[wardmc1]

   

   

I was trying to go with a semigloss to gloss finish with this one. Started to want some contrast and ended up with this ugly thing. Went crazy with the black toner and mixed up a brown that looks like peanut butter.  Very frustrating. Need some help with colors. Thinking about starting all over. Anybody have some suggestions. I already know I messed it up royally, so be sensitive with the comments. Lost some more hair on this one

[mikethedruid]

Actually, except to an expert who is familiar with what the original should look like, nobody else is going to complain. If they do then they have way too little in their lives to occupy their minds usefully. I think it looks quite nice. Of course, I'm not as picky as some of the purists here. I don't think you should beat yourself up so much over this. Just enjoy it as it is. Now, get the guts working again, fill it with glassware that fits the various holes for it and looks like it would belong, fill the bottles, have a drink, listen to the radio, relax, and enjoy. Life is way too short to sweat little things like this. If it was mine, I'd be happy with it.

[Arran]

You are entitled to your opinion Mike but I agree with the poster, if he doesn't like it, and thinks it looks ugly, then that's what matters. The actual question seems to be what to do about correcting it. Radiobars are a fairly collectable series of radios currently (though still overpriced), so I think it pays to restore them right. If it was a cheapo post war radio-phono combo, with flaking faux wood grain, nobody would care if you painted it pink, with green polka dots, but this is, rightly or wrongly, a four figure radio. I for one am sick of having to redo someone else's careless work, albeit on the electrical side, because someone decided that good workmanship is something only "purists" would care about.
  Now I think the question behind the post was how to correct the way this came out? Black paint is pretty difficult to cover up, maybe if it were oversprayed with extra dark walnut toner it might come up more brown then black, but an experiment may be in order. The peanut butter brown should be easy enough, it's light enough that any darker toner should cover it up with enough coats. However if the cabinet has not been clear coated yet it may be easier to just strip off the black paint, and the brown, and start over, lacquer thinner will take it off and should leave the grain filler alone. Just to make it easier I would mask off the rest of the cabinet while you remove the black paint, just so it doesn't end up where you don't want it.
Regards
Arran

[wardmc1]

Yeah,
I'm looking for feedback of what color should go where.  This isn't one I'm keeping, so the plan is to sell.  I'm trying to get top dollar for it, so it needs to look like a million bucks to maximize what I get for it.  I overthought this one and now I'm in pretty deep.  Just wanted to get some feedback of what colors each part should be.  I went with black on the poplar to try to give it strong contrast, but had too much of it and tried for a lighter color that ended up like peanut butter to even it out.  Looking for advice on what colors should go where...

Looking at it this morning again, the grain looks nice, just too much going on with it. Once again I over thought this one.