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Help! Need advice refinishing a Siffert dial *PIC*

Good people
I've given up my search for an Autavia Siffert at a reasonable price because it is like trying to find Paris Hilton riding the LochNess monster in Area 51.
So I'm going to Plan B: buy a carcinogenic Autavia (aka Viceroy) and paint it.
I guess I'll need some white for the dial, some black for the registers and some blue for the second hand.
I'm figuring I can use one of those small rollers to paint the face white. Will I need two coats or will one cover it?
I'm thinking that a black Sharpie might be just the trick for the registers? Is it really important to keep those little numbers and lines?
And the second hand, I figure I can stick on some of that blue 3M painters tape. It'll probably come off after a while, but it's pretty cheap--$3 a roll--so I can replace it a couple of times a year.
I think I've got a pretty good handle on the project, but I do have one question. Should I take the watch apart before I start painting? It seems like an awful lot of trouble and so many small parts for the ferret (or the kids) to eat.
Maybe if I just break the glass (this is an emergency after all) it might go quicker.
Anyone done this before and care to add any advice?
I figure that this is a 45-mintute job, an hour top, and when it's done it should look like this, give or take.
Uncle Jo would be proud.
best
Allen St. John

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