fatarms 7,779 Posted December 23, 2013 So I've been wanting to do this for a while now. I bought a 60mm (the big one!) EGI from Boycie in m2m a while back and have been wanting to build something with it. My inspiration came from a build that I saw TimeBandit do over at homageforum. For those that don't know, TimeBandit is one of the masters at working with the EGI and does some spectacular builds on the 47/52/60mm versions of this watch. This is the one that I want to emulate: This is one of TimeBandit's masterpieces and what I am modeling mine after. The version I have has a printed dial, so I won't be able to fill in the dial printing with crayon or anything. Mine will be more of a sterile version of the above but I want to add radium burn rings to mine. I've been doing quite a bit of reading over at homageforum on different methods of achieving these results. So I disassembled the beast last night and will be off to find spray paint later this week. I'll update this thread as I proceed on the build Here's the EGI next to a PAM127, it's pretty damn big. And away we go... wish me luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigBuys 0 Posted December 23, 2013 Hell of a project! It will be a real conversation piece. I had a Donerix aged EGI by way of Gottahaverolex. It was amazing. Even my 8.2 inch wrist could not do it justice! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stuvetjee 17 Posted December 23, 2013 cant wait to see the results! Good luck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Odyseus 1 Posted December 23, 2013 It's certainly a 'Big Boy' :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BadPickle 2,783 Posted December 23, 2013 My daily beater is the 47 EGI, it's getting aged and beaten up all by itself and I love how it's turning out. Not sure if I could carry off the big boy, good luck tho mate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatarms 7,779 Posted February 14, 2014 So it's been a while and I've had some spare time on my hands, did some work on the project and here are the results so far. I used the wife's water color to paint the backplate and darken the lume to give it a brownish-orange rust color to the numbers and the hands. After drying, I applied a matte varnish. Here is the end result. I was able to obtain some practice dials to attempt some painting techniques from a guy over on homageforum. Elias Livadaris is the guy over on HF, I owe him a ton of gratitude as he sent me the dials free of charge from Europe. Hats off to that guy I tried the painting technique using two different matte Valspar colors on a 44mm Panerai dial and this was the result, please be gentle, this was the first time I've ever attempted to paint a dial: I will allow the paint to set and will be putting a radium burn ring into the practice dial to see how that looks. Here is a quick and dirty with the backplate from the 60mm EGI and the painted 44mm dial (hence the size differences, they don't exactly line up, but I tried to get close on the 12) to give you an idea what the indices will look like behind the dial. More to come as progress is made, thanks for looking Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boycie 482 Posted February 14, 2014 Can't wait to see the final result........ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Calcidose 0 Posted February 14, 2014 Very big watch ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gravedigger 4 Posted February 14, 2014 (edited) Be careful wearing this watch , it may dislocate you arm Btw dial look good Edited February 14, 2014 by gravedigger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatarms 7,779 Posted February 15, 2014 Continuing with the prototype test dial to see if my technique was going to give the result I was looking for... After allowing the dial paint to cure for about 18 hrs, I baked it at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes to make sure the paint was cured and allowed the dial to cool to room temperature. Ok, so I managed to talk my wife into letting me use a couple small slivers of her chalk/pastels from her art kit. I decided on a dark brown piece to accent the dial and try to create a radium burn ring. First, I covered the dial with the pastel lightly and used my finger to work it into the dial to darken it up a bit. Next, I cut a circle of duct tape by tracing a US nickel to use as a pattern to create the radium burn ring. After cutting the circle, I put the circle of tape into the most dusty corner I could find in my house to weaken the adhesive property of the tape, so it didn't stick too strongly onto the dial. I then applied the pastel to the dial in a circular pattern around the tape on the dial. Using the cotton swab, I used an outward stroke around the circle towards the outer rim of the dial to spread the pastel on the dial. Once that was done, I removed the tape circle and blended the circle inwards toward the hole in the center to make the radium burn line less pronounced. Note to self - LEARN HOW TO CUT A CIRCLE WITHOUT A STRAIGHT EDGE TO IT... Hopefully the circle I use on the real dial will be more round... Here is the result: More to follow. Thank you for looking. Comments welcome, please tell me if this sucks, if it's good, or if you can suggest ways to improve on the dial. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kamma 1 Posted February 15, 2014 Awesome mate looks great so far Im sure you must be able to buy some self adhesive circles of different diameters where you are, I know you can in the UK, if you look at either a motorcycle or cycle dealer they do packs of protectant clear stickers for petrol tanks, frames for where wear to the painted surfaces takes place. They are laser cut, so have a really good edge just for what you want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DR3M3L 4 Posted February 15, 2014 Cool! Looks like a fun project, keep us posted Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pihlippe 1,294 Posted February 15, 2014 Cool Project, i will follow this one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatarms 7,779 Posted February 15, 2014 Thanks, guys. I will definitely update as I go along as long as there is interest Awesome mate looks great so far Im sure you must be able to buy some self adhesive circles of different diameters where you are, I know you can in the UK, if you look at either a motorcycle or cycle dealer they do packs of protectant clear stickers for petrol tanks, frames for where wear to the painted surfaces takes place. They are laser cut, so have a really good edge just for what you want. Good idea, maybe even just a circular sticker from something, even paper or cardboard. Here's a "trade secret" to get a sticker off anything while maintaining the adhesive: Use your wife's hair dryer to heat the adhesive, label, sticker, etc... to remove it from any surface whether it's paper, cardboard, anything. The hair dryer heats the glue up and allows you to remove the sticker or whatever without tearing or damaging the surface it's stuck to Good suggestion, thank you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bertram 0 Posted February 15, 2014 Looking good Fatarms! Can't wait to see the final product! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatarms 7,779 Posted February 15, 2014 Aaaand away we go on the 60mm EGI dial Paint job complete, now I wait for it to dry overnight. Better pic of dial paint detail: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mattwah 0 Posted February 16, 2014 very nice ... I have a 60mm egi sterile incoming, with some mods ... would love to put in a brown 'gruppo gamma' dial ... would finish it off nicely I reckon ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thang 582 Posted February 16, 2014 Very interesting project. Thanks for sharing. I will check back for more Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatarms 7,779 Posted February 18, 2014 And here we go again Following the practice dial method, but using more subtle color and less of it, I used the same color pastels to color the dial and create the radium burn ring. Time to attach the hands, this is the first time I've ever attempted taking hands off / putting hands on. Not exactly easy to do or to adjust, and the second hand was a doozy since it was the first time around for me. Let's case it back up and take some pictures... all done and I notice a smudge on the inside of the crystal after reassembling it. DAMMIT!!!! Undo it all and clean the smudge, then case it back up. Here's what it looks like now: Some close ups of the dial indices and the hands. And here's the whole thing together: Now I just have to land a job so I can buy a strap for it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kromp 0 Posted February 18, 2014 Looks great! Thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doomsday 0 Posted February 18, 2014 Nice self-custom watch, good job Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stupotseventyeight 0 Posted February 18, 2014 I'm desperate to see this on the wrist. It must be huuuuge! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chrisby 1 Posted February 18, 2014 Jeez that must have its own postcode / zip code It looks stunning though, far too big for my girly wrists though Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
