More broken bakelite radio cabinets

[TC Chris]

Thank you. The big transformer might be the basis for a project.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Back to our regularly scheduled topic.....

I have the second coat of brown paint on the outside of the RCA cabinet. I have chosen Rustoleum "Vintage Blush" in a satin finish for the front panel of the cabinet. Kind of a rosy/peachy/pink color, very subtle and formal looking. It's as close to the original paint as I could find.

[TC Chris]

If you'd post photos to distract us, we'd pay attention to the subject and not go wandering off.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Pictures will come later. Re-coating doesn't show a lot of progress.

[TC Chris]

Just remember that you are herding 3rd-graders and we'll get distracted...

CC

[electra225]

I can't get my camera to download to my computer. I have no idea what I did to kill it. I have been taking pictures and will share those when I get the technical glitch sorted....

I have the RCA cabinet two toned. I can't take the tape off until the paint gets dry, but, from what I can see, it turned out okay. I have some assembly and detailing yet, and will share those activities.

[electra225]

The "Leather Brown" I used on the broken bakelite RCA cabinet is almost the perfect color. It is like milk chocolate would be to the original unsweetened chocolate brown of the original bakelite if that makes any sense. The "Vintage Blush" I selected for the front panel is a tad more pink than I hoped. I wanted more purple than what I got, but it is on there, looks nice and that's how it will stay. I left the RCA and the AM-FM badges the antique look they were originally. I got to looking at the other RCA radios I had and they are all the same. I have three brown knobs and one red knob, so I have to decide how I want to handle that. I don't see the need to spend $18 on a repop knob. I think I will spring for the new back, $36 I think it is. You can't tell where the cabinet had been broken from the outside unless you know where to look. I was going to make a back, but this project has turned out so nice I feel it is justified to just go ahead and buy a repop back. They don't come with the "D.D.Cole Golden Throat" sticker, so I'll have to see if Tres can make one. I need to find somebody that has a good tube location/model number decal I can have repopped. All four of mine are too skinned up to use.

[William]

Sounds like success and I can't wait to see the photos.

Bill

[electra225]

Bill, what kind of condition is the tube location/model number sticker on the bottom of your 1R81?

[William]

It looks good, would you like a photo of it?

Bill

[electra225]

I would, if it's not too much trouble. Maybe Tres could make a suitable duplicate. I scraped that decal off this cabinet because it was in such bad shape. The "D.D.Cole" sticker on the back is usually found in good shape. I don't know why the bottoms of my cabinets are so skinned up....

[William]

DONE!

Bill

[electra225]

Thank you so much, Bill. I'll get that to Tres in the next couple of weeks to see if he can make us some new ones.

[Conelrad]

Hi Greg,

Please post the contact info for Tres again here, I may have a job for him.

DG

[electra225]

Tres owns Americraft Sign Company, listed in the Parts and Services board here on the forum, toward the top of the index page. Contact information is there.

[electra225]

It is alleged that I now have access to my pictures again. I just LOVE technology......

The second coat of paint looked nice on the Truetone cabinet until this happened..

RCA in progress. Paint is too "green" to let me remove the tape.

RCA paint detail

[William]

I am glad you got your camera up and running. What caused the paint problem?

Bill

[Conelrad]

That looks a bit like Lacquer vs. Enamel to me.

DG

[electra225]

I was using Rustoleum spray bomb. That was the second coat of the same material. What the instructions say to do is to spray a medium coat, then, 15 minutes later, recoat as necessary, or wait 48 hours, then recoat after a light sanding. I used Rustoleum primer, by the way, so that shouldn't have been an issue. The first coat was light, like I always do it. I let it "tack up", then shot the second coat. It only lifted on top. I think now that I'll mask the front panel, then primer and paint the top again. This risks having a paint line, but that is better than lifting. The only theory I have is that something I wiped the top with was contaminated. The first coat was thin, so nothing happened with it.

For the record, the RCA radio looks way better in person than it does in those photos. I'll try to get better shots and share them.

The problem with my digital camera was a Windows 10 update. I try to have all the updates turned off. Apparently, the last time Mitch was here, he turned the updates on, chose the ones I needed, then didn't turn the updates off again. The update kicked my camera "off-line". Mitch is a genius. He knew exactly what the issue was when he got here, before he even touched the computer. Had it going in about two minutes.

[electra225]

Bill, while I'm thinking about this. I am going to try to get the decal you sent me, along with the end of one I have to Tres to see can he put them together to make a good decal I can use. The tube chart for the 1R81 is totally different from the 6-RF-9 decal. The tube chart on one of my radios is good enough he can use it. Tres already has the ones you sent me, and I'll take the whole radio of mine over to him so he can scan the tube chart. I never thought about the tube charts being so different. The main difference in the two chassis is that the nine-tube chassis has one more IF stage. They also swapped spots with the rectifier and the audio output tubes, which I had not considered. Tres is going to make five copies of the model number/tube chart, five copies of the "D.D Cole" sticker and five copies of the "Phono" decal. One model number decal will have my model number on it, the rest will be blank. Tres can fill the model number in later when I need one for another set. I sure appreciate you sending me a picture of your decals...