Hands for the 2824-2 are 150/90/25. You'll have to measure the Vostok to see what's what.
I have a couple of old Amphibia mechanicals, as well as a newer auto. Here's some pics, just for reference:
I intend to relume the octagonal one, and was thinking of changing the hands as well.
I was wondering if ETA hands are compatible with the movements (I think they are Vostok 2409), as the short red seconds hand is a bit of a bother to me.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Kamraj
Hands for the 2824-2 are 150/90/25. You'll have to measure the Vostok to see what's what.
Just about to pick up a Komandirskie in a trade and hope to do some mods - any pictures to inspire me? Presumably the bezel pops off quite easily - is it possible to swap it for another one? Mine looks like it will have the brass tint to the case, can this be bead blasted off or sprayed?
Anything good.
Meat
If she's chromed plated you can have this blasted off.
Regs
Bry
ok, I've taken her to bits (the case looks quite cool without the dial in, IMO)
Now, the dial is 28mm across - can anyone recommend a replacement? Where can you get these in the UK?
The 2414 movement, sorry this has already been asked but are replacement hands 'universal' fit or do I need to be absolutely specific about the size?
I'd like to end up with something along these lines! (photo from Noah Fuller's site, hope that's ok)
Meat
Hi!
I'll quote Dave Murphy's very informative post on modding Amphibias from this thread at WUS.
Maybe you could PM him for advice.
EDIT Just noticed that I posted a wrong link, that's the right one: http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthr...=124400&page=2I have measured 2414 and 2416b as follows:
Hour pipe is 1.38 to 1.40mm diameter
Minute : .88 to .90
Seconds: .165 to .17
The 2414 and 2416b have a very flat cover on the calendar mechanism. I apply 3 "dial dots" to this to affix the dial. The dial I have used here is 28.5 mm diameter, and the dial ring aperture is about 27.5 mm if I recall correctly.
PM sent, thanks for the recommendation!
Got the bezel off, at last....
rapidly concluding that only Vostok hands will fit a Vostok movement - so, has anyone got some spare Amphibia hands? Also, I've seen a Mod with a Neptune dial, if anyone's got a duff Neptune that they'd like to shift, let me know.
Meat
If you want to go for smth. different, you could contact some of the usual online dealers and ask whether they got some spare hands either for Vostok Europe or the new Amfibia range, as they should all fit (except for the length).
Don't put too much hope in it tough!
Belated thanks to all for the advice.
I did a re-lume on two Vostoks last weekend, and it wasn't too bad ... once I realised that the old "antimagnetics" actually have a metal ring bolted to the outside of the movement. The possibility of these things actually being antimagnetic rears it head. I didn't even try replacing the hands with anything else.
Now, can anyone reassure me as to the composition of Vostok's famously non-luminous lume? I'm assuming it's not tritium because it just doesn't glow well enough in the dark, but (speaking as a man who spent the weekend chipping away at lume dots) I'm worried that some other radioactive compound might have been used. And yes, I know it's a bit late to be fretting about this sort of thing.
Kamraj
I have a Vostok anti-magnetic, and I'm pretty sure it's tritium - just old, faded tritium. Mine holds a charge for about 15 seconds. However, if I wake up in the middle of the night (and my eyes have therefore adjusted to darkness) I can read it by a very faint glow. It glows quite weirdly - it's almost perfectly white which is probably some artifact of the human eyes low light capabilities because when it's charged, the lume gives of a green light. I hope it's tritium :?Originally Posted by Kamraj
Hmm, not reassuring at all. I reckon it ain't tritium because I've a Smiths W10 which actually glows rather well through the night - we are not talking Orange Monster here, but a nice steady green low level glow. My new-ish Amphibia glows for about an hour and is dead by morning. My old amphibias are dead unless under direct UV light. Has anyone taken a geiger counter to a Vostok?
Kamraj
As a word of advice don't take a geiger counter to a Vostock...................some things are better not to know.. :twisted:Originally Posted by Kamraj
How old is the Smiths? The antimagnetic Vostoks are from the early '80s if I recall correctly.Originally Posted by Kamraj
Could the lume on the Amphibia be promethium based maybe?
Smiths is a '68. Here's a pic:
Not sure if the dial is as old as the case-back (the hands were re-done and barely glow at all) but the lume looks old.
Promethium - oddly enough, I was thinking of that. Or radium ... :cry:
Kamraj