Bugger ...!!

[FlashDrive]

I should give myself an uppercut for doing this ...:tasdevil: ... the Dew Shield on my FS78

There is no ' dint ' ....just the paint flaked off after a gentle bump on the garage door last night.

Col..... :doh:

[Wilso]

Sorry to see that Col,
You must be devastated.
I forgot I have one very similar on one of my scopes from a previous owner,
thanks for reminding me :doh:
I just keep the chipped dew shield pointed to the ground all the time and all is forgotten. (almost)

[morls]

just a flesh wound...think about the optics not the appearance :P

[glend]

Shoddy Japanese products.
At least it appears to be galvanised, maybe it won't rust. You could always put a small sticker over it, like the little "powered by Televue" ones.

[leon]

Col, Col, what are we going to do with you :shrug:
Well get to it man and fix it :lol:

Leon :thumbsup:

[FlashDrive]

That's ' Blasphemy ' :P

[gts055]

Small chips can be masked off, apply color matched paint in layers to build up proud of the surrounding surface, then wet and dry paper down through grades to 2000 to bring flush with the surrounding surface, then polish. Its very time consuming but can be done. This is more than a chip, and after removing any cracked paint at the edges will make this bare area larger. Its worth trying as even just one layer of white will give instant gratification :) Mark

[LewisM]

Col,

Send me the scope, and I'll fix it to my satisfaction.

I MIGHT return it...

[multiweb]

Here comes the rub... 2000 grit. :P

[MortonH]

Just send him the dew shield!!!

[FlashDrive]

Send me the DEW SHIELD, and I'll fix it to my satisfaction. ;)

[FlashDrive]

OK ....this is temporary

Col...

[Wavytone]

Lewis, sandblast it, and apply primer as you know you should, then undercoat, and no less than 5 finishing coats sanded wet with 2400 carbide between coats. When you paint, use a spray booth and hang a plastic sheet over while it dries to keep the dust bunnies off.

And wear the appropriate PPE. You really know you should.

[LewisM]

If you know how to do it, nerly all those steps are totally superfluous. There is absolutely no need to strip and paint - many tricks abound, and totally invisible. I did David's FS-78 dewshield without stripping ANYTHING.

After having been a professional model maker for 30 years, I kinda have an idea how to paint :lol:

[LewisM]

Oh lord no! WHY did you do that! you just made it permanent - if/when you remove that decal, chances are VERY high you'll now peel the chipped edges, making the chip MUCH MUCH larger.

You could have centred it at least Pops :(

[Wavytone]

Pfft...models... try making boats that have to stand the weather 24x7 and the rigours of racing. There really is a reason why metal has to be sandblasted before painting - even powdercoating.

[FlashDrive]

It will be on it's way to you soon ... your darn good at this sort of thing ...:thanx:

[LewisM]

Errr, I offered?

[LewisM]

Telescopes ain't boats, nor do they live outside :lol:

[Wavytone]

I beg to differ. The scopes that are built for the outdoors will last. Those that aren't won't last long.

There's no reason why a scope with good optics shouldn't last 20, 30+ years. But the mechanicals probably won't - starting with the mount, followed by the OTA.

And as some - including you I suggest - have realised that premium optics from 30 years ago are still, well, premium.

This is why people shell out stupid prices for Questar, and the unicorn scopes.

[ab1963]

Flippin' Heck Col the FS60CB tube the first owner of the scope stuck this sticker on for why i don't know but when i have tried to remove it it's like it is welded on and had to abort ,Good job only use CSV tube for visual......

[FlashDrive]

I have removed it now, taking Lewis's advice .
Came off without any issues.

Col...

[ab1963]

Good news

[DJT]

Tak White paint just arrived, jar just a tad bigger than a thumbnail!

Thanks for tips on building up the paint layers.

[LewisM]

Problem David is WHICH Tak white did you get? There are about 7 variations I know of of the white (and MORE variations for the green!), depending on year. The one you got - presumably from TNR / Tak North America (resold by OptCorp) - will usually only match the most recent scopes.

Whenever I do a restoration (which I am about to do for Col :lol:), I always match the paint to the actual sample scope, having learnt there are just too many variants of the Tak "white" (that isn't actually white :lol:)

[gts055]

Hii David, After building up the paint to a height proud of the surrounding area, and letting this cure thoroughly, mask off the repair with a margin of 5- 10mm and then take the wet and dry paper which is cut in strips a few mm wider than the paint build. Attach the strips with contact adhesive to a suitable width firm narrow flat (I have used things like "automotive points files" to pre papered quality nail files). Use grades of wet and dry 320, 400, 600, 800, 1200 then 2000 and finally buff with automotive cutting compound like "CRC Repo Extra cut" and polish like "CRC Repo Auto Cream" . Just need to take care to avoid sanding through the virgin surrounding paint. The masking tape helps to keep the sanding strips from contacting the virgin surface.
Have fun, Mark

[DJT]

Thanks Mark and Lewis. I have a tak finderscope I will be practising on first.
I hear you Lewis around differences re age of scopes. There’s no way round that unless as you say you match against the scope itself. Suspect it’s not a bunnings trip?


Cheers. Col, the intent was to offer left overs but looks like you have a Lewis tucked up your sleeve somewhere?


Good luck and hope it works out well.

[Logieberra]

Did you paint my Vixen SWX Lewis?

[LewisM]

Not I Logan - was like that when received in Brisbane.

[Mamba]

Col,
This was the state of my dewshield before Lewis breathed on it
Dave Cooke

[LewisM]

No, my acetonic breath caused those blisters :P

[JeniSkunk]

The problem, Lewis, is how could your acetonic breath have caused those blisters on David's dewshield, before you'd breathed on it?

[LewisM]

Time conundrum