The PHILCO Phorum

I really like this odd little guy - PT-49 from 1941 (June 1940).

The Paragon

As an example of these sets, here is a photo taken by Carl Gelormini of one in great condition (apparently original finish). This is not my radio.  



The Patient

I picked this guy up on eBay. It's in...kind of rough shape:


And a bit clearer pic of the cabinet once I received it:

This cabinet of this set is interesting from a restoration perspective because of the photofinish zebrawood trim. It was obviously beyond saving.

For a while I've been wanting to try making reproduction photofinish using inkjet printable decal paper. Most decal paper results in transparent decals - which won't work here. There are however a few suppliers of of white decal paper and I wanted to find out if it would make a decent quality reproduction.

To get started I traced the shape of the zebrawood trim and scanned it in. I then found a high-resolution photo of zebrawood online and created new zebrawood photofinish from it in Photoshop.

[attachment=13590]

I wanted to print the decals in a few pieces as possible - preferably in three pieces like the original. The left and right side photofinish sections are ~14" long - so I ordered tabloid size (11" x 17") white decal paper from world-paper.com: http://www.world-paper.com/product-p/waterslide004.htm

(I have an Epson XP-960 printer that I bought for printing out schematics blown up to 11" x 17" - perfect for this job too.)



A PDF of the zebrawood trim for printing can be downloaded from the Downloads list in the Gallery under the PT-49.

Time to print up some photofinish!
YOur cabinet is better... No curve cracks..

I like it a lot though...

Now the normal cabinet refinish process begins...strip, grain fill, toning lacquer

Now we get to the most interesting part - applying the decals!

After printing the decals on the decal paper they must be 'fixed' to the paper so that they won't bleed off when soaked in water. I sprayed two coats of Papilio decal fixative and let it dry overnight.

Next day I cut the decals out. Of course because the decals are white it is critical that they be trimmed down past the white background. But not too much. This was the hardest part - getting the sizing right.





Here is the cabinet with the zebrawood decals applied:



Not too bad... but not quite right either. Too much contrast with the other wood.

looking good Nathan    
needs to be a little darker ?

sam

I know! Toning lacquer!  

I decided that to blend it in better I would apply some Medium brown toning lacquer (ultra classic) to the trim since I had already toned the cabinet. If I were to do this particular photofinish again I might try applying it before toning to avoid the extra mask step.



Yes.... much better!

I let the decal dry for a day and then applied several coats of clear lacquer. I felt it was important to do this as soon as possible in order to keep the decal edges adhered to the the radio.

And here it is all back together (temporarily - I still need to rub out the finish after the lacquer cures).



I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The zebrawood pattern (and color) isn't identical to the original - but to my eyes it's pretty good.

Next up I'd like to try reproducing the photofinish on a 54S.

You had me when I saw the zebra wood printed out.  What a great job!  Did you get a new dial cover or did you polish the original with something.  If you did what did you use.
Regards,
Don

Thanks Don!

I reused the dial cover. I polished it with Metal Armor polish - I think I have just the regular metal polish version.

Nathan
now that Is sharp looking 
great job  



sam

Thanks Sam!

Beautiful! Fantastic job!

Beautiful job Nathan.

Stellar job Nathan! Big thumbs up. 

Gregb