mellons

lightly aged hands to match the vdb radium burn dial...

sorry did someone say something about ice cream?

Pete that makes perfect sense Athaya is a parts supplier over on hf: does very nice work This is one of his complete case-sets, he did them in bronze also. Case had thick caseback with engravings of choice (display and solid), cases in correct overall height with creases, thick lug pins, two piece bezel and movement ring to suit movement. Iir the original run was 100 ss cases and 50 bronze ones. Originally I got a bronze case but sold on: did not have the bottle to mod a $400 + case set which was already pretty nice. he also supplies a thinner caseback: I have one of these on order also. You should check out his section; he is planning a 6152/1 case set with 3 piece dial etc. shortly. The other casebacks you have seen with deeper engravings are more than likely night watch ones: these are very nice also.

Here is a recently completed 6154- was a build i had up for sale but got second thoughts and had a run at it myself. Having tried achieving this shape with other cases this really is the best at the moment to achieve closer to accurate shape (without serious machining etc). Although the material on the lugs is not plentiful for a reshape removal of the creases on the caseback side of the case and curvature of the underside of the lugs does help the shape. Corners at the lug ends also taken down and some creases softened. The most material removed was between the lugs on the caseback side (not visible with strap on). The reshaping was one of the most nervous I have completed due to cost of unmodded case! ingredients are: athaya 6154 case (2 piece bezel) qplexi thick engraved opb caseback vdb rp dial athaya high-collar molly hands 1947 "salut" highly-decorated molnija 3601 (pin removed michael) timeband ammo with sewn-in strap future mods: light age hands, compression-fit lug bars and thin engraved display caseback case shots

thanks pete here is same case with thick 6mm plexi and solid nw caseback....

All very nice indeed...

Flush

Here is the final version of a recent build Using the mid-case reshaped in recent log, completed in destro format as originally intended. Overall build-up a very wearable 15.6mm Ingredients: jackson "old case" reshaped jackson cg sterilised with athaya lever mod (and glue/pin mod)- destro version necky 6mm thick plexi reduced to 4.5mm overall (shallow dome) with surface crazing southy mm black dial nightwatch fiddy hands vintagised dsn unengraved solid caseback nightwatch brass movement ring panatime spring bars undecorated roland kemmner seagull 3620 (6498) with secs pin shortened timeband strap with sewn-in gpf buckle This was conceived as a daly beater to be worn on left wrist: no problems with crown and hand. The overall build-up is very shallow and is compatible with shirt cuffs etc. Build-up could go less than 15mm if you use athaya low-profile bezel but shape changes quite a lot as a result. The big brother to this is a proper "thicker" build in progress with nw cg and thick solid caseback etc. wristies case shots movement dial shots mood shots

From talking to a few forum members on hf/wc and here we thought it might be useful for some newer members to see what a case reshape looks like: it might save a few binned cases! Also although the aftermarket parts are superb (e.g. nightwatch) it is important for beginners to know you can get close to gen appearance on a budget also, without breaking the bank. The new jackson fiddy case is a great alternative for a plug-and-play budget vintage build. This is just my personal way of reshaping- there are a lot of great reshapers out there who have been doing this a lot longer so please chime in with faster less labour intensive stages that can be done. All mine are totally by hand (no dremel). I had a recent conversation with another forum member about shapes and really, as gens were hand-done, one can get a gen image to match many ways of reshping these cases- there is quite a variety out there. I always think the best way os to get one particular watch, say the arillo fiddy, and look at as many images of that before shaping. Looking at multiple images of differnent watches I think confuses a reshape due to the variety of shapes out there. That being said, some angular 6154-like and others more rounded, they all had blunter lug ends than most reps out there. Here is case ready to be reshaped- a standard "old jackson" case still available from him. All these cases are slightly different imho depending on original manufacture run. This one will concentrate on getting a gen-like look particularly at lugs and will accentuate the fuller cushion shape. Again, the more one does the better the shape becomes, and I am sure I will look back at the images here and say to myself "oooh god, I didn't post that..." lol: that's what we all are doing all the time imho. First of all tide line marked out a little over half way around case, with areas to be adjusted coloured in black with indelible marker Notice bezel is left in place for marking out Bezel and cg removed and initial rough filing completed- concentrate on area between lugs and sides (top of case). reshape starts using large hand file and sticking to areas in black- continuing curve as necessary. just be careful of area around cg- easy to remove too much material. leave finer reshaping to lug ends to next stage (with needle files) All creases are removed to underside of case roughly and all sharp lines removed It is also important to check that bezel has not been undershot at thic point- roughly place and check if shaped area coincides with bezel seat. More fine filing to smoth out rough initial reshape- take off any excessive "lumpintess". Lugs to be reshaped or "dug out"- concentrating on getting more vertical surface where lugs meet case. Notice material left above lugs becomes more accentuated. This is done with needle-files. The shape of all 4 lugs completed with any unevenness addressed- being careful that all 4 lugs match! Notice i have only rounded the underside of the case between the lugs- i used to take more material out of this area but i think it was a throwback to being used to getting rid of the strap-slot on the older mini-fiddy cases. not much is needed here just smooth out crease. Underside also gets smoothed out with needle files Fast forward lugs have been sanded down and overall case has been given the once-over with 400 grit sandpaper to see how shape is. I think brushed finish is more unforgiving on blemishes so it is useful to use an abrasive pad on the complete case at this stage: this highlights areas to be worked on. Then roughly assemble to see what shape is like- you can then mark off areas that need to ba adjusted etc. on this reshape i have accentuated more of a fuller curve at the lugs- shallower is fine but trick is to continue curve down past top of lug to get close to gen geometry- this will leave an unever section on case end just above the lug: similar to gen. for this mock-up i am using a modded standard jackson cg and a dsn solid caseback as I am going to do a slim build-up on this one. Lugs will need a bit of work to curve underside, get rid of flat ends and give curve a bit more of a vertical point. I tend not to take too much off lugs as this is the drawback of a lot of re- cases- not enough material. Now just sand down the filemarks to suit- even with a highly polished finish (if that is your preference) you will get that vintage appearance as the surface won't be machined-flat: it will be slightly textured. Then you are nearly ready to assemble completely. Complete assembly to follow.... for final finish you can use a variety of methods: i wrap fine sandpaper around needle files and just go over cases. Then you can get an abrasive pad from any hardware shop and do final rub- at this point you can go slightly more worn or polish-up to a high shine. For final shine there again are a variety of compounds: i use t-cut (auto abrasive for scratches) and elbow grease. This one is a slim build and has a dsn solid caseback, a silix 6154 bezel, a sterilised jackson cg with athaya lever (with pin and glue mod) with a solid plexi reshaped to fit. A nice southy mm dial with nightwatch hands finishes the build. For this one a seagull 3620 (undecorated) from roland kemmner provides the engine. All mounted on one of timeband's great gpf sewn-in buckle straps. Again you can go wild (nw 3 piece dial, 3 piece bezel + plexi, display cb with domed plexi etc) but if the mid-case isn't right it will detract from the completed watch. final shot: before and after (another case here)

new born slim 6152/1 vintage with southy goodness...

Here is a case exercise that started out as a 6154 silix- lugs are not finished and hope to highly polish case when shape completed. This reshaping has included the following: creating creases all round (very pronounced between lugs) an athaya re-worked low-profile bezel re- shaped solid plexi threaded case with athaya tube and crown installed lugs drilled for neckyzips thicker solid lug bars Initially i thought I had lost the shape by going for the dramatic lug-reshape but the profile is growing on me. I think the stock silix is unsuited to the 6154 shape in any event- case is way too high even reduced as much as one can go without re-threading etc. anyway will be a fun build....here are some shots. am thinking mabye take case down in height a little bit more.... here is a comparison shot with an athaya 6154 case:

tan special: nightwatch 3 piece + vdb cali + oaka blue hands on timeband = pure sex

just gone today...

most people are quite helpful and will point you in the right direction first point of call would be mods of relevant sections....

my latest catch-and-release

You should pm necky and mm.....

just hangin' around...

new crown installed- sterilised jackson with athaya lever with rounded pin seems to suit more slender case... comparison with 6152/1 (in progress) 6152/1 in progress with 6152 no cg in background