Paint It Black!

Purists may cringe or gnash their teeth when they see (or even hear of) a camera that's been in some fashion made non-standard, but those who live in the real world are generally less likely to engage in acts of self-abuse. "Its heresy (the more rabid of the purists have proclaimed) to take a *r@re* and precious FED or Kiev or Zorki or any other 30 or 40 year old Soviet Era photoapparat and change it in any way, pure heresy!" To these I say "bah! it's my camera and I'll do anything I like with it." Now, whether that's an attitude engendered by my environment or something coded into my (MoTown bred) jeans I cannot say, but here in the American West the outlook is: 'its my back yard and I'll dump another dead Chevy out there if I wanna, and if I wanna stick it between the rusty refrigerator and the patch of weeds by the fence, then I will.' Corollary to that, us Westerners recognize we're dressed up formal like when we're wearin' clean Levis, and don't much stand on ceremony, so whack away at an old FED? you betcha! Gimme a machine shop and a lump of iron or two and I'll make you a better FED than the boys and girls down at the zavod ever dreamed of! Or gimme a bucket of paint and a dead cat and I'll whip you up a Black Camera!

But 'whack away' and 'whip stuff up' for no reason? Certainly not! I select cameras whose brightwork is --hmmmm-- pretty scuzzy to begin with, so these painted versions are more realisticly simply a way to ressurect what would otherwise be forgotten bottom drawer relics at best, or at worst, relegated for the parts bin. No, even I wouldn't take a reasonably decent piece and irreversibly change its character. I may be uncouth, but I ain't uncivilized.

Pictured here is my 'Flagship' FED-2. I'm particularly pleased with the lustrous sheen of the Satin Black finish I applied, baked dry, then rubbed out with dilute rubbing compound before reassembling. The red filled logos on the front and top of the r/f housing seem a bit garish at times, but I think they're entirely appropriate on a Commie camera.

Painting is only partly about applying paint. Preparation, on the other hand, is absolutely key in the the process, and will require the greatest time and care if the final result is expected to be both appealing and durable.

I generally begin the process by sandblasting the brightwork that will be painted. This, of course, is done with the camera completely disassembled, and performs two functions: first, to remove the chrome plating down to the brass beneath, and second to produce extremely small irregularities in the metallic surface. This gives the paint greater area and provides for greater grip to the surface. Hand sanding is almost as effective, but its much more labor intensive and doesn't provide as good a painting surface.

Once the chrome had been removed, the parts were washed with ordinary soap and water. These were toweled off and then wiped down with ethyl alcohol. From that point onward they were never again touched except by gloved hands. A light misting of automotive grade etching primer was then applied with an airbrush, allowed to dry in a dust free painting booth, inspected for irregularities or problems, and then given a first (very light) coat of Satin Black automotive paint. This was allowed to air dry overnight, then the parts were re-inspected the following day. A second coat of paint was airbrushed on, allowed to tack dry, and then a final coat of paint was applied. The painted parts were then placed in a dust free environment, allowed to tack dry, and then placed into my drying box. This is nothing more than an enclosed box with several light fixtures installed inside to 'bake' the finish overnight. Temp stays fairly constant at around 150 degrees F.

Once the now painted pieces have dried, I do my best just to leave them alone for a couple of days and let the paint continue to 'cure.' This is possibly the most difficult part of the process since the tendency is to want to reassemble the camera and see how it looks.

But before reassembly takes place, the parts are all hand rubbed with a very fine and dilute rubbing compound. This brings the finish up to a very lustrous sheen (though the choice of paint will determine whether or not the finish is shiny or lustrous or flat), and creates a bit of 'tooth' for the final step. That step, prior to reassembly, is a light coat of wax (any will do, I suppose, but I've got some carnuba wax so that's what I've used), and this is buffed with a lintless cloth.

The camera is finally reassembled, and a final light buffing removes any fingerprints that might exist. That's a good time to photograph the finished piece, and sometimes I do exactly that.

Afterward, I put a roll of film in the newly created 'black beauty' and go shooting. So far, none of the cameras I've painted have shown any tendency to flake or chip --even under ordinary use--, and the one scratch I've incurred was minor and buffed out easily. So far, these are every bit as durable as any factory paint job I've seen. (Hmmmm. I may have to 'do' my brassy Nikon F2 one of these days, too!)