B&H Filmo Brown Wrinkle Paint Match

Matthew Hall · November 6

I have a couple of FIlmo projectors and just got a Filmo 70-DR camera. The problem is they all have areas where that familiar brown wrinkle paint has chipped off, revealing the metal underneath. That said, I'm sure that several of you out there have the same issue. In the past I have just used a can of black wrinkle paint and then had to top it with the correct color of enamel. It kind of works but has a few problems. First, it "softens" the wrinkle finish a bit as the top coat tends to fill in between the wrinkles. Second, with the softer enamel on top, you lose the hard scratch resistance of the wrinkle paint.

The other day I was in a local auto repair facility and noticed the mechanics tool chests. They were Kennedy Tool Chests and have a brown wrinkle finished paint on them. In fact, it looked very close to the B&H Filmo (and other B&H products) camera finish I had been looking for (see the photo below). When I got home I began looking for this product on the internet, and low and behold, discovered a company selling spray cans of this very paint for touch-ups. I have ordered one and hope to be testing it out soon. Here is the contact information:

Nelson & Storm Tool Supply

www.nelsonstormtool.com

phone: (800) 322-0574

The product is called KENNEDY BROWN WRINKLE PAINT 12 OZ SPRAY CAN. It is not cheap at $36.40/can but it is the best thing I have found after searching for several years.

Stock # KEN80860 -- just type this stock number into their search bar and it will pop up.

P.S.- I forgot to mention how to cure the paint. At room temperatures it tends to dry with a flatter surface. It needs to "cure" at 80 deg. C (176 deg. F.) or above before completely drying to get the correct wrinkle look. You can either bake it in an oven (not recommended for cameras) or as I do just use a heat gun to keep it warm enough as it cures. Kind of fun to watch as it will suddenly "wrinkle" right in front of your eyes as it cures. Just make sure to keep moving the heat gun around to keep an even temp. on the paint and not burn it.

Edited November 6 by Matthew Hall

Matthew Hall · November 8

The can of paint I ordered is arriving next Tuesday, 11/12. Give me a couple of days then check back as I will post my results.

Matthew Hall · November 14

Well . . . , the can of paint arrived and after numerous tests run today I can say that I am completely underwhelmed. Although the color is spot on, the "wrinkling" effect is lacking. I followed the instructions on the can which stated to use several thin layers to build up the thickness. I never got the wrinkling effect I was looking for. It ended up looking like sandpaper with a textured look and feel but no wrinkling. I then attempted to apply a thick layer and use my heat gun trick, but that ended up with the same results -- no wrinkling. I have to admit the the "sandpaper" look is not bad, and the color is a good match, but if you are attempting to spot paint a camera, it will not match the original. It would work for a complete re-paint however as the final surface is quite hardy and scratch resistant. But at $36.40/can it doesn't really make sense to use this. I'll keep looking . . . .

Matthew Hall · November 21

I revisited the paint issue with the manufacturer. They informed me that I was applying the paint incorrectly. Apparently it has to be applied in a VERY thin layer, almost like a light mist; only then will it wrinkle. I decided to try another test piece and it worked! I then set about re-painting my entire FIlmo 70-DR with extremely nice results (I ended up applying 3 thin coats). For those of you out there wishing to paint your B&H cameras, this is quite easy and gave me results that are very close to factory colors and texture. Here are some photos to share my results.

Image 1: Showing the deterioration of the paint before restoration

Image 2: The main body and turret taped up prior to paint to cover areas I wanted to keep from getting sprayed.

Image 3: The door after paint with all areas still taped until paint dried (I let everything dry for 48 hours to ensure a hard finish).

Image 4: The underside of the door. Very important to cover the edges to ensure no spray makes its way under the flange and gets on the inside of the door.

Image 5: The motor after paint with all areas taped and all cooling/vent holes stuffed with paper towel to prevent any paint from getting on the inside. Make sure to cover/stuff the two oiling holes as well. I used an old coat hanger to hang it while drying.

Image 6: The entire camera re-assembled after paint. It really looks almost brand new.

Image 7: The rear of the camera. The back side of the finder is normally painted black with white numbering. The black paint on mine was mostly gone so I just finished removing the last bits with a brass wire brush then painted the numbers/marks with black paint (just brush some paint into the recessed areas, let it dry, then come back some1500 grit sandpaper and sand off the extra paint which will leave only the paint down in the recessed areas).

Image 8: The two dials on the camera. I removed the fps dial completely (remove the two screws) and sprayed the entire dial. After drying, again come back with the 1500 grit sandpaper and sand the surface which will leave only the paint in the recessed areas, the high areas will appear shiny as you expose the bare metal. Then come back with a small brush and paint in the marks above the feet-remaining dial with white paint.

Image 9: My camera had the original turret replaced with a non-toothed version so it would not interlock with the viewfinder turret (they also used the matched front plate with no filter slot). I purchased a donor Filmo 70-DR and used that turret and front plate to bring this camera back to factory specs. NOTE: You can't just replace the turret alone as the front plate underneath has a slot for the filter holder, so both need to be replaced together if you want the filtering ability.

Image 10: Here you can see the new turret interlocking with the viewfinder turret and also note the new filter holder sticking out from beneath the turret.

Summary: This was a relatively easy project and one that I feel gave extremely good results. The camera now looks like new and is back to original factory specs. I did add a couple of new lenses to the mix however as my camera originally only had the one normal lens. I now have the following:

Wollensak Raptar 13mm f/1.5 wide-angle

B&H Taylor-Hobson 1-inch (25mm) f/1.9 normal

Wollensak Raptar 3-inch (76mm) f/2.8 Telephoto

Hopefully this will help anybody out there who would like to attempt this project on their own. I would suggest doing a couple of test paint sprays on something not too important to make sure you have the proper technique down to get the desired wrinkle look from the paint. I am always available to assist as well if you need to reach out for help.

P.S.- The donor Filmo 70-DR that I purchased to get the correct turret etc. was listed as completely locked up and non-functional. Apparently it had been dropped into freshwater some time ago and stopped working. I took a chance the front plate and turret would be OK, but as it was only $50.00 I felt it was worth the risk. Well, it arrived and I immediately dove in removing the turret and front plate, etc. As soon as the front plate came off the spring started to unwind (always set the fps to the lowest setting in case this happens). I guess it had been removed from the water in time to keep the interior from getting too wet as the gears look fairly good. The problem is that now I have a NEW PROJECT to work on, the complete restoration of this new camera. I'll use the old turret/front plate I removed from my camera, at least for the time being.

Edited November 21 by Matthew Hall

Mark Dunn · November 21

Those pix are so small (probably the forum size limit) that the pixelation has killed the wrinkle effect! Could you re-post at the original resolution? You may need to host the images and link to them.

Matthew Hall · November 21

OK, I took four more images and have them resized to show the wrinkling effect better. However, I can only attach one pix per post due to forum size restrictions. I will post them separately.

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