Reskinned M4-P Minus the Red Dot

[Nick R.]

I just redid the covering on the M4-P I just bought with flaking vulcanite. The old skin came off real easily. It took less than five minutes with another 15 minutes spent scraping off the dried glue underneath. Had the glue not been so dry, I'm sure it would have taken much longer. The new skin from Aki-Asahi went on very smoothly. I only "licked" a little around the rewind and frame select switches but maybe I didn't need to do that. I chose not to replace the red dot and I think it looks better that way. Here are some before and after shots and a shot with my other M4-P as a comparison:

 

[sf]

What is the material that the top plate of the M4-P is made of?

Nice work. How easy was that to do? It looks great.

 

[Rafael]

Great job!! It looks great. I agree with your decision not to replace the red dot.

 

[cp_ste.croix]

nice work!

 

[back alley]

lookin' good!

is that a dental tool?

 

[Nick R.]

Thanks for the compliments. All the tips I got in the previous thread really gave me the confidence to proceed.

Shutterflower: I believe the top of the M4-P is made of aluminum. I've seen one with the coating worn off by a person's thumb near the film advance and it was silver. All in all, it was very easy to do.

Back Alley: That was a dental tool I used to remove the old cover. It had a flat on the end rather than a point and it was easy to work under the old skin and lift it up in pieces.

 

[MikeL]

Shutterflower: I believe the top of the M4-P is made of aluminum. I've seen one with the coating worn off by a person's thumb near the film advance and it was silver. pieces.

The early ones with recessed windows have brass tops, and the later ones have zinc ones. They guy who sold me his M4-P made a point of telling me this, I'm not sure why. I guess I take better pictures with the brass top. 😉

Edit: Nick, any difference grip wise with the new cover?

 

[tedwhite]

I've found a substance called "Goof Off" works well at dissolving and removing dried glue and other sticky stuff. I compliment you on a great job. Camera looks new.

 

[back alley]

i wonder if that's similar to goo gone?

 

[tedwhite]

Maybe it's the same thing, just branded differently in Canada. Maybe it's so cold up there that the chemistry is affected and it just isn't the same ingredient.

Maybe it's better?

 

[rover]

Very nice, now I want to find a beaten up M4p.

 

[taffer]

Must say it looks sweet, both before and after 🙂

 

[Ken Ford]

Goof Off is solvent based and a bit more agressive than Goo Gone. Goof Off *will* damage (etch) most plastics.

 

[Nick R.]

The early ones with recessed windows have brass tops, and the later ones have zinc ones. They guy who sold me his M4-P made a point of telling me this, I'm not sure why. I guess I take better pictures with the brass top. 😉

Edit: Nick, any difference grip wise with the new cover?

You're right. It is zinc except for the early ones.
To be fair, I'm going to wait until I'm home and have both cameras in hand before commenting on the grip of each.

I use WD40 for removing old glue and tape goo. It works great. However, I didn't use it here because the glue was dry as dust. I just scraped it off with a razor. If I hadn't left my scratch pen at work, it would have been a better tool.

 

[kenspix]

Nice work... would love to try one of those models...