Don't want to hijack this thread but if anyone has info about DIY black enameling leica that would be nice!
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Charles.
You can do it yourself, but it's not a simple procedure.
You need to take your M apart and need the proper tools to do so. You can buy them from Micro-tools. The asa dial on the rear door is a PIA to remove. You need to drill out the rivets and then apply new ones, when you put everything back together. The windows in the top plate are glued in and held in place by some thing metal clasps. If I remember correctly the glue can be dissolved with hot water, but don't crack the glass from the heat! Keep the exposed body in a sealed plastic zip lock bag, with most of the air sucked out so the lubricants don't dry up.
You will need instructions to take the camera apart. Some of the screws turn clockwise, others anti-clockwise. If I remember correctly the one around the film advance does not unscrew as you may expect it to. If you force too hard you could damage the gears.
Next the chrome and nickel have to be stripped from the brass parts. You can't do this with sandpaper. Check reference pictures of real black paint M bodies. I believe Leica kept some of thsoe parts chrome, due to the high wear on them. Note that some M4-P, all but very few M6/ttl cameras are magnesium and can't be repainted. A good place to get the camera stripped is
www.acmeplating.com
Finally you need to paint it, which is not as simple as it sounds. I highly doubt that the spray can jobs look good close up. You have next to no control with a can and the paint can get really thick, which looks like crap. A good paint job is applied in layers with an airbrush. If you really wanted to go nuts you could polish each layer like the Japanese do. 20 coats later it should look stellar.
Then you need to bake the parts and reassemble the camera.
