NCRich 13,714 Posted April 9, 2020 I wanted to branch out and see what it took to build a PAM vintage of some sort so I decided to begin with a radiomir as that is my favorite PAM to wear. So I ordered a homage off Aliexpress. I figured the least expensive way to do this was to find a complete watch where I liked everything but the dial. So I ordered a 45 and a 47mm radiomir with an asso strap. I looked a lot of this up on homage forum and asked some questions of some more expert people. This is kind of a beginners guide to taking these apart and playing a bit with them. So take off the straps, which require you to remove the wire lugs. Be careful with the screws, easy to scratch and strip. Use the blue screwdriver. I removed the case back with a sticky ball. You need to remove the retaining screws and tabs To remove the stem you need to loosen the retaining screw. Just a turn or two, don't remove it. Then flip it out onto a movement cushion. Reinsert the stem and tighten back the retaining screw, then use a dial protector (cut up business card) and remove the hands. I use levers. Now to remove the dial. There are two screws that hold the dial feet on most 6497 movements. They are located near the movement retaining tabs. One side is flat, so you need to rotate the screw until the flat side is against the feet. That releases it. A sandwich dial like these are in two pieces, and they are usually glued together. I took a razor blade and carefully separated them. The dial feet can be on either the back plate or the dial. So you may have a sec hand or not. I got one of each. If you have a movement with the sec hand and you don't plan on using a dial with one, you have to remove it. If you do it the right way you take the movement apart and carefully remove it. But most people just snip it off. I'm using one without a sec hand. So I'm building using dials I got from Ross on Homage Forum I painted the dial with gloss paint, let it dry for a couple days and then filled in the engravings with a white crayon. I then matte sprayed it. Let it dry, and hit it with 2000 grit sandpaper. I stripped the lume off the hands, and painted the back plate white. I then lightly traced the location of the numbers so I'd know where to lume. I mixed up some lume, colored it with watercolors, and applied it to the dial I used double stick tape to attach the two parts of the dial and reassembled tightening the dial retaining screws and putting the hands on. Put the stem back in, secure the movement with the tabs and screws. For those who have trouble with those tab screws when reassembing the tabs and screws, a little rodico can help. Grease the o ring and put the case back on. Attach the strap. 11 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Member X 91 Posted April 9, 2020 (edited) Awesome pictorial guide, thank you very much! Love that strap - was that what came from AliExpress? Edited April 9, 2020 by Member X 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NCRich 13,714 Posted April 9, 2020 1 minute ago, Member X said: Awesome pictorial guide, thank you very much! Love that strap - was that what came from AliExpress? Yes that is why I picked that one. Love asso straps. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stfrance 17 Posted April 9, 2020 Wow~~~~~ Have nothing to say except for "Wow~~" Greatly done Rich.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tribefan 6,768 Posted April 9, 2020 @NCRich that's a ton for doing this. Really great. Having messed around with a couple of these, if I may, a few comments / questions for you, please feel free to critique / tell me I don't know what the hell I'm doing : - Removing the hands, I just use half a plastic baggie over top of the dial and use hand pullers that you squeeze and they lift. Any downside to this or benefits to levers? Never tried it because I don't have them. - I used a heat gun on low to just slightly heat the two piece dial before I payed them apart, which seemed to help, but getting the razor blade in between is still a pretty touchy task. - My dial had the feet on the lumed plastic, but also had very tiny nipples on the dial that fit into alignment holes on the top side of the lumed plexi. It was part of what made sliding the razor blade in between the dials tricky, but really nice when putting it back together. I just used a little hypo. - I'm having a hell of time filling in the text with crayon. I've re-done a dial four times and still can't get it right. Tips? - My movement didn't have a pip for the seconds hand. Conversely I needed a seconds hand that would seat into the movement, and on the painted one, it was not happening because the paint was too thick. Do these vary from movement to movement, or is there some interchangable pinion for those? Thanks again for doing this, it's super helpful and this is the kind of build even a fumble fingered goof like me has a decent shot at pulling off. I'm waiting for some more parts and I'm going to do my first lume job so this is really helpful with that too. Can't wait to see those Rolerai. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NCRich 13,714 Posted April 9, 2020 I have more control with the levers than with the hands puller, especially with small hands like chronos or those sec hands. I don't care for the pullers but others like them. I have no "touch" with pullers. You just have to be careful with the razor blade. Heat can help if its taped, but mine had glue that I don't think would be affected by a heat gun. Can't hurt. Both of my dials were very different. One had feet on the back plate, the other on the dial that went through holes on the back plate. I don't think there is a standard. Heat the dial a bit before using the crayon. Melting it in a bit is helpful. If you order a watch without a sec hand then it will have been removed from the movement. A standard movement ordered separately will have it. You can order a small sec hand with a longer pinion. Athaya sells them. I think I answered everything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RussP 21,677 Posted April 9, 2020 Payment Sent. Twice 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BadApple 13,079 Posted April 9, 2020 Fan bloody tastic. Take a bow 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatarms 7,694 Posted April 9, 2020 As a side note, I did one of these a while back on one of the 60mm monster EGI's. For the crayon/wax thing, you can heat the dial prior to applying the crayon as Rich suggested or the method I used which also seemed to work rather well: Put the crayon over the engravings and move them in all four directions to get most of it covered. Once that's done, heat the dial from the bottom to avoid any change to the painted dial and the crayon will liquefy at that point and "melt" into the engravings. After it solidifies, you should be able to remove any residual wax using a dry paper towel. Not saying my method is any better than Rich's by any means, just that once the crayon is applied, melting it after the fact will allow the wax to fill the crevices by means of liquid flow, if that makes any sense. If it doesn't work, you can always hit the dial with turpentine and start over until it looks the way you want it to. Great tutorial Rich, that looks superb! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brang1 3,940 Posted April 9, 2020 what a brilliant tutorial, only wish i had the guts to try something like this, but my expertise stops at replacing the back gasket. Did try and remove a rotor once, dropped the screw in the mainspring, fucked everything up, threw it in the bin...watchsmithing done and dusted 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BravoDelta 22,280 Posted April 9, 2020 Really looks great @NCRich Excellent step by step tutorial too. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Member X 91 Posted April 9, 2020 10 hours ago, tribefan said: Can't wait to see those Rolerai. I need me a Rolerai... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faker 51 Posted April 23, 2020 Nicely done @NCRich . Beautifully done tutorial. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheTinMan 13 Posted April 24, 2020 Very nice! I'll admit, I kind of laughed at the white crayon, but it came out fantastic. I may finally just go ahead and try this.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1675 18 Posted March 10, 2021 Superb, well done, it makes you want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Degsy1880 254 Posted March 10, 2021 Talent, nicely done Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mbari 2,227 Posted March 13, 2021 Another great write up Rich! Really want one now. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites