Camera body restoration help requested.

cyrano · Expire: 2016-12-30

Hi gents and ladies, I have a collection of manual cameras (Nikon,Canon,Olympus,Konica) that I am interested in a complete cosmetic refurbishment.
As far as I an tell the mechanisms all work pretty much as they should be but I haven't used any electronic calibration equipment so that might be an area I need to look into,but not just yet.
I am looking to get the black paint coating on the bodies into as close as possible to new. I' talking about slight brassing,minor scratches and a loss of patina/gloss that a new one out of the box would have.
I have done a quick web search but I was wondering if anyone here had used and would recommend a service? However, I am aware that this might not be cost effective.
The main reason is I am in possession of a modest set of lovely, mechanical classics that I would like to restore to their original condition.
I also will be owning two motor drives for Canon F1 and Nikon F2 soon and these are a little scuffed and could do with a touch up.
Failing any cost effective repairer,is there a paint marker that could touch up the paint losses and a polish to restore the sheen, maybe something equivalent to T-Cut perhaps?

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

Touching up the paint to original finish standard would be difficult. Camera's will probably have been sprayed with enamel paint then baked to harden the paint. Getting a similar finish with a brush is very difficult. And a bigger problem is matching the paint to get the same gloss / satin / matt finish.

For small paint repairs I use the Tamiya acrylic model paint in the 10ml jars. I use x-18 Semi gloss black and XF-1 Flat black and the thinners for the paint. With a tiny artists brush apply as little of the best matching paint as possible to the unpainted mark. Then as it dries I lick my finger and gently rub the paint as it hardens. This flattens the brush marks and spreads a very thin layer of paint around the mark on top of the original paint. It also dulls the gloss, which with a bit of practice enables you to match it closely to the original paint. If you make it too matt, wipe with a bit of thinners on your finger. If the repair needs flatting after it's hardened use a tiny smear of toothpaste on a pencil eraser and rub very gently.

Hobbycraft sell the paint, and of course Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tamiya-Acrylic-Mini-XF-1-Black/dp/B000BX230G/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_21_tr_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CK08PV438K2C4EGDY6KK

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

Top covers and bottom plates are usually easily removable, so one could find a service to do the powder painting for them. Problem is that this paints over also the texts, so you had to somehow mask them yourself?

cyrano · Expire: 2016-12-30

Thanks to you both for replying, I think I'll try Lloydys suggestion first as I want to keep costs down but these old jewels deserve a bit of attention to keep them looking their best.