[goddo31]

Ok finally managed to find some time to update this.
Tom and stormcloud - thanks for commenting on this thread. The MX is a great camera. It's a little bit before my time also, but I love using the older gear.


Unfortunately at this stage I am missing a couple of photos. Repainting the film door was difficult for me, as I'm really not a good painter! But this is what I did:
1. Bought some black gloss spray paint, specifically one I could use on the metal surface of the film door without a primer. If you would like any further details on exactly what I used, let me know and I will find the can. The paint type is enamel.
2. Wet and dry sandpaper. With this I carefully sanded down the worn areas in preparation for painting
3. Repainting. I actually didn't spray the paint on - instead I used a small soft brush. Possibly not the best method, but I am happy enough with the result. Painting the whole film door was not necessary, as the new covering would cover most of it.

After two coats the paint job was as good as I was going to get it - by no way perfect but a lot neater looking than how it was originally!
Before I get too ahead of myself, I must mention the film reminder that you can see on the back of the camera. From factory this film reminder has it's four little feet melted (OK, minor assumption here) into four appropriate holes in the back of the film door. When I removed the rear leatherette and prepared the film door for repainting I had to remove the black plastic film reminder. It came off easily enough but the holes where the feet go actually goes through the light-proof film door!
This seemed like a potential issue at first, but then I realised two things.
The first is that the film pressure plate that holds the film flat looked like it would block the holes when film was loaded. My second thought was that I could just carefully 'Supa Glue' the black plastic holder back in it's original position. Thankfully, this worked like a charm! No light leaks, film reminder securely in place.

Back to the camera covering - the fun part!
I installed the rear covering much the same as the front, wetting some parts of it slightly to slow the setting of the adhesive. If you have read through Jon Goodman's (the friendly 'interslice' seal kit guy) camera seal kit instructions before, you may have noticed that he mentions licking the adhesive for mirror bumper foam before application. While there are some suggestions on the camera covering seller's website, my method was the one recommended by Jon. As is commonly said here on PF, Your Mileage May Vary - but that's what I did.

Recovering the rear film door went fairly smoothly, and now the camera was just about complete. Here are two photos of the edges of the film door that I repainted:






...
Now finally I can show the finished product!

[goddo31]

And now onto some camera 'porn' shots (I really should've given that M50 a dusting!):

[builttospill]

Thanks for the update. That's a good looking camera and you did well restoring it.

[Pablom]

good job goddo, that looks great

[Ratmagiclady]

Cordial welcomes back to the land of the living, for your rakishly-attired MX.

As for detail work on the blacks and all, don't overlook a nice quality model-maker's enamel and brushes to go with. (There's even a site out of Germany with better paints for the task, still: I'll fish through some bookmarks)

Ha, here: English link now: Check these guys out: (I really haven't) http://www.micro-tools.com/store/~/C-PAI/Paint.aspx

Anyway, given nice paint and brushes, I really might suggest doing your blackwork on that camera by hand, rather than trying to make a spray work. Proper enamels are going to generally be happy to lay down on the black trim on a camera like that. Just trust it do do so and don't go over it again and again when it might want to get gummy)
(The chrome plates are a different matter)


I've also, again, seemed to not get the last page of a thread until actually posting and scrolling back. Looks nice, that.

[goddo31]

Pablo, builttospill, thank you.

RML - Thanks for your interest and for the link. I did end up doing it by hand with a nice soft brush, even though it was a spray can of enamel. Sounds silly, but I actually sprayed the can into the plastic lid then brushed the paint on.

cheers,
Jason

[Swift1]

Nice job Jason, that is one sweet looking MX now.

[Stratman]

Looks great !!!!

[goddo31]

Thanks Steve and Colton.
I will be shooting with the MX on the weekend sometime

[demondata]

What a looker! I was thinking of passing mine on to someone for parts, but this has given me some ideas - also for my MV, MG, ME Super, K1000, P30n, Mz5n . . .

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm for this classic!

[wjt]

You failed to mention all this work when we were shooting on monday. Nicely done... i must admit i was looking at it thinking it was a very nice looking camera and that maybe i might look at adding an MX to my collection....

[elho_cid]

I've had similar idea last year:


It is not done is such perfectionist style, but I like it. The paint job is not a bad idea either. Do you have a recommendation of a specific paint to use?

[goddo31]

What a looker! I was thinking of passing mine on to someone for parts, but this has given me some ideas - also for my MV, MG, ME Super, K1000, P30n, Mz5n . . .

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm for this classic!

You're welcome. Making a camera look nice and different is a great way to get motivated to shoot some rolls through it

You failed to mention all this work when we were shooting on monday. Nicely done... i must admit i was looking at it thinking it was a very nice looking camera and that maybe i might look at adding an MX to my collection....

Well, an MX and Super Program go nicely together after all
cheers!

I've had similar idea last year:


It is not done is such perfectionist style, but I like it. The paint job is not a bad idea either. Do you have a recommendation of a specific paint to use?

Looks cool, wish I had the FA43 to go with mine too.
For the paint, I am no expert but I went with a gloss enamel that didn't need priming when used on metal surfaces. I aimed to keep it simple and didn't want the paint to come off. Using gloss paint was maybe not the best idea, as it rather more shiny than the original black trim. I just bought the paint from a hardware store from memory.

[hcarvalhoalves]

Sexiest MX around here. Well done.

I intend doing similar repair work on a K1000 I'm getting soon, hopefully!

[patolds]

Sorry goddo31, been tied up with the single in september challenge in the forum, so I've missed your later craftwork! Brilliant job and well done. Nice porn shots too, even with the lense still on!! Cheers Paddy