Henio Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I wanted to take a short break from building and take a photo shoot on some of my finished prjects. Wife was meeting with freidns for coffee and I had some alone time to shoot. First up we have a Bronze 6154 Legno MMLP with a 3602 engine along with a 2533 Cream Rolerai with a gen Swiss ETA 6498 engine Next up is a 3646 Cali with a 3601 engine lastly are two of my favorite pieces (for now 6154 LP with a 3602 Rolex engraved engine and a 2533 LP with a 6497 w/ P.3000 plated engine Heres the entire pamily and the engines :thumbup: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 With some guided advice from DD with the text and indices fill I was able to give a shot at a Rolerai build with snowflaked indices I am going to slightly age the dial and give it a wetherine treatment. I was thinking of throwing this in a 6154 case set. Reshape and age it really well. Give it a nice vintage appearance all the way around. I have this nice 3601 I might use as an engine. Let's see what happens. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Lume on the Rolerai is finally dry and final treatment has been applied. It is now build ready. (Will take daytime shots in the morning ) What do you guys think? :thumbup: FYI, it took me 4 tries since the initial pics to get it to this point. And when I say 4 tries, I mean completely stripping the dial brass. Like DD said, it's challenging, but rewarding and addictive!! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) Looks perfect!!! Thank you brother! Really appreciate it. So now that the dial is done, I decided that I am going to go with a 6154 build with a molnija 3601 nickel plated engine with the gold jewel in the center bridge and the wheel balance bridge athayas 3601 brass movt ring which I will have to completely reshape and mod to fit the mid case and Athaya's curved angelus hands (should I keep them gold and as is, or age them a bit?) and complete case reshape by hand. Here are the goods Tall tub angelus hands with brass welded cp installed. Not sure if I should keep them gold or age them a bit.....? My case set is completely dis-assembled and ready for reshaping After 3 hours of reshaping and sanding with 600 grit and then 2 rounds of 1000 grit and a cape cod bath here's what we have. My hands are killing me so I will give the case set a couple of rounds of 1500 and 2000 grit and a few cc baths tomorrow. For now my hands hate me! Edited June 17, 2014 by Henio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Here are some natural daylight shots of the dial. Think it's official :) so happy with the way it came out. Didn't think it would get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Here are some natural daylight shots of the dial. Think it's official :) so happy with the way it came out. Didn't think it would get there. So I decided to strip and age the hands new shinny and I don't get along I have the hands sitting in my salt water treatment from here Gotta love it While my hands get nice and rustic I decided to start reshaping my Athaya 3601 movt ring. Since I'm using a river case set we know that the movt ring is way to big and doesn't fit I brought out my samurai files and started slicing and dicing away, hiyaaaa!! When I was done I smoothened everything out with 1500 grit and viola Since I had all the sand paper out I finished reshaping the case set. All I need to do now is give the case set a cc polishing bath And let's not forget some Belgium wheat beer that helped me along the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I test fitted the 3601 in the reshaped movt ring to make sure everything sat nicely. Fit like a glove!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: I also text filled the caseback and the engravings on the 3601:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martijnp Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 wow amazing collection! Thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 wow amazing collection! Thanks for sharing Thank you much! More to come! Always building! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiker01 Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Great job! Very inspiring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Great job! Very inspiring! thank you brother!! I am going to be working on a 3646 low bezel Cali, with Blue heat treated hands for a friend of mines. This is what I am working with I have 2 Cortebert 616's and a 3601 molnija. I think for this project I am going to go with the second Cort 616. I cleaned and serviced it First step, which is always my most nerve wrecking is removing seconds. Before After Success!! close is clear. I notice that the 616 is a little loose in the 616 movement ring, so I added some brass flaps near the movement screws to keep it nice and tight. Afterwards I put the caseback on just to make sure is clears without any obstructions. I added some movement legs on the dial so keep it in place So far so good. The hour hand went on without a problem, the minute hand however was a PITA and I didnt realize that it had to pressed on with some force and then kind of clicked in to position. Well, thats a first, but fortunately it worked out. Thats the beauty when building, no matter how many times you've done it, even using the same pieces, you never truly know what type of road blocks you will run in to until you actually start the building process :thumbup: Lastly I added a faux cp. I had to bring out the files and this was another PITA removing the other side of the pin, so that it can lay flat. The cp is so small that its hard to grip and get a good file on it. What I did was press it into a piece of cardboard and then file it down, success :thumbup: Up next is aging, shaping and polishing the mid case and bezel. I already did the color text fill on the caseback as well After a morning of cleaning, laundry etc, wife went shopping so that left me with time to play I brought out my trusty files and began to reshape, then some sanding and polishing. Such a tedious process. I remember when irate told me "once you start filing, you will soon hear whispers every time a new case set arrives." Well I hear those whispers alright and my hands hate them, HA! after some reshaping and the works even did some work on the bezel I was a little nervous resizing the 616 stem because if I screw it up, it was going to be a while until I can get my hands on a new one, and their pretty pricey. Neckyzips worked on this one for me a while back and I had it on reserve for this project. I took my time and filled little by little until it was a perfect fit 1) Text fill on the display back-Check, 2) vintage staining the plexis-Check, 3) all parts accounted for-Check. 4) Now BUILD This build is for a good friend of mines J.W. He already has a strap for this bad girl so I took two photo shoots using a WWII vintage ammo Strap and a homage "74" Peter Gunny Vintage strap and just to get an idea of how the cali looks with different trousers on. I think I like it with the dark brown Ammo strap better :mrgreen: I present to you J.W.'s reshaped 3646 Cali, with a Cortebert 616 engine I call her: "California Dreaming" and on the Gunny I think he'll like it. But now that thats done, what to build next....??? Il show you guys some goodies and maybe you can help me choose which project to work on next. Some many projects, just not enough time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Now that the 3646 Cali is completed and shipped out to its new home, I brought out some goodies for my next project I am going to do a 6154 LP Dot dial build, using a 3601, that received a face lift and is fully serviced. I have some Athaya tall tube curved angelus hands that I would like to try out with this combo. I was initially thinking about using tall tube double pencil hands, but I didnt like how it looked in the case set with this dial, so angelus hands it is. Heres the dial I will be using for this build before any paint. It has a very light layer of black on the surface which I removed and started from the bronze canvas. I was able to paint the dial tonight, but will take pics in the morning to get a clear view in natural light The case set is dissembled and if I have some time tomorrow I'll start phase 1 of reshaping. 6154 case sets are my favorite to reshape for some reason. Cant say why, but I like playing with this one. I was able to start the first phase with the hands and striped the "stock lume" and got rid of that shinny gold. I have a windex bottle that I fill once a week with water from the beach (Atlantic) and I spray the hands with a few streams and let them sit over night to get the first layer of vintage goodness. Lets see how they look tomorrow. :eh: I was able to take pictures of the painted dial this afternoon. I still need to complete the text fill and lume the indices, so this is just the rough draft. This was my first time taking pictures of one of my painted dials and I had a hard time capturing the true colors of the dial with my camera. I think its the lighting, but I dont know enought about ISO and all these other photography acronymns, so this is the best I could do. Maybe I will try with my iphone and they will come out better :eh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Text fill on the dial is complete and was able to get some decent natural light pics. I think I am getting the hang of this I was able to play with the hands for a few days and this is how its turning out so far I like how the hands came out, but I'll feel them out for a night to see how they looks on the dial. I was also thinking about aging the case set to have a similar patina. Next up some lume action.Back to our regularly scheduled program. I was able to get some reshaping done today on the 6154 case set for the LP dot dial. My work space for the day. Nice and cloudy, perfect chilly weather considering that its summer time, nice change of pace, its been so hot and muggy and here are some pics after polishing, sanding, polishing, sanding........ I hate this part, always! FYI, my hands are killing me!!!! :| test fit Dial and hands on to the 3602 Heres a indoor shot to see the texture of the dial and my first attempt at resin filled indices and my treated hands with beach water I think my door man thinks I am part of a religious cult or something because every friday I come in to the building with a bottle of beach water, guess he thinks im holy :mrgreen: lume is good to go I figure I'd start piecing this baby together. The anxiety of anticipating what road blocks are ahead doesn't allow me to focus on anything else once the reshaping is done, especially if the dial and hands are ready to rock and roll. SO i have to build! Before adding the faux CP i wanted to test fit the movt and dial in the case set to make sure it fit incase i had to remove the bras dial i added underneath the dial to add thickness so that the tall tube hands, weren't tooo tall. Just incase I had to remove the dial and hands to refit and shave the hands down, but fortunately, it all worked out. :thumbup: a quick shot at the rear since i text filled the OPB engravings black I think I will fill the movt text black as well and see how it comes out, if it looks bad, Il go back to gold, i dont know what do you guys think? Ahhhhh I think its a winner with the case back and plexi installed a quick shot with the plexi installed. I also added in the faux cp. It took me 3 tries to get the CP right. The first 2 times i filled it at an angle I guess and when it was installed in wasn't flat, its spike on one end, then the 3rd time i cut it too short and it fell deep into the hands. 4th time was a charm. All I need to do now is install the bezel and heres a quick shot with the bezel installed almost done tomorrow I'll polish up the case again, make sure everything is nice and tight, and keeping good time, and take some day time shots, but for now, its time to catch some zzzzzzz's night guys :thumbup: :wave: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Some completed rough draft morning shots. I have a vintage matching "808" strap on its way. Once that comes in I can mount it on and give this beauty the proper run way treatment :thumbup: 3602 Molnija engine with Dext engraved bridges Case reshaped, softened and polished 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Took a small intermission from building and decided to paint a few dials 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 And the dials are finished! Radiomir Cream Radiomir Panerai Sunburst effect Luminor Panerai with seconds. Radiomir Ross Dial Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Soldering a 3646 case set round 1 ding ding ding.... Hot sizzle for real :-$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 (edited) Back to my Rolerai! :) 3601 Movement completely stripped, cleaned and fully serviced. Keeping +3 secs per day Time to assemble Edited June 21, 2014 by Henio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Phase I of the assembly complete :thumbup: What do you guys think so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Phase II- Build. I have a custom made vintage black strap with tan stitching being made for this bad girl. When the strap comes in, I'll give her a proper burlesque photo shoot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 A few wristies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Here's my 3646 RP with an Cortebert 616 engine build that I've been working on for a couple of weeks. 616 engine is serviced and running strong. It needed some work and is very old. From the way it's running, you would have no idea These are my toys for this project Case reshaping Oh and I installed a 8mm rolex brevet crown 616 running top notch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Very nice work (as always). :thumbup: love the resin fill on that RP. Thank you gents! I took some quick and dirty shots of some pieces before I pack and send them off Start your engines..... Wrooooom And a night vision shot Cheers brothers and sister! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henio Posted June 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 Next build is finally under way I am currently working on a 6154 LP with a cort. 616 engine, Athaya tall tube hands and I already reshaped the case set. Here are my toys to play with this round Engine serviced and keeping excellent time Dial work before After paint, text fill (used vintage antique gold acrylic) resin filled indices and lumed with vintage T15-14, finally matted for aged patina The indoor lume shot And total dark lume shot More to come stay tuned cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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