spiderfrank said:
...this is the question! ;-)
What do you think? Should I repaint the black parts of my Kiev II body? They are a bit weared (of course), and I could clean them, then take my little spray gun and repaint all (flat black or gloss black?) with model enamel, but I'm concerned about the wearing of the new paint (I use the camera), so: did anybody made the same work? Any suggestions? Thank you ! (I could also decide not to touch anything)
Sorry for my bad English, I hope you can understand...
Franco
Well, you are asking, in effect, two questions, whether to paint it or not and what kind of paint to use.
Whether or not to paint it:
What you have to think about is whether the camera has any collector value. If it does, then painting it will reduce its value. If it doesn't, then then whether or not you paint it is just a matter of personal taste. Kievs do not, as a general rule, have much collector value, so paint it if you want to.
What kind of paint to use:
DO NOT use model paint. Model paint (Testors, Model Master, Floquil and etcetera) will
never set up hard enough to stand any wear at all. If you want to use enamel, what you want to use is
automotive enamel paint. With enamels, the only exceptions to this, ever, would be for the flat black paint inside the camera, where you can use either Krylon Ultraflat Black or stove paint. Another possibility, for the exterior of a camera, would be epoxy appliance paint. There is also a two-part paint I've been hearing about, but I have never tried that and I can't tell you anything about it.
Note: automotive paint is not something you just spray on and wait for it to dry. After it dries, you will also have to bake it, to harden the paint (model paint just gets soft when you heat it). To bake it, you will need a box (cardboard will work fine, but an old metal toolbox is ideal if you want something more permanent). The box should not be too big -- about two or three cubic feet of volume. Inside the box you mount two 100-watt lightbulbs and cut a 1-inch hole in the top, to allow fumes and excess heat to escape. Once the paint dries, you put the painted camera in the box, turn on the lights, and wait at
least 12 hours -- 48 would be better.
