product has had a bit of a slagging in the past, but expose it to UV and WOW! Note that pic is taken in semi light and at an shutter speed of less than a second. (not like some )

Wonderful example of a 1655 rep. You have a watch with some great potential there. Congrats

Back home now...and can't open the front page in IE8. Just locks up. Back to Firefox with no probs.

Much improved IMO. Had to start using Firefox to even get a page to load with the provious skin. Can now access from work using IE7. Prefer the new look. All is good!

Ah....small objects of desire. Yes, even quartz ones!

I have, and won't again. Watch was nothing like the picture. Load of rubbish, in fact. Stick to the dealers here, IMO.

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. Time to get that Explorer bolted together. Now where's my toolkit......

Just did a search on water slide decal paper on ebay, and took a chance. It was unbranded, but works a treat!

It's good to get such positive feedback! Thanks chaps! I will post some closer shots of the dials when I take the shots of the Explorer. Although, that may ruin the illusion! Still; in for a penny....

Will post as soon as ready. Dial is finished and all ready to go. Downside is that I only have an Asian 21J to fit it to. Looking for an ETA powered no-name on the bay to rip the movement from. You never know! Cheers now! Slarti

OK, so having had some success with making a datewheel overlay from a water slide decal, it dawned on me that I could have a go at creating a dial for a couple of empty case sets that I bought from the bay. These cases were sold as Tudor Oyster Prince cases. They are good, but not the genuine article that they were supposed to be. Still they were cheap! I wanted to recreate a Tudor Ranger, and an early Explorer Precision, both of which originals I would love to own. Now this is just a bit of fun you understand, and is no way intended to be a 1:1 replication, but just something I have done for my own satisfaction, taking pictures from the net for reference. Purists look away NOW! Still here? OK then, first things first. I needed to create a dial blank onto which I could apply the dial decal. So I bought a sheet of 0.4mm gauge brass sheet out of which I could cut the blanks. First thing is to mark out the radius of the dial with a compass set. Then I used my 'dremel' to cut out the disk by cutting around the scribed circle in short straight lengths. After cutting out the blank, I needed to grind off the sharp edges to create a smooth, round disk. I needed a dial diameter of 30mm (this being a 'Jumbo' Prince case set), so after checking the final outcome with callipers, was quite pleased! Now, the decal I am using is clear, so to form the white print of the dial, I would need to create a template that used black ink for the black parts of the dial, but clear for the white printing. So, I needed to paint the dial blank white, so that the clear decal areas would show through white, giving a painted appearance. Next job was to create the dial 'model' in AutoCAD. This picture shows the Explorer 1 I have 'created', but the same process was used to 'create' the Ranger. Now print this using a 600dpi laserjet onto the decal sheet. I tried many variations to get the dial to print correctly, and by trial and error, got it to be as good as possible (giving the limited tools available). When the decals are printed, it is simply a case of cutting them out and, using a cup of water, wetting them so that they can slide onto your dial blank. This is very satisfying, as you suddenly end up with a recognisable dial. Now I needed to apply a bit of lume for that authentic look, so used Revell Night Color with a touch of cream acrylic paint to get the right tone. The finish of the laser print decal is not that even as it stands, so I needed to apply a layer or two of acrylic spray matt varnish to get a more even finish after luming. This worked quite well, IMO! After a good period of time to allow the paint to dry, it was time to build the unit. I decided I needed to have a go at the Ranger first. I had a spare ETA2836-2 sitting around, so ordered a set of Ranger 1 hands from Singapore. I had a Rolex crown handy too, so that was pressed into action. By the way, before I get asked, I recreated a 'white' Ranger, as my research has told me that all the 'red' Rangers are fake. Wouldn't want to 'fake a fake' now would I! After throwing it all together this was the result! The sharp eyed will notice some small differences between the dial photos, as I have progressed the artwork as the project moved on. Between first prototype and final product, I have printed, applied, lumed and subsequenntly rejected at least a dozen dials until I was satisfied with the result. Actually I am quite pleased, and can't keep it off my wrist. Can't wait to get the Explorer together! If you got this far....then thanks for reading. Hope to have amused you. Slarti

Certainly will! What a beauty. The itallic numeral dial is my favourite of all the Aerospace models. Love the TT, and the co-pilot module. Congrats!

Subtle, sympathetic restoration. Exactly what this classic deserves. Great work!

Is it one of these.... ????? That means you've got seven spare ones. Send one over, Ubi. There's a mate!

Love this model Ubi. A good choice. Here's my 4th gen, bought from PT in 2006. ETA version, built VERY well. A keeper!