[Collins] panel touchup tip

[Craig Roberts]

Like most unrestored rigs of any age, my R-388 had picked up a few nicks 
and scratches along its deacades-old journy to my shack.  Although the 
front panel seemed to be in exceedingly good shape, its scars showed 
very prominently when I put the radio in one of Howard Mills' beautiful 
cabinets.  Around the panel edges especially were numerous bright spots 
and chipped paint blemishes.

I hope to get a new panel from Howard soon, but in the meantime have 
found a way to make the panel look really nice.

I cleaned it first with Windex -- spraying it on and dabbing it off with 
thick paper towels.  This left the surface clean, but highlighted the 
chipped paint even more.

I touched up the bare spots with a special hobby paint from Floquil. The 
color is from the comopany's collection of pigments used to simulate 
weathering on model railroad locomotives and cars.  It's called "Grimy 
Black".  It's actually a dark, semi-flat gray that matches the color and 
texture of faded St. James Gray panels almost perfectly.  I used a 
cotton swab (Q-Tip) to carefully apply this paint to the panel edges and 
a few chipped areas elsewhere.  The result is amazing -- almost 
undetectible.

The paint should be available at most any hobby shop featuring railroad 
models.  It can also be ordered online. Here's one source:

http://www.ehobbies.com/flo110013.html

73,

Craig
W3CRR