I have been looking for a cheap example of this camera ever since I read this article. I tried to link to the original post rather than the repost, but it doesn’t seem to exist any more.

It took some time to get a Hawkeye as they are few and far between in the UK. The first one I received had a massive hole in it, making it unusable without a big repair. The one in this post also had issues, but I thought I could fashion a fix. I figured it was worth a punt at £12 even though it was dirty and the winder was missing.

I got to disassembling it as per the information on the website, but to be fair, it is a very simple camera.

Then it was straight to sanding the body down ready for the primer, remembering to tape up the red window.

So, what colour to make my Hawkeye? Well, there was a certain movie out when I started this project and to be honest, I really enjoyed it. So I give you…the Barbie Brownie!!

I have never really used spray paint before and I wasted quite a bit. My grass is now Barbie coloured too, much to my Dad’s delight…not.

The website said to use 5 or 6 coats and then bake it. I did 2 coats and no baking. This was due to the fact I bought a very small can of paint and was surprised by how little paint was inside. It had run out after two coats. I didn’t bake it because I forgot. But if I do another one, I will as I found the paint became a bit tacky when the camera was left on my shelf in the heat. In cold weather it is fine.

After painting, I left the camera overnight between coats. Then it was time to put it all back together …until I dropped the **** thing!!!

Then it was back to sanding and spraying, waiting and realising why 5 or 6 coats might have been better.

OK, now it was time to put it all back together. AND realising I didn’t leave the pieces in any kind of order, please refer back to my work table photo above. As I said, it was a very simple camera so I figured it out despite the mess. It was going very well until I got to the final part, putting the strap back on. No matter what I did, I could not get the back strap hole over the nubbin. It was SOOOOOO annoying!!! I tried to use a small, flathead screwdriver and prise it over…and proceeded to scratch the whole back >:(

OK fine, I will cut the strap and glue it in place…the glue melted the paint >:( >:(

Well, that looks great!! I left that alone until my temper returned to normal and worked on the winder issue. There was only one item in my junk box that might do the trick, so I glued that on with super glue and baking soda. Finally, success, that actually worked. You can check the photos later to see the nifty item I used, but for now, I had to repaint certain items.

And here it is, my slightly scratched Barbie Brownie Hawkeye. Considering it wasn’t useable when I got it, I don’t mind a few scratches.

It certainly is an eye-opener. I loaded it with Fomapan 100 and got to testing, simply pointing and shooting it around my local area. Here are some of the results:

WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT??? I went back and reread the article, it says…

“Ensure that the lens is facing the correct way. If you’re interested in getting some unique looks with the camera, you could reverse the lens. There are many places on the web where reversed lens images are posted for you to check out.”

Oh, I put the lens in the wrong way around. I showed a few friends and they said keep it that way as there are a million 6×6 Brownies, but very few like this. It would add to the Barbie effect. I thought about it but decided to fix the lens and try the camera again, just for comparison’s sake. Oh and the film jammed near the end of the roll, I thought it was due to using 120 instead of 620, I wanted to check that on another roll too. So I loaded another roll of Fomapan 100 and took it to Skegness.

Yeap, it jammed again, hence the fogging on the pooch photo. There is a little wire on the winder that stops it turning the wrong way. Without the original winder, it kept coming out of the slot and jamming the mechanism. So I decided to cut it. It meant the winder could move freely in both directions, I just drew an arrow on the staff to make sure I remembered which way to wind on. To test that fix, I loaded yet another roll of Fomapan 100 and took it to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and a few shots in Lancaster Castle.

After looking at the last set of results, I decided to put the lens back in the reversed position. It did look quirky and I liked it. With the winder now working properly, I finally had a working Barbie Brownie with a reversed lens.

So, as long as I remember the very centre of the viewfinder will be in focus, it is a very interesting PINK camera to use.

I have managed to source a couple more cheap and dirty Hawkeyes, so I will be making a few more…not necessarily pink. Hopefully, I have learnt a few things with this one and will not have the same issues in the future.