Sacrilege to most, I know but I love seeing the sets that have survived being repaired of cabinet damage and repainted to give them new life, whether it be a plain ivory or a fancy two tone paint scheme to enhance the lines of the cabinet. Any photos of your favorite repainted sets and how bad was the effort to get it back to its new glory?

These, with the exception of the red Plaskon Emerson, are my favorite sets that I have repainted:








I'm in the process of restoring a Philco 49-501 Boomerang and I'm planning a Coral body repaint with the white grill and dial but I'm still not sure if I want to really dress it up with some red trim on the body line. I have to find a new dial knob or repair the old one as it has some melted areas on the edge but I think I can fix it up and painting the knob red would draw attention to the dial area and the neat reverse engraved dial it has.

JESUS!.... MARY!...... AND JOSEPH!

How many radios you GOT in that house Dan?

And I see ya got another "Lucy" sittin' there!

EEE-GADS!

LORDY!

But I admit, them snappy custom colors do look sweet, and set off the style lines nicely.

BTW, I had the Lucy on a news station the other day and a friend stopped by and really liked it.

Hi RadioTech, that "Lucy" in the photo is the one you now have . As to the quantity of radios before I got married last year I had over 300 in a three room apartment all on display. The collection is dwindling now thankfully as we get ready for our new babies to be born but I still have some of my favorites on display in the upstairs bedroom and in the basement shop (above the flood line!), the rest are in storage in the attic awaiting future sale. Those painted sets are in my keeper cabinet though as they represent the best results of my efforts over the years.

You do good work, decotronix. The color schemes could pass for factory finishes any day.

Having had cabinets reduced to fragments myself, I can appreciate the effort and expertise that goes into this. The fact is, if the alternative is "gone forever" vs. repaired, and painted, then the paint is downright richeous.

Bodywork on bakelite is not for the faint of heart. Especially when the cebinet is in seperate pieces. After all the repairing, filling, sanding, filling, sanding, etc., you can end up with a very smooth, paintable surface. Without paint, it is almost painful to view. SO, when you go the extra mile and make the paint (dare I say it) attractive, then all the best to you! You saved another piece of working history from the landfill, and maybe helped beautify your living space, or the living space of another.

So, where is the harm in that? Good for you!

Dan certainly does nice work.
That Westinghouse AA5 I purchased from him - looking over the set in bright light, the finish actually fools me into thinking the case is actually that color... in other words, it doesn't look painted.

What model is the silver one? I really like that look

I like it! Good work.



Twins? Join the club. My little beasts are 8 months old now. Good luck!

Twins!? Mine are 14 now, boy and girl. You can't scare me; I have twins!

Those colour schemes are really not my cup of tea, just too garish, they are really more suited to mid 50s to early 60s plastic radios as opposed to late 30s to early 50s Bakelite sets in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I have repaired and repainted Bakelite cabinets before from that era but I don't believe in gilding the lily, the Bakelite sets from then had really attractive and clean lines so going overboard with wild two or three tone paint schemes tend to detract from that. What I tried to do was use more subdued colours like dark blues, greens, reds (like burgandy) , black, brown, white, cream, grey, etc, schemes similar to a 1940s car if not a radio, cream and brown looks really nice as does black and red. The most garish paint job I did was on a mid 50s boring rectangular box Motorolla, it was originally a light grey, the front panel was fine so I left it as it was but I painted the rest of the cabinet Florida orange.
Regards
Arran

The silver one is actually a champagne color used on Chryslers 2005 "300" series cars. The radio is a 1946 Elec-Tone and it is a metal set that plays like a champ. I've never seen another one in person but have seen others on the internet. A very neat design. (If anyone has or can make an Electone decal for it PM me with a price as it seems naked to me without its ID.)

Thanks for all the compliments on the radios also, I really enjoy the process of repainting these sets and the "trick" to a factory finish is to give the radio at least two coats of clearcoat after the final paint job is accomplished. This helps smooth the overall finish and reflows the color coats slightly to hide small blems.

I know the color schemes aren't for everyone but I try to keep a theme of the era the radio is from like the patriotic colors on the '37 Belmont/Truetone as a reminder of what Made in America used to mean, and the butterscotch and red for the '46 Belmont/Airline which reminded me of the bullet sets of the previous decade. That set was actually a 1939 design but became popular after the war as well.

As for the fifties sets like the Crosley bullseye, it is repainted in its original red as it was made in 1951 and the little Truetone "Arrow" set is actually another Belmont design that begged for a snazzy color to bring out the detail of the dial. It was the first radio I found on my own after being given a set to start my collection back in 1990.

The first set I was given is the raspberry ECA 108, and was the very first set I did cabinet repair to and repainted. Why the raspberry? It was the only color I had on hand at the time and the dial markings matched the color so I thought, why not? The seafoam green boomerang Truetone is another gift from a dear friend and the color is an obvious fifties choice. I did the teal and red Philco AM/FM as a gift for the friend who gave me the boomerang as those are her favorite colors.

The teal and coral Stewart Warner is my favorite 40's deco design and is painted in the same colors I saw at the local car cruise-in show one day on a forties Chevy sedan. That set was a real time consuming labor of love to get the finish right with over six coats of paint and clear to get the right gloss.

Stewart Warner made the Varsity series in the late 30's in various college colors as a two tone in most cases and I decided to do mine in a simple red with gold trim and black knobs just because I liked the combination. I don't know if there was a college that used red and gold but if there was so much the better. The set came to me as an eBay purchase and was missing the entire right bottom rear corner. After a rebuild using twist and mix epoxy I did the repaint to make the set shine again as they are somewhat hard to find.

And then there is the "Lucy" that RepairTech now owns. I always called it the "Westy" but it does evoke an image of Lucille Ball now that I think of it. I saw another one like it on a now defunct radio website and it was as if I had to try to replicate it. I couldn't find the appropriate coral color they had used so I did the pink instead and it worked well I think. A real 50's icon of design and I'm glad it has a good home now and is being enjoyed.

So, come on crew, show some pics of your repainted sets! I know I'm not the only one doing these and I like to see others efforts as that is why I did mine this way.

BTW, to encourage you newbies out there, I only used rattle cans for all the sets you see here. No compressors or spray booths or fancy equipment. The fanciest thing I did was use a kitchen turntable to spin the sets on as I painted them so as not to have to move the radio by hand and risk messing up the finishes. All were done outside in the driveway on cooler (65-75 degree), low humidity days and left to dry for at least three to five days between coats to prevent lifting on subsequent coats.

I used Dupli-Color sandable primers and Krylon acrylic enamels for most all of the sets except the Electone which I used Dupli-Color car lacquer on, I have also used Farm & Fleet tractor epoxy paint as well as some really off the wall el-cheapo paints if they had the color I wanted. The secret is the final clear coat and Krylon makes the best acrylic I have found including a triple glaze clear coat that shines like crazy. Also remember to use a tack rag from start to finish on all primer and finish coats to keep the goobers out of the finish and clean, clean , clean the set before you start applying any primer to avoid painting in "details" (like crud stuck in the corners of grill bars, etc.) that aren't a part of the radio. It will make the final results so much better.

One member used to take them to a custom auto painter for a 2-3 tone metalflake job and then get some big bux on Fleabay. They got mixed reviews on here and he hasnt shown any in a few years. Having grown up during the Candy Apple Red and custom car craze of the 50-60's I liked several. These days a wider selection of colors is available and there are still magazines and even web sites devoted to customs... Leno owns a few.

Carl

All are really snazzy looking, but I especially like the teal Philco.

~ Mitch ~

Really nice paint job that took much effort, time, and patience.
You are correct that it is important to save the radio. I am working on a Silvertone (3151)that has a crack and had a disgusting original ivory paint job. The radio has been sitting in a draw for years.
The chassis has been gone over. Three new tubes, too. Works pretty good.
Most people would have dumped the radio.
Today I stripped off the old paint. I need to repair/glue the crack area.
I was thinking of painting the radio red or green, but you, decotronix , have inspired me a bit here today and maybe I will paint the radio PINK.

Keep these radios alive!!

Neat-o! I see this as akin to taking your favorite car of the 30s, 40s or 50s and making a street rod. Outwardly, at least. Some very nice work here!

How do you do the letters, like with the Red&White Truetone with the gold lettering for the dial numbers, and the gold model name?

Very nice!

NICE work!:)-Gearhead222

Elec-tone...thanks.

The lettering is easy to do if it is an engraved style with recessed characters. You simply get some acrylic artists tube paint available at the local hobby store like a Pat Cataan's. It comes in a myriad of colors and a tube is about $3-4 and last for years. Once your repainted set if clearcoated and you are happy with the results take a wet Q-tip and spread a thin coating of the tube acrylic across the recessed numbers to fill them and follow it up with a wet shop towel (the blue Scott brand ones that look like paper towel on a roll are the best I've found and they can be washed over and over) to wipe off the excess. Repeat the process until the letters are the way you want them to look. The paint won't stick to the flat surfaces unless you don't wipe it off so don't be afraid of messing up the paintjob as the clearcoat protects it and the acrylic tube paint isn't aggressive to the finished radio. I did that Teal/Red Philco dial for my friend that way and it still looks great now 10+ years afterwards.

They also make the acrylic in silver and a real shiny metallic gold which is what I used on the Truetone Arrow set and it looks sharp. Raised lettering like on the Crosley bullseyes is a little harder but using the same paint take a pencil eraser and use it to pick up some of the acrylic tube paint you have spread out on a piece of plastic or paper and use it like a stamp pad on the raised surfaces. A broken wooden Q-tip stick moistened with water can be used to clean out recessed areas you don't want paint in if you make a mistake. The paint is water soluble until it sets and then it is permanent when dry. As always patience pays off and with practice you can get perfect results every time. Beats using a brush any day!

I'm a complete noob so never mind me, but I think those paint jobs look great - it is a cool way to add some life to a case that might have otherwise hit the scrap heap. Good work.