Nobody panic, clutch your towels and your pearls, but I have finally started the process of painting Mitchell Standard #46. I have three projects running concurrently, including remaking the lock-down lugs for the Universal tripod I showed a few weeks back. I am also modifying the fixture I use for balancing mirrored shutters for a project I will share in the near future. And of course, I am completing the final parts of restoring Mitchell 46. The problem I’m facing is that, because I had to restore, remake, and reconstruct so much of the camera, I must now repaint the whole thing, inside and out. This of course also means that the L-base, since it is not original to the camera, must also be repainted to match.
Ordinarily, I try my hardest not to have to totally repaint cameras, to leave them in as close to their original state as possible, but in this case, it couldn’t be avoided. Please enjoy a few photos of the makeshift cardboard paint booth with custom air flow system I have constructed for this project. You can also see the many pieces that make up a Mitchell L-base, as I had to disassemble it before painting. Up next, between the other ongoing projects, will be the process of painting the camera body itself. This involves me completely removing all of the parts from inside the camera, sanding and stripping the remaining paint from the casting, masking and painting the inside of the camera flat black, and then remasking and painting the outside of the camera black wrinkle. A lot of work still to go. Thanks for following along.
