Krystall Camera

My just finished restored and repainted Krystall, its in 'Hammered' finish but it doesn't show up too well from the flash. Great camera to work on, I was able to replace some parts from a derelict Zenit 3M, but luckily it came to me in good working condition. Most of the work involved cleaning and spraying with a little adjustment


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Samsung GX-10,too many Russian Lenses, A lot of Zenit, some Yashica,and a Pentax Body also finally a Minox35GT

Richard, good work, it looks like new :-) I love the Kristall as well, the stripes on the top of the prism house make it look like an old american car.

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

...old American car or a Russian tractor

Great job Richard! The camera looks like new now! Did you use one of these black enamel pens or a brush? I do this quite often too.. was the paint stripped before or you just went on top.. the technique to restore these always interests me. What did you refresh leather with? I use these shoe shine kits, first black one, then buff it, then use the oil one.. does the trick.

To clean the chrome parts I use Ulrich's method - IMHO it is absolutely the best one - toothbrush and lighter fluid.

Vlad

Neither Vlad I sprayed it with an air brush, silver Hammerite paint for the top, thinned by cellulose thinners, after stripping the original coat off. The black parts were rubbed down to get an even finish and sprayed , I didn't strip that off. The back door was replaced from a Zenit 3m ( as were the advance lever parts) so it didn't need anything doing to it, as were the leather panels on the front. Incidentally I think the original leather parts were painted gloss black with the body, there was no paint or primer under them when I removed the old pieces. As to cleaning I would agree lighter fluid and a brush, or q-tip, is best but I also use nail polish remover too, but it can lift paint. I did use a very fine permanent marker to draw in the engraving, I would've used paint and a brush but its so much easier! I was lucky to have had a derelict Zenit 3m in very good cosmetic but non working condition for spares too and many thanks to you both for the kind words

Samsung GX-10,too many Russian Lenses, A lot of Zenit, some Yashica,and a Pentax Body also finally a Minox35GT

Great info! Thanks Richard! I guess I can replace airbrush with spray can if needed since I don't have an airbrush.. actually at one point the seller Asterliks on eBay had a very rare Vesna 2 but it was painted a horrendous purple color... when I received it, I took it apart, masked all the non-paintable parts with tape and used a black spray paint to repaint it back to black . But the drawback of the spray paint (maybe I used the wrong one) is that it stays sticky for some reason... couldn't figure out why... I think over time it gets better but for about a year it was sticking to things.. hehehhe

Gotta say again though - very impressed with your paint job.

Vlad.

good job , men..
So , Vlad : when received Asterlik's vesna 2 ...try first to remove paint whin lighter fuel...I think he use sparay paint .If yes, you will see it is very easy to remove this color.

I sometimes use spray cans myself, mostly to 'freshen up' lens casings but have had the same problem with 'stickiness'. Satin paint I find better than gloss for that reason, it seems to dry quicker. I use an airbrush because my other hobby is building model kits, so I have all the equipment to hand and its often easier to mix up a tiny batch of paint rather than buy a can. I find a mix of 2 parts paint, usually enamel, to 1 part cellulose thinners sprays well and dries quickly, and you can probably get about 5/6 coats of that to 1 coat of brush paint. Your idea with the enamel pens is a good one Vlad I must give that a go, btw the top cover had no primer coat before the silver, and appeared not to have ever had one when it was originally made


Samsung GX-10,too many Russian Lenses, A lot of Zenit, some Yashica,and a Pentax Body also finally a Minox35GT

Vlad, I have never seen a russian tractor but I have seen old american cars :-) So I only compare it to them :-D

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de