[Hallicrafters] PM-23 color

[Mike Everette]

If you can find gray wrinkle paint, I'd use whatever
is available.  "Exact matching" is really pointless
(yes, that's right).  These paints were not perfectly
matched in the 30s and 40s.  For large batches in a
factory, they were more than likely mixed up in a
55-gallon drum, using something like a wooden canoe
paddle to stir with, until they "looked right."  

This implies a subjective judgement by the mixer,
which could vary with lighting conditions, such that
paint mixed in January would likely be a different
shade from that mixed in July.  Even the time of day,
and consequent lighting conditions, might affect the
shades.

Fretting over paint colors reminds me of the
ridiculous tempest-in-a-teapot discussions of color
nuances indulged in by model railroaders.  Trains were
and are "industrial machines" and painted accordingly.
 I rather suspect that Halli radios were thought of
the same way at the time of their creation, rather
than as 'Objets d'Arte."

Paint your PM-23 and SX-28 the same color and live
happily ever after.  Even if it is less than "pure,"
who's to know?  What's the "standard"?  I doubt very
seriously that one exists.

I personally think the gray color of the PM-23 and
SX-28 case is not merely ugly, but "YOOgly."  However,
I will probably repaint them some shade of gray. 
After all.... what would the neighbors think?

If you can't find gray wrinkle, try this:

I have successfully used black wrinkle paint,
available at Car Quest auto stores, and oversprayed it
(after drying of course) with RustOleum gray.  The
RustOleum, if applied carefully, will not fill up the
wrinkles and looks great.  Don't "hose" it.  Use three
light coats and let it dry between them.

73

Mike
WA4DLF



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