I have a Majestic Monarch that I bought and am repairing. I have recapped it and it sounds great with a nice RF stage for pulling in a lot of stations.
I have seen tips from others on fixing the case so that is on tap.
I have cleaned the front panel and now am left with what I found under the usual dirt - damage to the paint.
See the photo below.
I have had great success at a local Napa store in matching paint so I think I can get that antique gold color paint customized by them. I was then thinking of touching up the bare brass areas and then fixing the black with gloss black Rustoleum.
I also have a parts set that I can experiment on. That panel is better but has a damaged speaker cover with the eagle on it.
The dial cover is also very yellowed on that one. Removing and replacing those tiny rivets looks like an invitation to causing more damage to the speaker cover or dial cover.
So I was hoping for opinions and maybe even experience from someone who has worked on this set.
Thanks,
Lou

Hi Lou,
I have not worked on this Majestic set before. BUt I can see the paint defects.
If the set were mine, this is what I'd do.
Find an exact paint match for the color, you say that is not problem and that's good.

I would definitely not use a brush for touching up. I don't care how careful a person is, it won't look right.
This is where a good airbrush will come in handy. Not one of those cheap "external mix" things, but a true internal mix airbrush.
Even a medium priced airbrush can spray a pattern as small as a pencil line, to around an inch.
Adjusting the paint flow, needle size and pressure you can spray those bare brass areas lightly, over and over until they are blended in with the rest of the original paint. A little overlapping lightly will help blend it in.
Sears used to have an airbrush set that was actually made by Badger. I bought a set about 20 years ago and have used it many times. It was about $69, (1984) I use my standard air compressor to power it. (Regulated of course.) It looks like this one:

If I had to buy one again, I'd go with the Badger 150-7 Same exact unit I have. You may find it at a better price on Epay or elsewhere like a hobby outlet.
http://www.fineartstore.com/Catalog/tab ... 2cUnitCost
Well worth it to get one of these, as I think you restore a lot of sets, and will last a lifetime. Spraying radio trim, escutcheon details, small parts , it is ideal.

On the black paint repair, careful masking with 'real' masking tape not the blue or green stuff, 3M (1/4" tape)
you can then 'fog' in the black lines.

You may be able to see the repair if the paint does not match, thats the hardest part. But at least it will be minimized, and you won't see the worn bare brass sticking out anymore.

That's how I'd do it. Good luck, and keep us up to date on what you do.


EDIT>>> Just checked Sears, they dont have anything for a good price.
Epay has some for $90, but hobby outlets might be cheaper, Shop around.

Thanks a great idea, Gary, on the airbrush. I have not used one of these so perhaps this will be a new direction. I see that the brush and compressor will set me back $200 or so to get a good as you recommend.
Can I also use this for spraying tinted lacquer or shellac for radio wood that does not stain well?

Hi Lou,
You can use the airbrush to spray just about anything you want. I think it would be too small though to do a whole cabinet.

You can use most any air source, you don't need a special airbrush compressor. I use my 4HP Sears compressor Regulate the air to about 18-20 psi or so, then spray away. The airbrush does not consume much CFM volume, so the compressor will not have to kick in very often.
If you have an air compressor already, then you would be good to go. Just use a filter, and regulator of course.

The prices I linked to are for a brand name unit There are knock offs, that would work just as well. This is one of those things you might not use too often, so no need to get something high priced.
Of course there are other brands like Paasche. Again, check Epay as some people buy these things for crafts, then get discouraged and get rid of them.

This setup from Eastwood looks great.
http://www.eastwood.com/airbrush-and-1- ... 7AodLmGtKg

On sale now, the complete setup/compressor for $59.98
This is what appears to be a dual action gun. Pres down for the air, then pull back to add varying amounts of paint. Takes a little practice. You can pre-set the paint amount with the set screw.

As for the toning, yes you can use this like any full sized gun. Mix up the clear with the toner and spray on the color. Remember though you are dealing with a small spray pattern often less than 1" and in a round pattern.
If you are going to be doing toning on woods that don't take stain well a touchup gun is the next step up. More control, and more paint capacity in the tank. Those are great for spraying small cabinets.

After you are done applying the color, apply clear to the cabinet overall.

Just think of the airbrush as a miniature version of a regular spray gun.
Hope this helps, and good luck!

Thanks for the pointer. I did order that Eastwood beginner's airbrush. Hope to post some results in the future.
Thanks again for your help.
Lou

Sure Lou, let us see how it comes out.
Good luck!

An update...
I had 2 of these radios so a good parts set is always handy. I spent a good deal of time trying to clean off the gold paint and make it all consistent and not "dirty looking". I used GoJo, Soft Scrub and, of course, standard dish washing detergent as a first course. Nothing worked. I felt that is the paint were not consistent across the whole front panel, then any effort to try to match it would be futile. I did buy an airbrush as recommended by Gary, but will not use that for touch up tinted lacquer or shellac work.
I think the proper way to do this is to send it to Rick's Restorations!
Seriously, I wish that I had the skills to do it right.
I could scan it, fix up the scan in Photoshop and make a mask.
Then I would remove everything off of the panel with whatever technique. I have had panels soda blasted before and that worked well. Then paint the gold, affix the mask somehow and spray the black.
I think the result would be nice. It would also be nice to reproduce the speaker cover with the eagle. One of the ones I have is badly shrunken and warped. The good one could use new gold paint for the eagle and clouds image. But that is beyond my skills.
So, I plan to use my remaining good panel (as good as it is) and keep it at that for now.
I have the spare panel I could always use for more experiments or send it to Rick in Las Vegas

Thanks for the update Lou
I hope you can later experiment with using the airbrush setup on something else.

When you get your item back from Rick's, let us check it out.

I just used mine again to save an original decal on a small Belmont set.
white painted bakelite cabinet. Sprayed clear lacquer just on the small decal and 1/4" around it. Now, the decal is coated. Repair, prime and lightly sand the cabinet.
Make a mask to just fit over the decal. No worry about it pulling the decal off, as it is not coated.
Spray radio with paint, going lighty over the decal area. Don't want to load it up.
Let the paint dry for about 15 min, then carefully peel off the masking tape from the decal.
I think it looks great. If you look really close, you can see a slight remnant of the original color near the edge of the decal. But you have to look hard.

Seemed like a lot of work to save a decal, but I wanted it to remain. Can't afford to get a sheet of decals I only need the one.
So again, the airbrush made it possible.

Well, I thought long and hard on how to replicate a nice front panel. Then I saw a Monarch on eBay with a beat up case, no handle, but a nice front panel. Grabbed it for $35 including shipping. I cleaned that up, gathered the best parts from now 3 different radios, and have one nice radio left. And I now have a large supply of spare parts for anyone else working on one of these.
I am now working on a Crosley Super 11 so I know Gary's pointers with the airbrush will help on some of the trim for that.
Again, thanks for all of the comments.

Your set looks great Lou!
Lucky to find a beat up model to get the front panel from.

When it comes time to use your airbrush, please let us se how you come along on that.
Take care,

Hello Gary,
thats one of the items on my list is a air brush first thing first get job then get home with shop bring my radios and shop over the mountains.

Hi Rich, how's it going

Yup, the airbrush can be used for a lot of things. Keep an eye out at swaps and yard sales too. Sometimes a 'crafter' will buy one for a reason, then decide it is not for them. I"ve seen many around going for under $20 from a private party. Get the dual action kind, where you push down on the botton for air, then pull the button back at the same time to regulate the paint flow. Takes a little practice but it isn't hard to do.

Will talk to you soon!