Anyone have experience patching small areas of missing vulcanite? I just got another user M3 with a few small pieces of the vulcanite missing--nothing that would inspire me to shell out the money for a proper repair, but I'd like to fill the gaps if there's a cheap and effective way to go about it.

Thanks for any help.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), March 01, 2001

Answers

Mike,

Try: micro-tools.com

See catalogue for part #:4040-2.

Good luck, Sergio.

-- Sergio Ortega (s.ortega@worldnet.att.net), March 01, 2001.

I have done some refill in one of my M3 with epoxic cement, the one you mix from two parts and has a black color, you mix it and you will get a semi-hard past that you can easily apply in the vulcanite missing areas, it will dry like a rock and wonīt loose itīs shape, you can even imitate the texture by pushing with your nails, now I canīt easily find where I did the repairs in my M3, if the repair has to be done in the edges of the base plate, do it whit it on and then take it off to let it dry.Good luck.

-- R. Watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), March 01, 2001.

Thanks for the quick responses. I'll probably go with the epoxy fix for now (the missing areas are fairly small), but the micro-tools URL should come in handy in the future and for other projects.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), March 01, 2001.

Leica parts has replacement covers for the earlier cameras in the same material as the M4-2 and up cameras. It is tougher than the original vulcanite and very inexpensive. I had my M2X recovered for about $80US including shipping and labour. They also have complete replacement shells with the proper vulcanite (the only way as it has to applied with heat) and they are very expensive. Try $500US or so part only.

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@home.com), March 01, 2001.

$500?!!?! That's TOO F*^KING HIGH!!! (sorry, a little Used Cars moment there. . .)

Though neither of my M3's is in a condition that would satisfy a collector, they look pretty good from a few feet away. And chicks love 'em so much, I figure it's worth a little bit of effort to keep them looking decent. : )

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), March 01, 2001.

Okay Mike. That's twice now you've shown her off in the last week... What's her phone number? ;-)

Jack

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 02, 2001.

"Chicks love 'em so much". Now there's a marketing strategy Leica should adopt to increase sales:

-- Sergio Ortega (s.ortega@worldnet.att.net), March 02, 2001.

I suspect I'd get in big trouble for passing along her phone number. . .

Other possible marketing slogans:

"Guaranteed to knock out a mugger with a single blow!"

"It's like a Mercedes you can wear around your neck."

"Isn't there enough plastic in your life already?"

(and when they hire me as a spokesman) "Mike likes Leicas!"

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), March 04, 2001.

to replace small vulcanite areas, find good existing area on vulcanite where pattern is not disturbed, apply talcum powder and brush off, warm castor oil type modelling clay ('plasticene') till soft, push onto pattern, remove, mix 5 minute epoxy plus carbon black & apply to mould, plus a backing of non woven fabric like Japanese hand-made paper, allow to set. Cut to size, retaining vertical camera body orientation from cast, adhere; 5 minute epoxy will do, then apply fresh black epoxy mix with needle around edges to blend in. result will look OK but duller than original surface. Use sparing amount of thinned hard varnish on new work. Repair can be seen, but only if you point it out. Done it lots, lasts well (at least 15 years) cameras and lenses feel much better. James Elwing

-- james elwing (elgur@mail.com), October 18, 2001.