[Joe Rossi]

I bought a Philco B3101B back in August.  The cabinet arrived broken, and I've finally got around to repairing it.
               

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the pieces, but above is the repair so-far.  I'm using this post https://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=14921 of Ron's to repair the cabinet.  I've ordered a fiberglass repair kit to strengthen the cracks from the inside, and awaiting delivery.  The question I have is the color.  It is a dark Brown, with some sort of lighter Brown up front on the control panel.  Does anyone have experience repainting a plastic cabinet and what color/brand would you recommend to match?  There are not a lot of pics of this model on-line, and mine is the only Brown one with the different color control panel.  Any help would be appreciated!  Thanks,  Joe

[Arran]

If you used two part epoxy to glue the pieces back in, and it was the type that takes 24 hours to set, then you can probably skip the fiberglass, I've glued several broken and cracked cabinet with that and it never let go. I used body filler (bondo) to fill the cracks, and painted the cabinet, either partly, or in full, ivory spray paint is usually a safe choice, although you can pretty much paint it any colour you want, it won't make a broken cabinet worth any less if it's done well. I once painted a Motorola blue and black, and another orange.
The orange one had a light grey cabinet but the paint was shot on the top and sides, cabinet was not cracked or chipped in any way, the front grill was fine so I stripped off the top, sides, and bottom, masked off the front, and painted it orange. It was just an ordinary 5 tube AC/DC set, on a printed circuit board, from 1952 or 53, ironically it was the P.C board that was broken and had to be epoxied back together. The blue and black set was originally white, the paint was flaking off, and it had a slight crack near the front edge, I epoxied the crack, filled it, and since the Bakelite underneath the paint was black, I panted the top, sides, and bottom blue, and painted the back black. This set was a clock radio, and the chassis and control panel comes out through the front, so it was backwards from most radios, it was a 1954 model.
The way I figure is that since many 1950s cars and TV sets were painted in bright colours then there is no harm in picking a similar shade for a radio cabinet. With 1940s and earlier Bakelite radios I either repaint them white, off white, or in a more subdued shade since the cabinets themselves are much more sculptural then 1950s sets, which are often just boring rectangular boxes.
Regards
Arran

[radiorich]

Hello Arran
I agree about the 50s radios, and do you remember Peter from the ARF forum? He restored many of those sets and painted some in really wild styles. Joe, that cabinet looks like the glue-up turned out great! I have a Philco Wedge that someone glued together poorly and in shipping it broke where was repaired I might have to paint the set.
Sincerely Richard

[Arran]

Rich;
If you have something glued together poorly, and it's Bakelite, then paint and varnish remover should soften the glue. To make it work you will have to cover the areas with aluminum foil or you will have to keep painting it on as it dries out.
In my opinion some guys go overboard with paint, like that water effect that some fleabay sellers were trying to pedal on some sets, I tried to stick to paint colours that cars, or appliances may have used in that era. It reminds me of that fad where they would take sets with steel cabinets to an electroplater to have them chrome plated, in Britain they have a term for this, it's called "Gilding the Lilly".
Regards
Arran

[radiorich]

Hello Arron,
Nope not bakelite .
this is not my set but its the same color 

Richard

[Joe Rossi]

Arran and Rich,

Thanks for the info. I used two-part 5-minute set, 1 hour cure. I'm still going to use the fiberglass, frankly because I've never done it before and thought I would try my hand at it. This radio was built in the UK, and as far as I can tell was only available in brown and ivory, and the same chassis was used in a wood cabinet. I've also seen it in turquois, but that one looked too good to be original. Rich, I really like the color on the transitone you posted. Hmmm, I'd better start looking at some color charts. Thanks again, Joe

[klondike98]

Looking good so far Joe!

[morzh]

It's a good looking design. Simple. I always liked it.

[Joe Rossi]

Hello,   finished the cabinet on the Tropic B3101B.  My first attempt at repairing a plastic cabinet, and it will have to do. Lots of flaws.
   
Most of these models have a pale green glass dial, which shows white in photos.
     
My radio has a dark brown and gold dial.  It is the only one I've ever seen.
   
   
I've also attached a spreadsheet showing the different variants of the Tropic B3101 series and specs.  (See the next post) Figured it might help anyone who ends up with one of them.

Joe

[Joe Rossi]

Well, Perusing Radio Attics website, I ran across the US Philco 48-808, which is electronically identical to the Brazillian 3101!  I have attached a revised spreadsheet of this Tropic Radio Series. This model does not show up in the Philco Gallery, but it is in the 1948-1949 Philco yearbook.  Joe

Philco B3101.xls Size: 9.5 KB  Downloads: 97