Contax 139 Q leatherette substitution

[Aanything]

Got my contax 139 Q CLA'ed, it came back on saturday, and now everything should work fine - basically, it needed to have light seals replaced and to be cleaned a bit inside.
Now I'm running a roll through it to see if it works.
If it does, I will want to replace the dreadful leatherette, which is in awful state - and I see it's quite a common issue with this camera.
Does anyone who already faced this care to share his experience or any tip (which materials to use/avoid, how to precisely cut the new material, how to remove the old one) about how to do that?

Thanks in advance.

[fuzzywuzzy]

[Aanything]

[Lloydy]

here's how I tidied up a Yashica FX-D with a bit of real leather. I've got another one that needs covering as well, but I'm looking for some nice red leather to pimp it up a bit. I'm searching the charity shops for a leather coat or large bag in the right shade of red.

http://forum.mflenses.com/yashica-fx-d-tidying-up-t57537.html

It's not hard to do, but it is time consuming. The important things are -
Getting the old glue off the camera, use an old toothbrush to get in to the corners, it will roll the old glue into balls.
Then wipe it down with lighter fuel ( don't soak it )
Cut the leather with a rotary cutter for the straight lines, and a chisel ended craft knife blade about 4mm wide for the curves; stab the knife through the leather and keep moving around the curve. Both of these methods will prevent dragging the leather, which is very easy to do if you cut with a scalpel or craft knife.
Cut as big as you can get away with, it's easier to trim it back if it's a lot too big, and if it's just slightly too big it can be pushed 'tighter' And leather does shrink if heated with a hair dryer.
Use contact cement that dries slowly, allows time to slide the leather around, and importantly will allow the leather to be peeled off in the future.

The picture in the linked post shows the old leather cloth layed out on the real leather, you can see where the holder / slot for the film box end had been, it's easy to remove the film pressure plate and the holder, and then get the new leather under the holder to make a tidy job.

[Jesito]

Jon Goodman is selling the old leatherette stock, if I recall properly he was selling the black leatherette precut for the 139 Q at some $4.

Not sure if he does still have any. I bought one for mine some 4-5 month ago.

Good luck.
Jes.

[Aanything]

Thanks guys:
now I have to decide if I want to restore the camera to its original appearence, or to pimp it with some fancy material.
I will contact Jon Goodman and see if he has something, and in the meantime I will hunt for some kitsch looking leather goods on flea markets.

[Aanything]

Update:
I bought a couple of leatherettes from Jon Goodman, together with a light seals kit.
I received it today, and I decided to use the cherry red one first.

Here's the camera:

(sorry for the crappy phone pic)

Dealing with Jon Goodman is always a pleasure, he's extremely kind and incredibly quick in the shipments.

[Lloydy]

That looks really good, I like it.

[Aanything]

[Lloydy]

Has Jon Goodman got a web site ?

[Aanything]