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Mbari

In Progress: Rolex 6542 Albino after a plane crashed and got submerged :)

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Mbari

Picked up some spare parts from a member for cheap. Just to play around with things, because you know why not.

 

The kit included:

 

A messed up albino dial

A messed up insert

Case with no crown no movement spacer

A throwaway bezel

 

Thanks to Sir Alan Sugar from the other side of the pond for the inspiration to commence on a project, making a 6542 that emulates one only found submerged into the ocean floor after a plane crash... #rustic_albino

 

Stuff done so far today:

 

- Instead of trying to paint the edges of the dial, I decided to lean in and embrace the ocean floor. -Add rust and tropical vibes

-Strip the paint off of the insert, repaint to get better color tones and look like it's aged to match the dial.

-Brassify the bezel and then add rust to it, soaking it in rusty drill bit bath with salt + vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.

-Add some heavy aging to the case, using metal bits and rocks in a tin can. 10 mins of vigorous shaking later.... I have to polish and soften the case now.

 

Waiting for movement to arrive, then age the hands and dwo. Finally put it back together and stick on a nicely aged bracelet.

 

Opinion needed: a full red small gmt hand or a regular gmt hand to finish the watch?

 

Onto some update pics

 

As always, thanks for reading. b90716ca46223d828040a3faaca452e9.jpgb15cc2ddd5d62d403baaf1e08c2efe40.jpg

 

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mbari

Some bezel painting aka risky business with these brittle cartel inserts 2db9e44ff53a4efcb05998b44e5ed580.jpgb50ad9489a555b598aa446f1aaf0c367.jpg583f57cfd012d672acd6d6f4ab2a6762.jpgb3a56504379461b12fc8365d30023a22.jpg

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Jamming on to some chemical brothers while playing with chemicals59cc68a976c7859ca7dd6bfc3de1aeb8.jpg392ededd9285b1bfafe9ca5766ab7ceb.jpg626a323f1a63c3ddceeb35ab419bc4a8.jpg3b67d345a85985a348536ef865c68596.jpg

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Mbari

Case now aged and bezel rusted, brassified d07c8f40e1f9595a30f1d0e6ca0d280f.jpgbdd86766f62a985e4128592773bd18d3.jpg289c2ffacd1cc2185f18f6e2e251330a.jpg

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Think I'm gonna call it a night 61cf43ac69c1da2ab02467786d9b5e11.jpg48c7aea9a62fe5ab7b5a37a2f2628f5e.jpg6f4bff8c11961237e176e6976d8f2380.jpg

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trailboss99

This is going to look great! Nice work mate, seriously cool. 

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Mbari
This is going to look great! Nice work mate, seriously cool. 
Thanks mate! Had to put it into the case for sec. I am stoked to see what it will look like fully done 6e35e0f6f4edb5e617485bd0b2938484.jpg

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Buddhabar

Great Job .. thanks for sharing the steps. :thumbsup:

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Alhig72

Nice

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Foxindebox
9 hours ago, Mbari said:

Thanks mate! Had to put it into the case for sec. I am stoked to see what it will look like fully done emoji4.png6e35e0f6f4edb5e617485bd0b2938484.jpg

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

That looks fantastic mate :thumbsup2:

Looking forward to seeing the end result!

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Glaude

I'm not a vintage fan at all, but this is damn realistic ! Great job !

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rek001

This is so creative! Love the made up backstory to this.

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Mbari

Haha thanks. To make things more realistic, Pan Am flight 6 crashed into the pacific in 1956. Which would make this 54 production watch a perfect survivor

 

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Mbari

Still needs some refining here and there but for now she keeps time, while looking purrty 60cd0503550007147a0ccde17cd3a81c.jpg61a2e484a8e2cc41dc50a92a1daee1e1.jpg024472d23bd0390e2cd810960654ec8a.jpg594c7b4107353df668fecd3f98259f17.jpgce535f844cc224a33b4050de2703ff16.jpgf520a2e7edb41a15cd50e4ca75d03e29.jpgbcbe88aca95ba03f01f110de86fe9277.jpg

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scope

That looks the part!Love it.

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Mbari

Haven't been this excited About a build in a while. Phong insert just livens this up to a new level. 3174e274e2d0ff8fe029c177111441da.jpg9fd01afec4d8316b02e795e66e138e59.jpg

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Glaude

:thumbsup:

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Nikosaldente

That's sexy!

Awesome job!

Thanks for sharing!

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Aramis2288

WOW! Absolute stunner! Congrats.

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NCRich

Missed this.  Looks the bees knees.

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FunnyStarSystem

You are an artiiste @Mbari

Next you have to make something that went down on one of the infamous BOAC Comets in 1954!

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rm65453

Gorgeously gorgeous! 

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Ibanez

@Mbari - superb, simply stunning, great stage pics too. Chapeau 

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Mbari

Thanks y'all (Texas). I totally missed these comments. Made my day.

Best part of going through the pain of taking on these excursions is to hear from you folks. I must say Lord Sugar (@Alhig72) had a lot to do with this.

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anj4de

Thanks a lot for those posts...they are very valuable to me. I just got into all this and I am already learning a lot. I have some cheap parts coming for my 1st mod attempt...can't wait for the stuff to arrive.

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k4jun
On 27/03/2021 at 04:07, Mbari said:

-Brassify the bezel and then add rust to it, soaking it in rusty drill bit bath with salt + vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.

 

Could you chime in more about this process? I mean, is it one bath and the solution is a mix of salt+vinegar+hydrogen peroxide? Or in steps, first salt+vinega bath, then hydrogen peroxide?

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Mbari
Could you chime in more about this process? I mean, is it one bath and the solution is a mix of salt+vinegar+hydrogen peroxide? Or in steps, first salt+vinega bath, then hydrogen peroxide?
Dip in the salt vinegar and peroxide bath, with a rusty drill bit. Goal is to get the peroxide to extract the rust as the salt and vinegar acts a rusting agent. I know ...odd. Also it's vital to have ample otherwise the solution doesn't work as well.

I did this because parts of the dial had metal exposed and I wanted to build a bit of rust in those spots.

After about 1 hr of soaking I tool the dial out and let it all soak in the sun, building rust in the exposed parts and drying up the rust all over the dial. It looked intense at that point. Don't worry the steps after this would make more sense.

Once dried up, I drop bit of water in the center which cleans the dial while pushing some of the rust out towards the edges. Repeat this until desired effect is achieved. As it gets clearer, use a fine brush to draw circles, feathering as needed in certain spots

Once satisfied, seal it with some matte lacquer and voila. Youre done!

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