Brief G-Shock Bezel Stealthing Guide

Intro: Brief G-Shock Bezel Stealthing Guide

Here is a very simple, stealthing project. I am planning to do a lot more to my little DW-5600 like reverse the display, stealth the faceplate (if possible), but for now I wanted to stealth the bezel (remove the white paint).

STEP 1: Equipment Needed

The first step was to gather all the necessary equipment. For me that means Goof Off (not Goo Gone or any similar sounding products), a small ceramic bowl/dish (plastic ones may melt with the Goof Off inside it) this is one I made myself, a small pair of tweezers, and an old toothbrush or scrubbing brush.

STEP 2: Remove the Bezel for Paint Stripping

I removed the bezel from my DW-5600 and poured just enough of the Goof Off into the bottom of the bowl to cover the bottom. I place the bezel in the bowl face down so that the lettering was constantly submerged. Doing it this way saves using a lot of unnecessary Goof Off. I set my count down timer (CDT) for 20 minutes and stuck the bowl outside to avoid the nasty smell/fumes.

STEP 3: Clean Up and Reassembly

Beep, beep! Ok 20 minutes is up and I lift out the bezel using the tweezers. I take the toothbrush and dip it into the Goof Off and 'gently' scrub the lettering off the bezel. The paint just washes off and doesn't take very much effort with the toothbrush. Then I wash the bezel in warm soapy water to remove any chemicals and dry it off. After a quick reassembly the bezel is looking nice and stealthy.

Next will be for me to work on changing the polarizing film to make the display negative. Then I am thinking of ways I can black out all of the faceplate lettering... fun and games.

Not a lot of pictures here, but hopefully enough get a feel for how this works. The same process can be used for removing lettering or paint on resin straps. Happy stealthing!

Comments

[men3]

Hello, I have a problem with a G-SHOCK Model. The Model is the G8900A-1.

I purchased this model several years ago, based on the pics I saw online of the watches large dial - which I loved. Unfortunately after opening the box, I was very disappointed that both the back strap, and bezel were seriously GLOSSY!

To me this made the watch look cheap, as well as something for a child, or a teenager! I HATE the glossy finish, and have barely worn the watch since.

I had considered removing both the bezel, and the strap, to apply some sort of chemical(?) in the hope of stripping off that glossy finish. Though if I could just find a proper replacement bezel, and strap in a dull, black, matte finish instead - that would be awesome!!!

I hope someone here will see this, and have offer a solution for me.

Thank you for reading.

All the Best, DOC ; )-

[ragls]

HIthanks for thepost, as well as removingthe lettering does the goof off have any effect on the bezel? was the bezel shiny previous to goof off and now a matt finish ? or does it not make a difference. My Bezel is already matt

[mfluharty2]

is goof off acetone? perhaps you could try nail polish remover in a glass dish to help stealthiness of your watch. Acetone will dissolve ABS plastics too. You are genious!

[dpiloyan]

I was wondering if my GR8900A-7 could be stealthed. The reason I am asking is because it has a shiny bezel. Any feedback would be very helpful

[Jeru]

@bfgreen
Hey, Thank you for your great post. We don't have Goof-off here (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) but I can order it of eBay. I was wondering: can't I just put my entire 20BAR resistant G-7710 in Goof-off? (To take off all the yellow.) Do you use tweakers cause it's too agressive to make contact with?

[bfgreen]

Jeru, I wouldn't put the whole watch in anything other than water. I don't know what the chemicals will do to the rubber gaskets that seal the watch and make it waterproof. I used tweezers just to save getting my fingers wet while taking photos, the Goof-Off is so nasty that it will hurt your skin for short period of time, nothing hot water and soap won't fix anyway.

If you are referring to the G-Shock that is totally yellow, I don't think the color can be removed. I believe the yellow color is throughout the plastic. If it just has a lot of extra yellow paint for lettering you might be able to make it work. Either way, disassemble the casing and strap and only submerge them in whatever chemical you choose to use.

Methylated spirits, denatured alcohol, or some form of safe paint stripper or paint thinner would be the closest product to Goof-Off that I can think of. Hope this helps. Post an update on how it goes!

[Jeru]

Thank you so much for answering! I was referring to the G-7710-1ER which just has yellow paint for lettering on the rubber round and the G on the light-button on it - http://tinyurl.com/6xcjo84
Problem is that I really don't know how to disassemble the rubber ring and the light button; it's totally different than the G-Shock you used in your guide.

[bfgreen]

Ah okay. I've read that several people have just used a q-tip (cotton bud) and some goof-off type product and slowly rubbed back and forth over the lettering until it comes off. It will take a minute or two, but it will still work and you don't have to get the watch soaked in chemicals. just take your time and work on one section at a time. Make sure you have plenty of spare q-tips to change out if they get messy. That should work - be patient.

[Jeru]

UPDATE: finally went for it and started with q-tips and my imported Goof Off to remove the yellow off my G-7710-1ER. After half an hour of q-tipping I got some of the yellow removed, but the q-tips couldn't reach the tiny corners of all the tiny letters. So I switched to a hard toothbrush. That went better, but still not perfect. Then I switched to my electric toothbrush: perfect! The letter-paint on the ring disappeared quickly. Then I moved to the big G on the light-button and there it all went wrong... The light-button couldn't take the Goof Off. It's ugly and whitish now. Also the material around the G-light-button - which is in matter of fact part of the wrist-strap - seems a different rubber material than the the rubber ring: the Goof Off also effected that, in a ugly way. And my watch smells of Goof Off, despite I left it in some dish-soap all night. It works fine though. Anyway, at least I learned something. Saving up for a G-300ML-1ACR now, so I don't have to remove any paint anymore :)
Kind regards from Amsterdam

[Jeru]

Thank you so much again. Funny additional thing is that my English improves: never knew these things were called q-tips or cotton buds, but Google images is so helpful :) First time I read on Watchuseek.com "I goof off the letters" I thought it was a verb I didn't know, but dictionaries didn't help :) Anyway, before I discovered what Goof-Off really ment or was, I thought it ment/had to be done by scratching, so I tried to scratch it off with my EDC folder. That was hard. The paint almost seems rubber-like. It went off, partly, off the big G on the light button, but I had to conclude that this wasn't going to work. Then I tried q-tips soaked in turpentine: nothing. So I guess this Goof-Off is really special and I need to order it from eBay. Thanks again :) I will update when it's all done.

[limonchi]

hi i have one of this watch where can i adquire a new bezel? you will not believe me, but its batteries had never been changed its almost 20 years old bye

[biffula]

I believe you, I had one that the batteries lasted for 14 years. Gshocks are the best watch there is.

[bfgreen]

Oh I can believe it. I've moved to mostly solar powered G-Shocks now, but have several battery powered ones that keep on trucking for many years.

I would recommend replacing the battery soon though. Even if it's not run out, they have a finite life expectancy and you wouldn't want the battery to fail and start corroding the inside of you watch.

Treat your G to a new battery soon and give it another 20 years of happy living :-)

[limonchi]

I´ll do, one day
i will look for the customer service email in spain
thanks

[bfgreen]

Casio phone customer service is exceptional. Give them a call, ask for parts department and give the model number and they'll help you out. I've ordered the smallest parts from them before and never had an issue. Pretty fast shipping too. Not at all expensive.

[chosenangelx]

Nice Instructable... @sjoobbani yes im sure bfgreen or one of use should make a whole instructable on how to use a screwdriver to unscrew a screw...... @bfgreen well done =) but if the resin straps were already painted then wouldnt the paint come off?

[bfgreen]

Good point. The resin straps, at least the blacks ones, are not painted they're made of black plastic. They are black all the way through. All I am doing is removing the paint that Casio has added to the surface of the resin strap.

In fact, I made another instructable about how to dye a resin strap another (darker) color. One of my G-shock Mudmans came with a dark green case and band as standard. It's the Mudman with the negative display. In all the pictures I saw of it the band and casing was so dark it looked black, but wasn't when I received it.

Well the plastic resin used to make the casing and strap is actually porous and if you removed them and place them into boiling water with black Rit dye you can dye the entire plastic components a darker color (you can't lighten them).

I did that and now have a negative display mudman with all black casing and strap - it looks super stealthy.

[CaseyCase]

Sweet! My favorite watch.

[bfgreen]

One of mine too. A classic that never seems to get old. It's been a huge success for Casio and rightly so.

[mastermakoko]

the hell is wrong with you! G-shocks are precious,i have a black red mudman and a yellow neaon g shock(for parties).....