Paint restoration of a TCS-12 Transmitter

[PA4WM]

A long time ago, I was given a Collins TCS-12 WW2 Transmitter.
The interiour looked as if it was never used. A suitable Canon powerplug was not on hand though, and the rig was moved under the workbench....

A few weeks ago, I was able to buy the right Canon plug, and I'm in the process of building a small PSU, and bring the TCS back on air.

The black paint on the front is in a bad state however.
There is a lot of lettering, indicating the dials purpouse and values, and to me it seems that they are slightly "on top" of the (molded?) frontplate.
Could I paint the whole front black, and use a tiny bit of sanding paper to remove the paint on the lettering??

Is there anyone who did a restoration on the TCS front panel, who could give me some advise on how to do....

Martin, PA4WM

[KA3EKH]

I have done that exact thing. Takes time but remove all the knobs, meters and handle and then clean and paint the entire front panel and using 400 or higher grit sandpaper and a wooden block you can gently scrape the paint off the tops of the panel. The power supply is no big deal to build up and I used an old GE Master base station power supply that gave me the 12, 250 and 400 volts and worked real well. The only issue I had was that I never was able to get more than five or six watts out in the AM mode. Produced about twenty in CW but for AM left much to be desired. Think some people have gotten higher output using capacitors in series with the output tank.

[PA4WM]

Thanks Ray,

You confirmed my thoughts...

looks like a nice project for the upcoming winter months.

Martin, PA4WM

[aafradio]

Using a sanding stick will make it a ton easier, especially if you have a stereo inspection microscope or large magnifier.

http://www.use-enco.com/cgi/INLMK3?PMK0NO=1253083 has a bunch of choices in the $2-$3 range.  Here is what they look like:



To make it easier, you may want to consider using masking fluid on the raised characters before you paint - here's what I use:

http://www.cheapjoes.com/art-supply/MP111_5320_masquepen.asp

It reduces the time spent in sanding off the paint.  Note that this requires a good magnifier as well.

[WU2D]

I would take the entire front panel off, strip it chemically, then inspect sand, fill pits, prime and paint.
The lettering is raised so some fine sandpaper will bring the lettering back nicely.

Mike WU2D

[aafradio]

Been there, done that, but no longer believe complete stripping is particularly useful if the base paint is still solid.  The pits and imperfections have already been filled for sixty plus years, and redoing work that has already been accomplished never made much sense to me.  The challenge with using fine sandpaper is keeping it sharply localized to just the lettering...thus the sanding stick approach with a magnifier.  YMMV and that's fine, but pursuing this activity for the NASM over the last decade has made me a bit more more dubious about removing otherwise solid original paint films.  Anyway, enjoy the restoration experience - it is a great satisfaction to get an historic piece like this looking original.

[WU2D]

Mike,

I redid this dial and it came out OK but not perfect. NevrDull on the chassis and it looks shiny at least.

Mike WU2D

[aafradio]

Beautiful job, Mike!  

Your next task is to strip it back down and etch the bare aluminum with an aircraft etchant to make it match the original finish...heh, heh...

I'll admit it's a bit heart-rending to destroy the brilliant mirror finish when you've spent so much time polishing it, but it is the last step in what I have to do for the NASM stuff that was unpainted.

Hey, I'm jus' sayin'...  

[WBear2GCR]

Oh gosh!

That tag on the side says:

Western Electric

Gold!

Now if you happen to have Western Electric toobes in it...?

                      _-_-bear