I purchased this nice minolta as is. The leatherette had been stripped off. Either black paint had been applied to three sides or it was done by a would-be restorer. I acquired this camera havein "fixed" and "fixed up" quite a few cameras over the years. This type, can usually be fixed easily enough even if their are mechanical problems, given a few small tools, patience, eyesight, and some mechnical inclination.
Those with no mechanical defects, require only a source of leatherette or leather sheets of the kind used on small cameras and other items. A Internet search will reveal several sources. Another post within this blog provides links to places I have used as suppliers of restorations materials and tools.
You can actually have these companies provide professional cut-outs perfectly fit to your camera. However, with a little care, a sharp scaple , and a steady hand (and the above-referenced good eyesight)--you can make a camera like this look brand new. Never try to pass a restored camera off as an original camera. Not only are collectors more savvy than that, but it is unethical.
To attach the covering, pliane rubber cement in a tube works well. Craft or fabric glue available from craft stores or sections,work well too. The souce links provided in this blog also offer special products for this process, as well as color enamels for tough-up. If lenses are to be removed, such as for fixing the focus ring on one of these cameras, a lens barrel wrech is very helpful and not very expenisve. With a little ingenuity and trial and error you can often find a tin can that will fit your particular lens.
As a point of mere interest, varnishes used to seal the pain or bare metal underneath the coverings, were originally often used to glue the cover to the metal. Sometimes you'll see the brown varnish ooze dirtying up the cover. It looks terrible but can easily be cleaned by a mild solvents.
Below are the pictures of the camera I bought to restore, but will probably just sell as is, maybe passing along a sheet of leather to finish the job.
