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bruiser · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:02 am Post subject: 1926 Military RB Series B????

This little gem arrived on my doorstep the other day, a perfectly normal 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 RB Series B. Except for one thing: all the metal hardware on both sides, the rear and the front hood hinge are all OD green.

http://photo.coffsbiz.com/milrb01.jpg
http://photo.coffsbiz.com/milrb02.jpg
http://photo.coffsbiz.com/milrb03.jpg
http://photo.coffsbiz.com/milrb04.jpg

On very close examination the green was applied over the usual gray finish but there is no doubt it was a factory paint job. The wear patterns on my gray Series B and the green one are very nearly identical, indicating the hardness and age of the paint are the same. The luster of the paint is the same. The screws holding the shutter plates and other hardware appear never to have been removed, suggesting again the factory paint job.

There are no other markings, military or otherwise. Serial number is 153028.

If anyone has any ideas on the reason for the OD green or especially if anyone has come across one before please let me know. I'm very curious!

Cheers,
Bruce

P. Lynn Miller · Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 31 Location: Sydney, Australia

Bruce,

That RB has a gorgeous patina! Very nice!

I friend of mine here in Sydney, has just started shooting a Graflex of some sort. Next time we get together I get more details.

Looks like is it Christmas in July!
_________________
P. Lynn Miller
Sydney, Australia

http://plynnmiller.com

bruiser · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 3:09 am Post subject:

Thanks Lynn,

I hope I look as presentable when I'm 83 years old!!

Sure would like to know what Graflex your friend is shooting with. Probably a Super D, they're almost 'modern'!!

Bruce

P. Lynn Miller · Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 31 Location: Sydney, Australia

No chance of me having a nice patina like that when I am 80!

Here is a link to Toni's web-site -

Toni Peri Photography

I think there is a photo of him with his Graflex some where on his site.
_________________
P. Lynn Miller
Sydney, Australia

http://plynnmiller.com

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

Well the serial number book shows it was a standard production camera before it was drafted, somewhere in 1926.

there have been, well I won't say many, but and interesting amount of odd variants like this. A few years back there was an early Home Portrait that had been stripped of its leather adn the wood stained and finished, but the bellows and chimney were in brown leather to match the finished wood, leaving me to believe it was a factory re-do. The chimney was of the newer style, without the fur trim, so I suspect the refinish took place in the 1930s, about 15 years after it was made.

The only problem with the camera was the brown leather didn't hold up as well as the original leather, and Bellows Camera had a very Henry Fordian approach to the color of bellows, so in order to make the camera work I'd have to eliminate the very reason I wanted the camera! I let it pass.
_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

bruiser · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:25 am Post subject:

Thanks for the reply Les.

I seem to remember about a year on the 'bay someone had two 3x4 Graflex bag mags available, one normal and one OD green so maybe it was a matching one for the camera I have now. Didn't have a 3x4 camera then so I didn't bid, probably never see another green one now!

Cheers,
Bruce

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

YES! I remember that now. I didn't bid either. Wasn't completely sure it was really OD.
_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

bruiser · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:28 am Post subject:

When I see something a little out of the ordinary I usually save a photo of it, but that one slipped through the net. Maybe it wasn't really OD green but it definitely was green. Old age plays tricks with detail sometimes!!

Cheers,
Bruce

disemjg · Joined: 10 Jan 2002 Posts: 474 Location: Washington, DC

Bruiser, are you sure it is not nicotine staining? I've had cameras that had a thick film of the stuff on them, and it can really change the appearance of the surface. I had a Mini Speed that looked like caramel instead of chrome. And it had that same slightly uneven look.

Folks back then really smoked like chimneys, and the old gear sometimes still shows the effect. I've had some where you could still smell the stuff.

bruiser · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:03 am Post subject:

No, it's old green factory paint, not nicotine. It doesn't wipe off or clean up any better than the photos show. Nicotine stains are always browner than green! As I said the wear on the paint is entirely consistent with the wear of my other Series B so it wasn't applied at a later stage either.

Cheers,
Bruce

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

bruiser · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 3:58 am Post subject:

Yes, I've had cameras of many types covered in nicotine, some of them quite sticky with it! My RB Series B with OD green hardware is not one of them.

I didn't know about the clear lacquer on some Speeds, but Les always has something new for us here.

Where would we all be without the internet!

Cheers,
Bruce