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Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 111
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 - 04:21 pm: | 
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Some time ago, (Nov. 11th 2008 to be precise,) I posted a question concerning whether it would be blasphemous to re-repaint the bellows on my old Stereo Brownie. The bellows are shot... but sometime in the past, someone painted them black over the original red, probably in an attempt to fix light leaks. There was enough red showing around the edges to show that's how they used to be, and some of the black paint was slopped onto the wooden standard. I just needed approval...
ANYWAY... It took me awhile because I could never find the right shade of paint, and anything a bit "off" would be worse than nothing. Finally, I decided to try mixing some. After some hopeless throw-aways, I hit on success by mixing "Engine Red" and the duller "Tuscan Red." These are acrylic paints of the "Plaid" brand I picked up at WalMart. I mixed them in a baby food jar, knowing that if I hit it right, I wouldn't be able to duplicate it, so I'd make sure I had enough. I tested the results on a hopeless old Brownie Box, since it had a black background similar to the bellows. Comparing the dried color to the bellows on other Kodak cameras, I hit a nice match! Then, I realized that these old Brownie bellows would have been the duller burgundy color... the brighter red would be wrong. I picked up and emptied another jar of baby food, saving my "bellows red," just in case I needed it sometime.
On my second try, I pretty much duplicated the bellows red, and then slowly added some "Purple Pansy" until it hit the proper burgundy or maroon color, comparing it to some other early Brownies and Folding Pocket Kodaks. After a final test on my sacrificial Brownie, I carefully scraped the black paint off the wooden lens standard and painted my bellows.
I'm happy! They'll never be functional, 'cause they're just too worn out, but they're original and they look good. IF by some outside chance, I someday come across a hopelessly busted up Stereo Brownie with good bellows, I just might make a switch, but the chances of this happening are vanishingly small.
I'm gonna try and post a picture of both Brownies, but I'm not good at this stuff... |
Br1078lum
Tinkerer
Username: Br1078lum
Post Number: 608
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 - 05:50 pm: |
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If all you're doing is a cosmetic restoration, there is nothing wrong with repainting the bellows. If you want to restore the functionality, you could always learn the fine art of bellows making. Here's a place to start http://www.rolandandcaroline.co.uk/bellows.html
PF |
Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 112
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 - 07:56 pm: |
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Thanks for that, Br1078lum! I've considered doing that... I once managed to rebuild some bellows that had become separated and all the little stiffeners were laying in the bottom in a heap. Building from scratch seems a little daunting, but maybe someday.
For now though, this old Brownie is a collector shelf queen... I have no plans on using it, and I kind of like having the original bellows from 1905 still part of it.  |
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