Frankensteining...

[TVphotog]

Ok, being a professional, I cannot be seen in public with something so pedestrian as a chrome body camera😉 I am thinking of Frankensteining a Zorki 6. I would like to give it a repaint. Top of the line though, automotive grade laquer, baked on finish, the works. I know how to remove the top part, but the bottom chrome plate is giving me fits. I can't seem to remove it. I don't want to have to completely remove the guts and repaint the main chassis. I would like to just have to paint the bottom plate by itself. Oh, and so I can rebuild one of 4Ks, any tips on doing the same to that bottom plate would be helpful.
TIA
Ken

 

[Nickfed]

I can't see how you can have a problem. It is simply held on be the four little screws, surely in clear view.

 

[w3rk5]

I've painted a Zorki-6 before but I can't remember how I removed the bottom plate. I'm sure I didn't have difficulties with it though. I'll check it out tomorrow and see. I sold it to my bro so I don't have it with me now.

I wouldn't recommend baking any type of paint unless the manufacturer suggest you do so. The cameras I've painted with lacquer are still holding up well. If durability is a real issue, I'd go with enamel instead. Keep in mind it's also more toxic and you have a limited amount of colours to choose from. Good luck and have fun with it.

 

[Dean C Williams]

w3rk5, that's a sharp looking Zorki. Nice work.

 

[Hamster]

What about stripping the chrome and give it a patina finish or a Teflon coat? I keep hoping to try it out on one of my junker Kievs.

 

[TVphotog]

Yeah, I was thinking of media blasting the chrome/satin finish off to reveal the brass beneath. The weathering is the easy part. Take some water and using a brush apply it to the areas where the brassing would occur, typically edges etc. While the water is still wet, apply some ordinary table salt. Enough that it soaks up the water and forms a crust. Apply your finish of choice. After the finish has dried, using a toothpick or other suitable device pick off the salt. Instant paint chips. Feather the edges a bit with some 1500 or 2000 grit automotive sandpaper. Voila! instantly used looking camera!
As far as the 'baking' part of the finish goes. I am not going to actually use an oven. The wife would kill me if she opened the oven and my camera body was dripping paint all over the place. Instead, use a common food dehydrator. They don't get nearly hot enough to cause any problems with melting. Leave the part in the dehydrator for a couple of days. This quickens the gassing out of the paint and helps it flow to smooth out the finish. I would let the part cool for some time before handling to ensure that the part is dry.
Don't worry about the toxicity of the paint. I always use a respirator and a paint booth. If I go for the lightly 'abused' look I would use a satin clear on it and then buff it with some wax. Somewhere I have the top to a Zorki 4k that I was experimenting with. I will try to get some pics up if I can find it...

 

[w3rk5]

Thanks Dean.

TVphotog.....when will you be doing this? Keep us updated. I'd love to see the results.

 

[TVphotog]

Hopefully in a week or so. Gota fix the wife's car this weekend. Nothing big with that just replacing the windshiel washer tank and the driver's side window motor. Next weekend is the big job with her car... gotta replace both drive axles as the CV boots and joints are bad, bad, bad. I have a FED 3 that I may experiment with. The top is removed and sanded, just have to putty a bit and then paint. Although, I still can't figure out how to remove the bottom plate from the back with that one.
I may not worry about smoothing out the top plate as this will hopefully look like a survivor when I am done. I've got my F3 to take inspiration from for that 'authentic' survivor look.

 

[clintock]

I painted my rusty fed 2 by cleaning the heck out of the top and bottom with MEK then I used automotive valve cover wrinkle paint directly on the chrome. I baked it on in a toaster oven. It's been six years now and none has peeled or chipped, and I don't use a case. The edges have gotten glossy compared to the flat wrinkled interior areas, pretty cool.. Has a millitary bombsite look to it. It was just a rattle can from pep boys.

 

[TVphotog]

Its Alive!!!!!!!!

Its Alive!!!!!!!!

Okay, I quickly threw this test body together this weekend. I used enamal(Krylon Semi-flat Black) for simiplicity. I was able to do the bottom plate and the top cover saturday. I used a flat file to remove most of the chrome. This was much quicker than using sandpaper. Unfortunately, it left large scratches that were not easily removed. Some are still visable in the following pics. After sanding, water was applied where I did not want the finish to remain. I then sprinkled my table salt on the water spots. After suitable drying time, I sprayed on some primer. After the primer dried the semi-flat black was applied. The parts were then retired to the dehydrator for most of the afternoon.
Sunday morning over a cup of coffee the salt was removed from the parts. The finish was sanded slightly with 2000 grit sandpaper. The red paint was then applied to the needed areas. I screwed up the shutter speed dial, but that problem will be solved in the next incarnation. For something that was thrown together in a matter of hours, I am pretty pleased with the effect.
The next one will be much better in finish quality. This one looks like a third grader painted it. Anyway, on to the pictures.

Here is the front of the camera. I have not reinstalled all the bits and pieces since this was a test. Notice that the top plate is not even screwed on. The salt effected areas can be plainly seen in this shot.

This is the back of said fed... hey, that rhymes... You can see the way that the salt makes the paint chipping a more irregular shape and it does not just appear sanded down.

Like I said, the next incarnation will have a greater level of finish and care taken in it's creation. It will be a Zorki 6 with a J-12 and viewfinder. A blatent rip off of the street shooter that used to be on on the Fzorki site


Oh Yeah, while looking for the test subect for this experiment, I came across this little gem. So, while waiting for the paint to dry, I tore it down. The viewfinder got a good cleaning, the shutter got fixed. It takes the dreaded 625 mercury battery, so I will have to rig something up there. It has a roll of 400 ASA in it right now. Hopefully, in a couple of days I should know how it functions. Even better, I discovered that I had inheritted two of them. One is missing a battery cover though.