Really strange black transitional FED-2

Hello everyone!
It's been a while since I posted anything interesting here but today I got a very strange transitional FED-2 model serial #019586. It's black but it's not painted, and there seems to be no chrome underneath, in fact it feels like cast iron or something of sorts. I tried to use some paint remover but it's really a blued steel or something like that. Any thoughts?

Best regards,
Vlad

Hi Vlad,

yes, the camera looks really strange, I have never seen it before.
In the last picture you can see that the underlying metal is brass. Maybe the black parts are black-oxided?

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Hi Ulrich, yes that sounds like something it may be, although very inconsistently applied or aged.

Vlad,
The top cover is made of brass and is normally chrome-plated.
In order to produce a "custom black painted" camera (which many vendors, including my suppliers, did some 10-15 years ago) this chrome plating had to be stripped to the brass, either mechanically or chemically, since the paint does not adhere properly to chrome.
I think the chrome was stripped on your camera too, prior to refinishing it. But the actual finish is indeed odd, does not look like paint, more like some anodizing. You can Google "black anodizing of brass" and see some info on the process.
The finish looks quite old, so maybe an early (60 years ago:) attempt to produce a black FED-2. Maybe a factory prototype, but more likely a DIY job.

Thanks Yuri, I highly doubt it's a prototype more like an interesting DIY job. I always pick up such interesting examples.