Hi again,

I'm breaking my restoration questions into separate posts so as to avoid mixing up specific components of the cabinet.

With this Astor HM I'm looking to restore, the front face where the radio interface lies has a metal facia which is painted to look like it's got a wood grain.

Unfortunately, it's all pitted and rusted, so I'm guessing it needs to be completely cleaned off and redone.

It appears to be done with a light brown sponging coat, then dark paint/stain watered down in light brush strokes to simulate the grain.

It's going to be hard to replicate this and I was wondering if anyone has come across anything similar in the past and know what products or techniques I should use?

Also, the window is cracked and yellowed. Any tips on repairing/cleaning/replacing? - it's very thin/flexible and is pressed into the metal with something like a nail punch.

Pictures below:
https://ibb.co/N94Hn9L
https://ibb.co/ZBVMy05
https://ibb.co/HYqnbLq

Thanks again.

Check it's not a thin veneer stuck to the metal.
If so ? Than it is a glaze painted on.

Thanks Pete,

I can't see anything indicating that it's not painted on. I'm even seeing liquid runs down the edges.

The only time ive seen painted grain on tin was on very cheap items. so I'm thinking it may not be , but a paint on Grain is done by making a Glaze and painting it on a base colour coat . you can use a Sponge or a brush to create the effect or you can draw grain on a base coat and then glaze that ......
the process to make it is as follows , find a base coat that is close to the colour but lighter , water base is fine if you stick to this way of doing it .hand paint the base colour on the tin , then give it 2 coats of clear or white shellac mixed at 50/50 this will seal the base coat off from the glaze , now a glaze can be made from many things , but for this I would make it out of shellac by pouring up to 10 percent of craftmans stain into the shellac and paint it on. its very tricky to paint a grain on so if the original finish can be saved then I would go that that way .
most glazes were made with oil varnish but in his case I would use shellac if and only if I could not save the original finish. oh best drop a tea spoon of boiled linseed oil into the glaze to work as a binder

pete

eg the base coat is paint

Hi Pete,

Thanks heaps for that. I appreciate the advice. This unit went for 85 pounds back in 1948 according to the newspaper ads, so I don't think it was cheap.

Is there any surefire way to tell whether this is a veneer or not?

The surface is pretty badly chipped, pitted and has surface rust around the area where the station window is located, so I don't think I can avoid redoing it from scratch. I'll certainly post the results if I can pull this off.

If it is veneer it can be as thin as a finger nail and is more than likely glued on with Hide Glue which can be reactivated by heat, A hair dryer will work.
Just scratch a corner off with a knife and see if its a veneer. Either way you can repair it by buying a new veneer in the " Raw" and just glue it to the metal and apply a new finish to it.
Pete

Thanks Pete,

I'll try that.

See if you can get some photos uploaded as it's all guessing work from this end,
I really need to see it as it's not your normal finish and Ive never seen that unit in real life ,pete

I remember a paint technique called "antiquing". Used it in the late 60's to "restore" TV cabinets, fixing up old badly scratched TVs as wedding presents (All my friends are getting married!) when we (and they) were as poor as church-mice.

You could buy a kit. Wattyl as | recall. It was very popular at the time.

Brush on a flat base coat, it was a pinky - beige colour. Let it dry, then a stain coat. Run a dry paintbrush through this to create the woodgrain effect. When dry, add a clear coat or two.

It looked quite convincing although I know the purists hated it! It might do for your metal part though.

But as always Pete is your expert here.

Re the yellowed plastic, don't waste your time trying to clean or polish it. You can get suitable clear sheet plastic from plastic suppliers. About 0.5mm thick should work. Cut with scissors.

Thanks Ian,

I'm waiting for some plastics suppliers to open up after the christmas break. Looks like PETG is the only stuff available that thin, but apparently scratches easily.. Maybe a poly over it for extra protection may help with that?

Do you have any idea where I could source a kit like that? I was going to take the panel to Bunnings and get them to colour match the base and grain colours.

Pete, I've got 3 photos in the original post. Do you need me to take some more for clarity? Let me know what you want the photos to foccus on and I'll post them. I've tried to scrape the finish away from some of the damaged areas and it breaks off in tiny chips/flakes..

I've enlarged them a bit.
The kit that Ian is describing is a Glaze.
You can make a Glaze, which is easy enough,but you will need skills to make look like timber. That's the drama.
A glaze is paint mixed with the clear and a binder to make it hold together.
Eg a varnish oil glaze is varnish with up to 10 percent of a paint added, plus a binder, but s glaze can made from other clear coats also.

Hmm ok options!
1 find find out what your finish is made of eg it's base.
To do this do a tack test with metho on a white rag by wetting a corner the rag and the then touching the finish . If it comes off it's more then likely shellac, if not it's oil varnish.
So then what you could do is wet sand the old finish using 800 wet and dry and turps as a lubricant , sand only in the direction of the grain.
Then make up a glaze to paint on to the repairec existing finish,,,that's the way to go .
Pete
R