Olympus 35RC - cosmetic refurb

TAo2 · Joined: 09 Mar 2012 Posts: 319 Location: Scotland

Just bought an Olympus 35RC from a fellow member, philslizzy. (Thanks for the good price and smooth transaction, Phil). Phil had fitted new seals and the lens and camera interior are in mint condition. The exterior however was a bit "tired and listless". So...ah decided tae do my first cosmetic refurb - new leather. This is probably the easiest camera to do, as it has no self-timer/sync plugs or any other difficulties on the body. Straightforward, apart from cutting the half-circles tae accomodate the lens.

Removing the old leather was easy and the original glue was still tacky enough tae be stuck down again (if ah messed up!). Ah used the original leather as templates tae cut the new leather, adding around 1-1.5 mm. tae allow for shrinkage on the old leather.

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Almost all the glue residue was simply removed by rubbing with thumb/fingers. Rubbed down flaked paint with emery paper,then used propanol and cotton buds tae clean the camera body.

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After the body was clean, ah used my "go to" brightwork cleaners. Car body/ paintwork scratch removers. Used this stuff for years, even on metalwork on lenses. First tried it on an old, unsaveable camera tae ensure there were no after effects but still...use at yer own risk! Rub it in with cotton buds (good pressure tae work the scratch), leave for half an hour then polish off with clean rags/microfibre cloths. Usually do this twice.

Then touched up the black paint with a paint marker. It's really only for scratch touch-up but was fine after a couple of coats for a larger area. When the paint was nearly dried, ah rubbed my finger round the painted bits and that was enough tae remove the very glossy finish back tae the matte of the original paint. Even used the marker for chip marks on my bike!

Bought a bottle of Pliobond (Microtools) but didn't need it, as the glue on the new leather was excellent.

Leather and marker from Millys cameras... http://cameramill.co.uk/shop/
Microtools... http://www.micro-tools.de/

Here's the results...

Couple of larger images...

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philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

I want it back!!

How did the shiny bits come up? You said you'd show.

TAo2 · Joined: 09 Mar 2012 Posts: 319 Location: Scotland

Here're the shiny bits , Phil . Plenty of marks left but the vast majority are well concealed or reduced greatly Cool

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Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Great success! Many thanks to sharing it!

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

great work. A nice conservative custom. My RC misses his bro, now living in Scotland in the city of Discovery. here he is looking sad but beautiful in his burgundy jacket.

they're reflections on his front from the laptop.