Have an M2 with the shutter speed numbers worn, making them hard to see in bright light. Any good quick fixes to "repaint" the numbers?

-- Ben Hughes (ben@hughesbros.com), May 17, 2002

Answers

Hi Ben,

Not sure if the M2 shutter speed numbers are 'engraved' or simply painted. If its of the engraved type, you could try painting the shutter dial with black paint, wait until it has nearly dried and then remove the surface of the paint with white spirit, this should leave the engraved areas with paint still there. - Only a suggestion of course!!!

-- Karl Yik (karl.yik@dk.com), May 17, 2002.

the numbers are engraved on my m2 wheel (very shallow however). before getting mixed up with paint, i would try using a grease pencil (or even an art crayon). rub it hard over the engraved areas, and then wipe the surface. this usually works well.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), May 17, 2002.

OK, I got it. I used the auto touch-up paint that comes in a little shaker bottle, (flat black). Used a small dry brush and dabbed it into the numbers, waited a few seconds and wiped with a dry cloth. Looks great.

-- Ben Hughes (ben@hughesbros.com), May 17, 2002.

black shellac stick

rub in, wipe off, let harden

I know Stuart McDonald Luthier supply sells those, but you can maybe get em other places too.

-- Charles (cbarcellona@telocity.com), May 17, 2002.

From the FAQ:

The easiest way is to buy the "Lacquer-Stik Paintstick Kit" online from Micro-Tools via their paint page (look for part # "LS-KIT").

These crayon-sized sticks rub onto the engraved lens numbers, leaving a deposit of paint which will harden inside the grooves. Any excess paint spill around the numbers can easily be wiped off before the paint sets.

-- Andrew Nemeth (azn@nemeng.com), May 17, 2002.

I, too, recommend the micro-tools paint sticks. I ordered off the website, got them in a couple of days, and repainted the shutter speeds on my Titanium M6 (from white to black). They're much easier to read now.

-- Peter B. Goldstein (peter.goldstein@us.cgeyc.com), May 17, 2002.

Actually - I just used the following to change my V'lander 15's numbers from red to bright yellow (to be more visible and match the Leica lenses)

Liquitex Acrylic Artist Color - MEDIUM VISCOSITY.

It comes in 2 fl. oz. bottles ($3-$9 depending on color) and should be available in any decent artists' materials store. It is more liquid than the tubed acrylic paint.

I applied it with a 000 water-color brush, with a little bit of spillover - but once it partly dried (couple of minutes) the spillover around the engraved numbers was easily wiped away, leaving the color in the engraving behind. I used two applications since I was covering dark red with light yellow in a shallow engraving.

It looks very slick and factory-new.

Acrylic cleans up with water, which makes it easy to clean the brush for re-use.

I plan to 'revive' the white LEICA engraving on my M4-2 and M4-P using the same technique. Also the shutter numbers.

Best colors seem to be Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Mars Black, and Titanium White, depending on which color engraving you are treating.

I have no idea how its permanence compares, but one bottle will do at least 600 applications - so I'll reapply if it starts to peel or something. But in deep engraving (e.g. pre-M6 shutter numbers) it should last for years.

Amazing how fast and easy it was once I got up the nerve.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), May 17, 2002.

Just for interest - and to confirm what some have said above - about 15 years ago I asked Leitz UK servicing department at Milton Keynes what to do to revive the red numbers engraved on a chrome F2.8 Summaron. Their answer was wax crayon e.g. as used by children.

-- James Harper (drjh@btinternet.com), May 18, 2002.