Scope Revamp

I picked up the following telescope recently for a song.
 
It is a Skywatcher 120mm Evostar, f/8, the blue model that someone had painted silver, and red before that, I found the blue coating beneath.  There was no finder and the focuser was not original, it came from somewhere else..  The lens was in good condition:
 
The focuser was poor, when I inserted a diagonal and heavy eyepiece, there was slippage and I decided to upgrade the entire unit. 

I ordered a RACI finder and finder shoe along with a new focuser.  I also ordered some carbon effect contact paper to cover the tube and dew shield.
I painted the lens housing and the tube rings in black paint, to freshen them up.
Anyone who has used contact paper knows that it can be a pain to apply, in the end I got the tube and dew shield covered, following a lot of offensive language, luckily I was in the shed with no one around.  Here's the new livery:
 
When the new focuser arrived I encountered a problem, it would not fit on the old flange,a lot of filing away of metal got it connected.  I drilled and tapped holes for the new focuser shoe and put everything together.  Here's the end result:
 

It looks like a new scope.  I plan to use it for solar, lunar and double star observing.

Paul

Congrats on a great refurb Paul, it looks outstanding.  For me, a 120 mm refractor hits the sweet spot, offering good light gathering, sharp images and good portability.  Enjoy!

Good weather forecast for the next couple of nights (Dublin area anyway), so please keep that new scope indoors.  OTOH if you were thinking of heading up to Sugaloaf, I'd be delighted to go along.

Mike

Hi Paul, 

I loved reading through your post. You've done an excellent job with the refurbishment. The black carbon skin looks amazing, and very well done on replacing the focuser - looks very nice indeed. 

Very much looking forward to seeing it for myself when we're back at the Sugarloaf again. 

Clear skies, and enjoy your new scope. 

Darren.