Frogman stealth-modding project

[Sedi]

Hi,
so I have started my Frogman modding project.
The background:
When I bought my first Dw-8200 standard Frogman on the bay judging from the pix the bezel and strap looked pretty worn so even before I got the Froggy I looked for a new bezel and strap but could only find a set for the DW-8200BK so I bought it. Then when the Froggy arrived the strap and bezel were in a much better shape than I expected so I had a spare set of strap and bezel. Happy coincidence - just a few days later a 'naked' DW-8200 popped up on the bay that I instantly bought for a fair price.
So then I have to admit I had a watchmaker stealth the display because for one I didn't have the right tools to open it plus I was kind of frightened to take out the module myself. Today I picked up the inverted module - now I wanna spray-paint the case in a matte black and put on the black bezel and strap. It isn't finished yet but I'll keep the thread updated:





So what do you guys think?

Greetings, Sedi

[kiwidj]

Looks pretty good so far. Looking forward to seeing the finished product! Good luck with the paint job...

[cal..45]

nice work sedi, how is the legibility of the reversed display?

one thought about matte black spray on metal: it looks great (i did it before myself) but it will scratch easily. so don't expect anything nearly as durable as the casio ion-plate coating or even the DLC coating. but if it starts looking too bad one day, you can of course always spray-paint the bezel again, just make sure to get rid of the old paint before, best done with sandpaper.


regards, holger

[Sedi]

Yes I also thought about the paint being probably not very durable - I hope there's some kind of grounding that I can use so the paint will stick better. The titanium part is also guarded by the bezel so I hope it will last some time - especially because I only desk-dive .
Legibility is better than I thought actually plus the EL has the same color as the 'water 200m resist' and 'alarm chrono' lettering - looks pretty cool.

Greetings, Sedi

[dirkdiggler]

Sedi and Holger,

If you guys want to stealth metal cases, consider contacting samanator from the Seiko forum.

He applies a ceramic coating which is supposed to be very durable.

[cal..45]

thanks for the advise dirk


regards, holger

[jkchua]

Cool.. put in on already

[Catch22]

For the paint, have you considered automotive 2K (2 pack) paint? or plastidip?

http://www.plastidip.co.uk/index2.cfm

Both should be very durable compared to normal single pack aerosol acrylics.

Last thing, I have never liked the earlier frogs but this may just change my mind. The ALL black look is very cool indeed. I am looking at electro plating kits but havent found any yet that will do black coatings, just silver and nickel. I was looking at removing the buttons and plating them.

[Sedi]

Hi,
:thanks for the advice - it's much appreciated because I haven't decided yet on which color to use. I think a ceramic coating would propbably be best but a little over the top . I don't wanna spend too much on this poject and intended to do the painting myself.

Greetings, Sedi

[dirkdiggler]

Hi,
:thanks for the advice - it's much appreciated because I haven't decided yet on which color to use. I think a ceramic coating would propbably be best but a little over the top . I don't wanna spend too much on this poject and intended to do the painting myself.

Greetings, Sedi

Hi Sedi,

I have no idea how much samanator charges. His ceramic coatings are very popular on the Seiko forum, even on affordable watches. Maybe it's expensive. I don't know.

There has to be somebody like him in Germany that can do the same stuff. If you can find somebody reliable in Germany, it would save you some money on shipping fees.