What black paint for Leica repaint?

www.acmeplating.com in the USA will strip the chrome and nickel, for a resonable price. I had them do my M4 and I believe it was about $50 bucks.

You really don't want to try to strip the camera yourself. The chemicals invovled are quite nasty. Sanding the chrome and nickel off is just plain silly.
 
Guys Kim Coxon will sell you his CRR M3, see classifieds, and Kim is real practical, still sent it to CRR.

Noel
 
is beading what also causes the slight "ripply" texture to some of the later mp production? i remember a thread where people noted differences in paint jobs.
 
mikepry said:
I would highly recommend going to Brownells.com and check out their coatings, specifically their "Baking Enamel." Brownells is the largest gunsmith supplier in the country.
Click to expand...

I have used their paint in the past but for me at least their choice of colors for our purpose here are somewhat limited to matte black or gloss black. I prefer to custom mix. Also the temp required to bake it is too high for the brass top plate of the Leica. Temps in excess of 250 degrees can warp this top plate. 150-200 degrees is more in line.

mikepry said:
Their paint, when baked on over a "Properly" prepared surface becomes part of the metal itself. The only way to remove it is to beadblast it off.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Paint is a covering that will bond to metal..it does not become part of it..

mikepry said:
As far as sheen goes, when I did my lllc, I didn't want a "plastic like" gloss so I took my top and bottom plate to my local gunsmith and had him beadblast with a very fine bead so as to put a slight "tooth" to the metal. What this did was to render the gloss finish somewhere between a satin and semi gloss finish ....... exactly what I wanted. Not only did it render the sheen I was after but it really aided in great adhesion. I did remove the chrome myself using reverse electroplating but in the future I will just have someone who is set up better for it do that for me. Hope this all helps and here is another image of the camera so as to see the sheen I am describing. Cheers.
Click to expand...

The original OP asked for instructions on how to paint a camera. Why not post a detailed explanation?
 
mikepry said:
Oh yes there certainly is baking paint, and paint, if not formulated just for baking, will fail when baked. The vehicle will break down quite rapidly when exposed to extreme heat. Trust me on this one as I have been in the coatings industry for over 30 years. I don't chime in on this forum much as I'm new to the whole rangefinder thing but coatings are my area of expertise and will chime in where I fel I can contribute in a helpful manner. Baking paints are also very thin as they mostly are designed for use where there are very tight clearances. Here is an example of one of mine ................
Click to expand...


Hey, that looks to be one beautiful paint job. Did you use Gun-Kote or a similar product? I have seen this paint used on a shotgun, and the finish was amazingly thin, and very durable.

Oh, this post is a bit late- I see that you used Brownell's, which is similar to Gun-Kote.
 
Last edited:
colyn said:
I have used their paint in the past but for me at least their choice of colors for our purpose here are somewhat limited to matte black or gloss black. I prefer to custom mix. Also the temp required to bake it is too high for the brass top plate of the Leica. Temps in excess of 250 degrees can warp this top plate. 150-200 degrees is more in line.



I disagree. Paint is a covering that will bond to metal..it does not become part of it..



The original OP asked for instructions on how to paint a camera. Why not post a detailed explanation?
Click to expand...

Wow, Dude, you need ned to chill out a little. I went back and read the original question and I answered all the items in the original post. I have a strange feeling that your in the mood for a big whanger contest or something and quite frankly I'm not so I will bow out of this post here and graciously agree to disagree with past points regarding paint. You seem to have it all covered and could not possibly be wrong ......on anything, so take er away.

PS. Go back and look at the images of my camera and see how badly the brass has warped ...... NOT
 
Last edited:
Mike, your comments are VERY helpul, please do not bow out.

Of course, if you do bow out there would be an upside, namely that my Leica will not be left in bits on the kitchen table with several crucial items missing. But the downside, of losing your obvious, and politely-offered expertise, would be far worse.
 
Mike - I'm the one (who shouldn't be but might end up) painting a camera, please don't go. The more facts/opinions the better. (Sometimes.)

Kind of along the lines of the Brownell's/Gun-Kote references, Birchwood Casey makes a product called Brass Black. I suppose similar to a gun bluing product, though brass doesn't really "blue" I understand. I've been curious what that would look like.
 
Paul - Weren't you the one who sold the Shintaro black M4 a few weeks back? I wanted that camera, but missed it by a few hours.

In reference to an above post, yes Kim Coxon would sell me that Luton black M3, but that's one of the points of my thread. That camera's over $2000 and it's in the UK. I could have Luton paint my own M2 or M3 and it'd be cheaper, but I think some satisfaction lies in 1) accomplishing something yourself and 2) saving hundreds of dollars.
 
The easy way out

The easy way out

Tom A was selling a Shintaro black paint M3 with matching black paint rapidwinder at a swap this last weekend for a very reasonable price. He may still have it for sale if anyone wants to contact him.
 
Well Kim's M3 CRR repaint is still for sale in classifieds, and I'm not on a comission %, merely sorely tempted... one of you guys buys it I can breath again.

Noel
 
Wow, alot of stuff...

simple: spray can

best: electro-plating (cheap, efficient, thorough)

[what is electro-plating? metal item hanged off wire which is electrically charged during process. paint particles thrown into room (basically) and adheres to metal object once wire is electrically charged. Areas not to receive paint is taped off. This is how high-end items are painted, such as Harley David fuel tanks]
 
WilltM4-P said:
Hello all, I am new to the forum. I have also been researching how to paint my cameras. Mine are M4-Ps and I am having to deal with the zinc top plates. I did find a site where you can buy a nickel stipper.

The link: http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/metalx.html

The site also has some really cool plating kits. How about a gold plated M2?

http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/plugnplate.htm
Click to expand...

Wow, this plating thing is interesting! I would really like to have a black M4...black chrome M4... ***drooool*** But can you use black chrome on M4 parts...?
 
Intriguingly, one guy over at the Leica users forum reckons he's found the aint that Leica use for their current BP MP. It's called Senocryl-lack 05-0945 by a company called Weilburger coatings. More info here:
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/26341-m2-black-paint-repainted-myself.html

However, this does look very high gloss to me, in my opinion the finish obtained by Mike Pry looks great, slightly more matt, using the pain from Brownells. Although this perhaps doesn't look quite like the original, on a DIY repaint a high gloss really seems to emphasise the flaws. This I think is the upside of using Shintaro, who obviously really knows how to prepare the camera properly. Even variables like the proportion of thinners in the paint seems to affect how glossy the finish is. Others have seen that I used Shintaro to paint my M4, but that meant I ended up with a comparatively expensive camera that I didn't use enough.


It would be great if we could use this thread is a datebase, and add in all the repainting links. My aim is to get a camera that looks like this. For less than $100.

Also, does anybody reconise the replacement cover Shintaro uses? Aki Asahi?
http://homepage2.nifty.com/Shintaro/top1.html
 
I would like to revive this old thread and ask if anyone has experience to share re DIY painting.
I would like to repaint an M2 top and base plate (only). I will really keep it simple: no small parts, no engraving fillings. I have tried painting a camera in the past, but it didn't go well (despite all the care I put there, the paint flaked)
I know where to dechrome the plates, but no real leads on good paint work flow so far.
I'm not stuck on the idea of DIY either, and can consider any painter/coater shops that is known to yield good results (is a gunsmith a good option?)
 
Hi Michael,

Take a look at member Mikepry's post regarding Brownells baking enamel / baking laqcquer

http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39813

Regards,
Robert


sanmich said:
I would like to revive this old thread and ask if anyone has experience to share re DIY painting.
I would like to repaint an M2 top and base plate (only). I will really keep it simple: no small parts, no engraving fillings. I have tried painting a camera in the past, but it didn't go well (despite all the care I put there, the paint flaked)
I know where to dechrome the plates, but no real leads on good paint work flow so far.
I'm not stuck on the idea of DIY either, and can consider any painter/coater shops that is known to yield good results (is a gunsmith a good option?)
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

kxl
Passing on a black chrome M4 because what I really want is a…
2 3
Replies
42
Views
1K
splitimageview
splitimageview
simonOWO
Repaint naming ring of Sonnar
Replies
6
Views
571
splitimageview
splitimageview
J
  • Article Article
(Almost) Everything you wanted to know about Black Paint Leica Rangefinders
3 4 5
Replies
85
Views
16K
Photar
Photar
bucs
Black S2 value/price
2
Replies
30
Views
1K
modernhero
modernhero
P
Leica m7 misaligned frame counter
Replies
5
Views
618
Richard G
Richard G
Back
Top Bottom