Looking for black wrinkle paint

[Ron]

> I am restoring a National HRO M series receiver. The radio is in great
shape
> and was ordered with all the options which were available at the time.
This
> is the rack mounted version. The section which contained the power
supply,
> speaker and storage drawers for the coils was stored in a shed and almost
> all of the wrinkle finish paint has flaked off. Is there a source for
paint
> which I can apply myself to create the original effect, or a shop where I
> can send the panel to have it repainted in wrinkle finish?
>

Illinois Bronze has a good wrinkle paint.
The main problem is that modern wrinkle paint
does not look like vintage wrinkle paint. Of course
if your HRO has had the original paint fall off then repaint
is about all you can do. You will have to remove the front
panel and take all the parts off of it. After striping the panel
you will need to warm it up, I like laying them out in the hot
sun, or using a heat gun, or good blow dryer. Heat is what really
makes the paint wrinkle up. A bright sunny day at high noon
is perfect. It would be best to experiment of a scrap piece
to get the feel of how heavy to apply the paint, it needs to be put
on in one heavy coat, laying the panel flat will prevent runs.

For wrinkle paint that has just discolored over the years
the best thing to do is not to strip it but just recolor the original
black. I have used Testors Gloss Black Paint pens with good
success. Also you can get pore gloss black paint in a bowl and
dip a rag in the paint and just rum the color onto the original
finish. This will not cause the build up of paint that would
fill in the wrinkle like a spray can would.

Good luck,

73,

Ron

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Ron Lawrence KC4YOY
CC-AWA Chapter President & Conference Chairman

email: kc4yoy at trellis.net

snail mail: POBox 3015
                Matthews, NC 28106

home phone: 704.289.1166

Check out the CC-AWA web page at:  http://www.cc-awa.org


Member of: AWA, CC-AWA, TCA, ARRL

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