moltogordo
30-Jul-2015, 22:04
I know there is nothing new under the sun in the LF world, and the world is inhabited by the most inventive, pragmatic people I've ever met, but I did something I'd not seen talked about before, so I thought I'd share it.
I bought a beastly B&J 5x7 Grover monorail real cheap ($60) a few months back, and the bellows had pinholes and scuffs - about 18 or 19 twinkles with an LCD light put inside. As the bellows are red, I didn't want to put black tape on them and the red electricians' tape I got was not a great match.
As I do some hobby painting on occasion, the thought struck me that I should be able to match the bellows color with acrylic artist paint. It dries semi-flexible, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.
I first covered the scuffs with a small brush and a bit of Golden Burnt Umber, Raw. After it dried, I did a couple of sealing strokes, and then covered the resultant patches with two coats of slightly diluted Cadmium Red Dark. I let the whole shebang dry, and have used the camera several times this month without incident. The pinholes were easy - same thing, but just one little stroke of Burnt Umber and two strokes of Cadmium Red. No leaks have recurred, and you have to look really hard to see the repair work.
I used Golden acrylics because that's what I paint with, but any brand will do, with a toothpick and QTip I'm sure also doing the trick. Black bellows? Easy. Pinholes with one stroke of Mars Black. I see no reason why adding pigment (available at art stores) to a glue like Pliobond shouldn't be just as effective.
I bought a beastly B&J 5x7 Grover monorail real cheap ($60) a few months back, and the bellows had pinholes and scuffs - about 18 or 19 twinkles with an LCD light put inside. As the bellows are red, I didn't want to put black tape on them and the red electricians' tape I got was not a great match.
As I do some hobby painting on occasion, the thought struck me that I should be able to match the bellows color with acrylic artist paint. It dries semi-flexible, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.
I first covered the scuffs with a small brush and a bit of Golden Burnt Umber, Raw. After it dried, I did a couple of sealing strokes, and then covered the resultant patches with two coats of slightly diluted Cadmium Red Dark. I let the whole shebang dry, and have used the camera several times this month without incident. The pinholes were easy - same thing, but just one little stroke of Burnt Umber and two strokes of Cadmium Red. No leaks have recurred, and you have to look really hard to see the repair work.
I used Golden acrylics because that's what I paint with, but any brand will do, with a toothpick and QTip I'm sure also doing the trick. Black bellows? Easy. Pinholes with one stroke of Mars Black. I see no reason why adding pigment (available at art stores) to a glue like Pliobond shouldn't be just as effective.