first steps of my vintage project

[Merlin]

don't have a gen vintage in my mind, just want to have a custom vintage watch.

The movement, the dial and the hands are ready. the case still waits to be modded to a real old look. And the gunny-strap makes the watch - you can't get a better one for your money

Edited September 21, 2008 by Merlin

[capice]

looks very nicem what did you mod?

[Merlin]

first of all I had to shorten the staff of the second@9 on the molnija-movement. then I had to grind the pocketwatch-dial of the molnija to a smaller size to take the upper layer of the base MM-dial. then I applied some lume and polished the top layer. the hands came from the asian 6497 so the hole were too big to fit on the other movement. so I worked a little bit on the holes ( ) and then I sanded the upper side of the hands. the next step was the "cigar-method" on the hands and on the dial with a great result.

the next steps will be to polish and get some marks on the case, work on the CG, modify the stem...

... and to repair what breaks while doing this

[earlgrey-erfurt]

first of all I had to shorten the staff of the second@9 on the molnija-movement. then I had to grind the pocketwatch-dial of the molnija to a smaller size to take the upper layer of the base MM-dial. then I applied some lume and polished the top layer. the hands came from the asian 6497 so the hole were too big to fit on the other movement. so I worked a little bit on the holes ( ) and then I sanded the upper side of the hands. the next step was the "cigar-method" on the hands and on the dial with a great result.

the next steps will be to polish and get some marks on the case, work on the CG, modify the stem...

... and to repair what breaks while doing this

very interesting

it would be nice to see a closer pic of your hands mod and of course the assembled watch

cheers

helmut

12 days left for Erfurt Germany GTG All welcome

[Merlin]

very interesting

it would be nice to see a closer pic of your hands mod and of course the assembled watch

cheers

helmut

12 days left for Erfurt Germany GTG All welcome

it will take a couple of days to finish the watch. I've put it together for a quick shot to see how it looks by now. The case has to be polished and the CG is not attached but I like it already

I'll post some pics of the hands the next days...

[0808]

the hands came from the asian 6497 so the hole were too big to fit on the other movement. so I worked a little bit on the holes ( )

hi merlin.

would you care to tell us how you did this?

many thank!!!

[Merlin]

I used a small caliper to squeeze the stem of the hands from all sides. but do it very carefully to no get a crack into the stem. best would be a slightly square result of the stem - but I only got a slightly oval - but that's ok - the hands are holding tight enough. I don't know if this works with all hands because my hands are from a mini-fiddy and they have longer stems...

hope that helps...

[0808]

hi merlin,

thanks!

did you use a standard rep case (fiddy) for your project?

was the internal diameter (and depth) of the case too big for the movement?

thanks again!

[Merlin]

because of my small wrist I took a mini-fiddy with 44mm. the old molnija movement is a few milimeter smaller in the diameter than the 6497 so I need a custom made movement-holder. the depth is the same as the unitas - there is no change needed.

[vootzilla]

is it 47mm or 44mm case? I've been trying to find a mini fiddy case but couldn't get one... If it's 44mm, please PM me where to get it.

thanks, ur watch looks very nice!

[Merlin]

yes - the mini-fiddies are getting rare these days...

I bought it new from sead1999 from repgeek. I doubt that you'll get the case only - buy a whole watch and sell the rest, that's what I'm gonna do.

good luck with your search. from time to time they appear in the selling/trading section.

[Merlin]

it would be nice to see a closer pic of your hands mod and of course the assembled watch

cheers

helmut

12 days left for Erfurt Germany GTG All welcome

here's a better pic of the hands and the dial after the 2nd "smoke-run" now it smells like an ashtray but I like the result.

Edited September 23, 2008 by Merlin

[earlgrey-erfurt]

here's a better pic of the hands and the dial after the 2nd "smoke-run" now it smells like an ashtray but I like the result.

ahh so you can smell the time

thanks for posting detailed pic

helmut

[Merlin]

finally got the movement-ring:

and removed (accidently) the MarinaMilitare letters:

the movement is a beauty:

and a charm on the wrist:

but there are still some things to do...

[Big Frank]

Where did you source the movement ring?

[capice]

amazing work m8, well done....I womder if it was possible to "fill " the stem of the hands instead of squeezing them?

[Merlin]

Where did you source the movement ring?

I got it custom built by my brother

amazing work m8, well done....I womder if it was possible to "fill " the stem of the hands instead of squeezing them?

that's a great idea! I actually still have problems with the hands - With what would you "fill" the hands to hold tight on the pin?

[panerainuts]

Merlin

Great Job...I am doing the same project with a 47mm Militare case, I want to go destro.

Sourced 2 molnija movements and just picked up a cortebert 624 beauty for the project.

Would like to more about your dial age process?

Thanks

Will post pictures when I get the parts in

Ron

Edited October 11, 2008 by panerainuts

[hexman]

very nice work!

[Merlin]

Merlin

Great Job...I am doing the same project with a 47mm Militare case, I want to go destro.

Sourced 2 molnija movements and just picked up a cortebert 624 beauty for the project.

Would like to more about your dial age process?

Thanks

Will post pictures when I get the parts in

Ron

made the dial completely "new" because it was too thick and so I had problems with the hands.

Now the numbers are darker and I like it better. - Please don't look at the stem, I've changed it already.

I'll post closer pics of it the next days

[panerainuts]

It looks bloody great,

how did you solve the hand problem, did you fill in the holes?

Thanks for assisting!

Cheers

Nuts

Edited October 11, 2008 by panerainuts

[VDBroucke]

nice project