ENIMATIC KIEVS ?

Kiev / Contax cameras are one of few '' toys '' which are OK with my Autistic glitch , the others being Leica II and USSR derivatives .
Recently , I realised that I am confused by names -and Cyrillic script.

Mike Hayley in Ukraine and ex-Arsenal techs are making me a'' set '' of Kievs -

Kiev II . III and combined III / IV . no flash sync or self timer , painted in metallic Gunmetal , no number and no name - enigmatically -

II III and IV . The III and IV on the meter cover .

I will fit new grey/ blue leather in three shades .

This will provide me with all the shapes / profiles , all compatible with the early KNeB cases .

Perfect for me , kontroversial for others ?

dee

Dee,

we're still waiting to see your marvels! It seems like you got quite a collection of custom Kievs! Please post some pictures!

Best regards to Mike Haley from me! I am sure they will do a nice job over in Kiev!

Vlad.

Update .
I am waiting for my Contax III back from Mike before creating the Enigmas which will be about euro 100 each , with my donor cameras .
Colour will now be Mercedes Champagne , because I wanted an elegant 30s Art Deco colour .
I am still struggling to export pics from I-photo and post them here .
Most of my Kievs will just be recovered .
dee

Just an update on the Enigma Kievs .

The financial crisis in UK means that I have had no work since Jan .
I know that they want to use me , but freelance budgets are frozen .
I have deecided to complete my Kievs as things are becoming unsettled in Ukraine too .

I have received the Contax III from Mike and love it !
Unfortunately , the meter got knocked in transit , so It has gone back ..
the ex-arsenal tech was so proud of his work on it too !
it also has a broken meter glass so this will be replaced .

I bought a pair of dirty Kiev 4 and Kiev 3 a from a UK source at Ј66 for both .
The K 4 is 1957 early type and the K 3a has just A and number from 1956 .
The meter works as well .

Oddly , though dirty , they are reasonably quiet and smooth - I suspect CLA sometime since manufacture .

This has freed a 1958 Kiev 4 and another Kiev IIIa as Enigmas .

I have sent this broken '58 Kiev 4 and '56 Kiev 3a to make the Komposite Enigma IV -
I admit that the K 4 is the early type with no ridges to the meter cover ,
but it is dented and the camera is poor .
This will be closer to the Contax IIIa though , which I wanted .

Another Kiev IIIa is also on it's way to Kiev , and Metallic Bluebell Blue paint should be bought and sent next week ... the meter on this one works too , but there is somebody damage .
It was a purchase from cupog who values CLA over cosmetic condition and I have a pair of really good K 4a frm him - 1st and 2nd types .

Leather will be similar to the KneB cases which I have for them .

No names - just III and IV !!

I am also having a parts Contax II fitted with whatever Kiev parts are needed .
This camera will have silver body paint and tan leather , I would not want to customise
a genuine Contax II .

Mike is working on these cameras and I should have them back with me in about 6 weeks .

Then I am totally without funds !

dee

Negative update on Enigmas . All cameras despatched by UK Post will not accept paint with solvent base to be sent to Ukraine - so Bluebell blue seems imposible .
I am trying to find out what car colour he can find aroung Kiev .

How the heck would they test for that? They actually do swabs of the painted items???!

Vlad ... You are not allowed to send spray paint in cans in the mail, in most if not all countries. So I think Dee was going to send the color of paint she wanted the cameras painted with, but now she can't. But Dee, I'm sure they have good colors available in Ukraine too!

Regards, Bill

Oh I guess I'm confused as always.. Thanks for clarifying Bill. I thought they're testing painted objects ..

Vlad.

It seems that ANY solvent paint is not allowed - I would not dream of dending spray paint .
I just hope that Mike can find a Merc colour or something .

Oh, it's Ukraine, all they got is solvent paint and potato vodka j/k

Enigmas update ...
...
if anyone is still believing that this is happening !

The finacial [ farcial ? ] situation froze all work on this project , though donor cameras are with Mike in Ukraine .
Work seems to be picking up , so the news of my impending retirement is premature !

Leather samples have been sourced [ free ] and thinned to 0.5mm and will be sent out to Mike shortly .

Mike has sourced the metallic blue paint , so that solves [ deesolves ? ] the solvent shipping problem .

I have created an English Logo based on the original KNeB logo , which I really like , so Mike is checking if the Arsensal guy
can create these for me instead of the roman numerals ... on the meter door of the K III and K 4 , of course .
I have also added a Kiev 2a for the same treatment to create a set of shapes .
The broken Kiev 4 [ plain meter cover ] top-plate has been bonded to a 1957 Kiev 3a base and is awaiting further surgery
to remove the flash sync and self timer - plus painting etc .

The Contax III is back with the techs to sort the meter and fit a non broken glass , and the Contax II spares camera is being
restored with more than a little help from a Kiev 2a - but no fake as it will lose it's flash sync and be painted silver with tan leather .

I would love a 1947 script Kiev 2 - and am asking if I could have a fascia made in the 1947 script , but with 1947-1957
engraved under it - to fit to a 1957 Kiev 2a or 3a - like an Anniversary issue ... camera to be deecided -
I will also be having my 1957 Kiev 4 with plain cover cla -I would like to fit the Anniverasry 1947 plate to it
[ keeing the original so it can be restored at any time ]but I guess you guys may think
that that is a step too far !

The Kiev 4 with plain meter cover [ no ridges ] seems to be quite a rare camera - so I don't want to mess up another .
[ the 1958 was really rough ! ]

At present only Kiev 3a / 2a - and my very poor 1958 Kiev 4 with plain [ and dented ] meter cover have been sacrificed ,
but I would love a KNeB fascia for a Kiev IV - to match my 1951 Kiev 2 and 1954 Kiev 3 ... again , this would be reversible .

That's is for now - I won't ask you to watch this space , 'cos it's takes forever , - but I love the anticipation !