f4juk
-
Posts
19 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by f4juk
-
-
Awesome post, fantastic work.
FYI
I'm not sure what the B5 means, but it's found on a lot of Breitling watches.It's the Breitling dial colour reference
A=white
B=black
C=blue
D=?
E=grey
F=grey
G=white/silver/ivory
H=gold
I=yellow
J=?
K=red/pink/burgundy
L=green
M=grey
N=?
Q=brown
I don't know what the 5 refers to. Black dials can be referenced B5, B6 or B7. No idea what this means.
-
Be aware that this is a very old quartz movement and if/when it fails, you're left with a paperweight
-
99% sure it's the Old Navitimer M
-
RAF have a base there I think?
RAF Mildenhall is home to an air refuelling wing (forget the number) of the USAF flying KC-135s but used to be the European base for the SR-71 Blackbird. 2 or 3 miles away, RAF Lakenheath is home to whatever squadron it is flying F-15E Strike Eagles and once home to the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II
As an aviation enthusiast, I went every year to the air shows at Mildenhall until they stopped them 2 or 3 years ago.
@Jack - if you're not in the USAF, ignore the references to posting!
Unlike a posting to Fairford or Upper Heyford when they hosted USAF units, Mildenhall/Lakenheath are not in picture postcard "merry olde England" country. They are in the Fens which is a flat, featureless countryside which would not feature highly in a places to visit in England brochure!
Mildenhall is a market town but not very big. One curry house, one chip shop, 3 or 4 pubs, posh hotel called "The Bell" but not much else. There's a pub near the main entrance to the base and a motorcycle speedway track to the north side.
Lakenheath is a sleepy village and I can't remember anything about it!
Locals always seemed very hospitable to the Yanks in the pubs. No anti-American undercurrents. But like everywhere, there's always the odd [censored] head who is looking for an argument.
Hot spots? Dream on baby!
Best thing about Mildenhall/Lakenheath is the A11/M11 which will get you to London in about an hour!If you want to be part of the community, pick a football (soccer) team to support. The top 4 are Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. Chelsea and Arsenal are in London so are the closest. 99% of British males and 50%+ females will get into a conversation about football so forget about rounders and get into a game the rest of the world plays!
We Brits may seem hard to comprehend at first but most of us are friendly and welcoming. We have a dry sense of humour which many Americans find hard to understand but that's just the way we are. Get to know us and we make you one of the family. Enjoy your time in England.
Cheers
-
-
I think the gen is the original 42mm Steelfish from 2005 whereas the rep looks to be based on the 44mm Steelfish X-Plus version released in 2006. The lack of minute markers to the right of the date aperture is the most obvious sign.
-
-
I assume the blue Diver Pro strap is discontinued which is why it sells for such a high price. The black strap is £35 from any AD.
As for rep straps, this is probably the worst Navitimer rep I've ever seen but shows that rep Diver Pro straps do exist!
-
This is a nice rep of the navitimer and the plus is that the date is certainly better than on the 3-6-9 version where the single digits should be facing the outside of the watch but never are. However, be aware that is does have some flaws, namely:-
This model should have 4 ticks between second marks instead of 3 (ie 1/5 second marks, not 1/4 second)
The ticks along side date window should not be present
Case is polished steel but should be a brushed, matt finish
Edges of slide rule bezel should be more pointed, not flat as on the 3-6-9 version
and worst of all, it has Messersch14177 61109 rather than Messerschmitt Bf109 engraved on case back.
It will fool most of the people, most of the time but like all reps, does not stand up to microscopic scrutiny. Only you can decide if you can live with the flaws. If you can, go for it!
-
Minute ticks on bezel look slightly too thin.
Bezel pearl looks fractionly too deep.
Both could be down to the angle of the photo.
Crown & pushers look good.
Back looks spot on.
Without checking the Chronolog, it looked gen to me.
The most common flaw on the Chrono Avenger is the 4 in the 45 minute mark is closed rather than open as seen here.
If this is a rep, it's as good as you're going to get.
-
Looks the same watch as Homer's to me.
Very nice with only minor flaws.
Serifs on the numbers is the most obvious along with the date wheel font.
I'd go with the batons version but only a Breitling nut like myself would spot the serifs!
-
IMHO, "Homer's Navitimer" (also stocked by several other dealers) is a much closer rep than the Breitling Fighters Serie Speciale. Reps are reps so we can't expect perfection but there are some serious flaws on the Fighters model. Namely...
There are 3 ticks between second marks instead of 4 (should be 1/5th second measure, not 1/4)
The ticks along side date window should not be present
The lower half of the subdial hands are too long
Case/strap is polished steel but should be a brushed, matt finish
Date wheel font is, as usual, wrong
Breitling logo is too deep (should be about 2.8:1, not 2:1 across:down)
Edges of slide rule bezel should be more pointed, not flattened out
and worst of all
Messersch14177 61109, not Messerschmitt Bf109 engraved on case back.
In contrast, "Homer's" Navitimer (based on the current gen) is near perfect in looks. The (minor) flaws I can see are...
Hour/seconds hands look a tad fat (could be just the photo)
Subdials eat into tick marks a fraction too much
Subdials should not have a ridge before curving up to face (could be just the photo)
Hour numbers (when used) should be sans-serif, not serif.
The date wheel font still looks a bit off to me but better than most.
I was going to buy one of these from Narika last year but he didn't have the batons model available.
The only caveat to this is the reputation of the Asian 7750 movement. Someone (The Zigmeister/BRJ?) recommended having any 7750 serviced immediately on arrival, adding maybe 50% to the cost but putting years on the life expectancy of the watch.
This thread's given me the Navitimer bug again but having just bought a gen Sinn 103 TiAr today, it may have to wait a month or two!
Anyway, glad to see a few more members are considering something other than a Pan/sub!
f4juk/Paul
-
Whilst Photoshop is a fantastic program, most people are not willing/able to lay out £500 or so for the software.
Can I recommend you take a look at Paint.net, a freeware mini Photoshop clone developed at Washington State University. Although I have Photoshop on my pc, I often use paint.net for little jobs since it's not the memory grabbing beast that Photoshop is. Home page is here... Paint.net
Taken from the site...
"Paint.NET is image and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows 2000, XP, Vista, or Server 2003. It supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.
It started development at Washington State University as an undergraduate senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple tool for photo and image editing."
Alternatively, try The Gimp which has Linux/Mac versions as well as Windows. Personally, I've never got to grips with it but it is supposed to be as powerful as Photoshop.
Last tip, especially for those who are somewhat daunted by Edge's guide is the Digital Camera Enhancer from Mediaware. A single click can dramatically improve your photos without having to understand colour balance, gaussian blur, alpha chanels and all the other high end tools in Photoshop. I use it for my Ebay pix which need to be good rather than great. Find it here Mediaware
Dozens of other freeware graphics programs can be found here Snapfiles
So now you've saved all that money, treat yourself to a new watch to practice on
Have fun!
Paul/f4juk
-
Thanks
-
Wouldn't say it's my tasse de thé but a facinating timepiece.
One the main attractions of this place to me is learning about watches I would never have heard about otherwise. Here's a link to an article with lots of pictures of building the watch.
I still can't figure out what the 0-42 scale is for. Anyone?
-
Nice one By-Tor. The DeVille is one I'd not considered before but looks classy.
-
Love the Air King. Understated class. On my "to get" list.
-
Thanks Edge. Look forward to seeing more.
Paul
Watch Boxes
in General Discussion
Posted
Possibly the same place where I got this one.
Uhrenbox
Look for their auctions rather than buy-it-now. I got one for