Second PAM vintage build

[SB56667 155]

I think there must be a dremel in my future, though insisting as I do on doing everything the hard way (at least once), this was a pure hobby file job.

 

After running into a handful of intriguing Submersible projects online, I made a late-night impulse buy of this 44mm cheapie from Silix:

 

 

 

 

Mummified it:

 

 

I quickly discovered that the hobby files I bought on Ebay were utterly useless. But I wasn't going to let that stop me. I went to town with a round file I had that was apparently meant for sharpening chainsaw blades.

 

My first "@$% it, this isn't going to easy" moment:

 

 

Several hours later:

 

 

 

Still far to go, but there ess something pretty exciting about reshaping a hunk of metal with your bare hand. Ordered some proper files, and once they arrived yesterday, I had this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then today after a bit more touching-up, I ran out of patience and decided to do a build. First went over the whole case with 150 grit, then Scotch Brite, then 200 grit, then Scotch Brite again, then a good old Cape Cod cloth.

 

Tried to remove the cyclops from the stock crystal with a soldering iron, which had no effect. I then cooked the crystal in a toaster over at 400 degrees for about 5 mins, dug at the cyclops with a razor blade, and it popped right off. Used some baking soda on a damp paper towel to remove the crystal glue residue.

 

Sanded down a 35mm dial I'd made for a Rad build to about 34.5mm, and it fit. The hands were the fun part: I sanded the stock silver-coated hands very lightly with 900 grit to expose the brass, covered the back of the lume with black permanent marker to dim it a bit (somebody here had that clever idea), then, on a whim, dropped the hands in a bath of 1/3 bleach, 2/3 water, which I'd used to age a strap earlier.

 

Totally unexpectedly, a sort of greenish powdery cast, like copper corrosion, appeared on a few spots. Seemed to be the remnants of the silver paint disintegrating. Rubbed right off, but I tried to leave a bit on in the end, because I think it's a nice effect.

 

Enough talk! On to the photos!

 

So what started life as this:

 

 

...is now this (forgive the dust and fingerprints -- I was in a hurry):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now all I need is a domed plexi!! Oh, and to fill in the CG screw holes with solder.

 

What kind of crown would make sense on this?

[Leroy 2]

wow! i would put a rolex crown maybe? or a brevett one

[SB56667 155]

wow! i would put a rolex crown maybe? or a brevett one

 

Yeah, I ordered a pair of Brevet crowns from Athaya at the start of June and a screw up with my local post office led to them being returned! Aargh...