Falco Posted February 1, 2007 Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 Marina Militare 3646 Davidsen with Germano custom-made strap incl. sewn-in buckle Hope you like it Mods done: Replaced dial with thin lume version Aged dial/hands, case, crystals and strap using various methods Aged/darkened Rolex bridges using phosphoric acid & steel wool EDIT UPDATE: Vintageing process; First, most of these instructions I've found on the forums and my sincere thanks to those posted similar instructions before. Second, try at on risk. Dial: brushed lightly w/ steel wool and a thick mix of (chewing) tobacco, Nescafe and sugar mixed in just a little cold water is rubbed on the dial with q-tips. Careful around dial text since the text is water soluble in luke warm water. Extra sugar can be added into mix and placed onto dial numbers if you want a more glassy/shiny look on these. Hands: Fine sandpaper onto surface, then paint them w/ diluted mix of the dial mixture Case: Press granite stones onto case, use sandpaper, steel wool and cape cod polish. Crystal: steel wool around outside edges, diluted yellow ethanol marker pen at inside vertical edges Strap: steel wool on buckle, soaking strap overnight in leather oils, dry, and wiggle the strap in all possible directions. Polish leather when dry w/ cloth to get a shine. Rolex plates: First note that winding stem of Molijna movement needs to be removed in time-setting position, but still can be messed up. Movement also prone to rust. Please read The Zigmeisters posts about it. Also acid is dangerous, wear gloves and goggles. Remove rolex plates and leave in at least 40% phosphoric acid at least overnight until darkened in right shade. give it a light polish with steel wool and apply light coat of anti-rust oil like WD40. Alternative to phosphoric acid is gun bluing but movement will get a blue/black instead of grey/black tint. Additional mods possible but not tried yet: Davidsens crown doesn't fit close to the case, tube can be removed & grind down for this and inserted deeper. Did sort of like it the way it is though. Lug welding, need to find proper cheap equipment or a good watchsmith. That's it, don't be afraid to try and if I can do it you can do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionsandtigers Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 WOW!!!! very nice, and a nice luger to boot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falco Posted February 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 WOW!!!! very nice, and a nice luger to boot Thanks! PS. The Luger P08 is ww2 german issue, just finished restoring it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionsandtigers Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 amazing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hambone Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Very Cool watch Falco. Enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willith Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 It looks great! Nice work with the aged look, I don't know if I would have the heart to do that to the Rolex movement though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrnixon Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Marina Militare 3646 Davidsen with Germano custom-made strap incl. sewn-in buckle Hope you like it Mods done: Replaced dial with thin lume version Aged dial/hands, case, crystals and strap using various methods Aged/darkened Rolex bridges using phosphoric acid & steel wool Wow! Very beautiful work. Do you mind telling us bit more how you got that vintage look at the dial and the hands? Would be very interesting to hear. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falco Posted February 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Thanks everyone I'll post a full vintage/distressing instruction later today for those interested (at work now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aronax Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Waow !!! impressive work...look very nice ! thanx for sharing cheers Aronax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackseal Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 a great watch. cannot stop staring at your pics. what happenend to the crown ? isn´t it srewed in or what ? please hurry with your instruction... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sssurfer Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Really amazing! Can't wait for your tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadog13 Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 this one looks like it survived WWIII...looks really fantastic!...I am waiting to see the tutorial too... cheers, Vladimir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabra Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Got me drooling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madasboot Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Hi Falco, Congratulations. I am totally impressed with your work! It makes my work on my 6152/1 look like garbage... This is certainly an abuse but would you help doing me a dial and a pair of hands for a future project I have in mind? Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Nice work with the aged look, I don't know if I would have the heart to do that to the Rolex movement though. It's not a Rolex movement. ps. One more saying nice work here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RiverwindMDS Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 I love it... I'm trying to do one of that with the Angelus Movement... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 looks like it came right out of the back of the bottom of a 60 year old foot locker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falco Posted February 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Hi Falco, Congratulations. I am totally impressed with your work! It makes my work on my 6152/1 look like garbage... This is certainly an abuse but would you help doing me a dial and a pair of hands for a future project I have in mind? Cheers, Marco Marco, most of these vintageing techniques are from your excellent post : Marco's 6152/1 I just added some chemicals and distressing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madasboot Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Marco, most of these vintageing techniques are from your excellent post : Marco's 6152/1 I just added some chemicals and distressing Hey Falco, thanks for the compliment! I am flattered but technique is one thing and art is other. I still think your work on vintageizing the dial and hands is way better than mine and I would really appreciate your help. I am now working on something that will be very useful for all of us vintage lovers but I will only unveil it later on when I am positively sure of its production conditions. Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falco Posted February 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Marco, by comparing your 6152/1 dial to my 3646 dial I think there's only few differences; you used more sugar on dial numbers which in my opinion looks better Try to use (thewatchboys) steel wool to slightly roughen the dial surface and smear some some chewed tobacco (really great stuff ) on dials and hands and it should be identical (if not a lot better) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madasboot Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 you used more sugar on dial numbers which in my opinion looks better Try to use (thewatchboys) steel wool to slightly roughen the dial surface and smear some some chewed tobacco (really great stuff ) on dials and hands and it should be identical (if not a lot better) Great! this looks like Chef's talk! Special dial "confit"... In the meantime do you have an alternative to tobacco? I quitted the smokes 8 months ago and I can not have proximity to that stuff... BTW do not forget to seal the "sugared" numeral cutouts with a coat of satin varnish being careful not to stain the dial surface with it! Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falco Posted February 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Yes the dial should be pretty tasty by now Smokers hate chewing tobacco so hopefully you're safe Thanks for the tip about varnish forgot about that, got some spare varnish I can use from a superlumina package The dial soaks up most of the solution, but I'll do it just to be safe, and it will get a bit more glossy surface, great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madasboot Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Yes the dial should be pretty tasty by now Smokers hate chewing tobacco so hopefully you're safe Thanks for the tip about varnish forgot about that, got some spare varnish I can use from a superlumina package The dial soaks up most of the solution, but I'll do it just to be safe, and it will get a bit more glossy surface, great! The cherry on top of our "cakes" will be thick plexis correctly produced but we will talk about that later on.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrnixon Posted February 3, 2007 Report Share Posted February 3, 2007 Now this is becomming more like a cook book than a watch forum :-) , but could you mention which proportions you are using when you make that mix you put on the dial and hands? I will try to do something similar within a near future and since I only have one dial, I get no second chance. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madasboot Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 Now this is becomming more like a cook book than a watch forum :-) , but could you mention which proportions you are using when you make that mix you put on the dial and hands? I will try to do something similar within a near future and since I only have one dial, I get no second chance. Thanks If my memory doesnt fail me I think I PMd you a recipe some time ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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