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Restoring (I Hope) the 75 Mk1 projectile ~

Gspragge

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I'm trying an off the shelf yellow, tomorrow when it's dry enough I'll go over it
with superfine steel wool. I could loose my mind trying to match the proper
yellow (if I haven't already previously) so I'm hoping to get lucky ~
The stenciling will be a Big problem, I tried a craft store but that was hopeless - I'm not stenciling F'n Bunnies on it no matter what.
Does any one who has done this before any suggestions ?
 

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Looking good!
Apply a coat of matt estapol to knock off the gloss - I use to apply LetterSet decades ago as they had an extensive range of stencils - but not sure if they are still around.

If you look at my gallery - there a photo of 18 /25 pdrs that I acquired back in the 1980s - none by me from memory as I did smaller calibre ones and some of those 18pdrs were clearly wrong as the gentleman who had them wanted to represent different variations in his museum.
 
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Caterpillar Yellow - as in the machine company - is the closest off the shelf match in North America.
 
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Thanks to all, I'll see if I can find the Caterpiller colour, meanwhile I tried again with this yellow which is not so much orange.
 

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Here is my third attempt, I'm letting it harden properly before I make it a bit less shiny. Cat yellow as suggested ~
My next question is how high/tall are the original letters on the projectile ?
inside lighting will likely throw the actual colour off a bit.
 

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:tinysmile_cry_t4:Both amazing and out of stock
 

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I don't understand exactly, what are they selling ?
 

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I tried caterpillar yellow and chose school bus yellow over the caterpillar.
 
If this keeps up I'll have a terrific collection of spray yellows !
Of course every one is out of stock, but hardware stores are all buggered up on
lots of things.
I didn't think I had anything to compare with, but I did sort of ~
It's a 1915 MKl 1.7Pr projectile. The yellow is very aged and dark, but I rubbed the surface off in a small area
and it shows the original colour more or less. To some extent it's amatter of wether you want the projectile
to look older and darkened or not I supose. Well onto the next yellow if I can find any.
 

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I'm trying an off the shelf yellow, tomorrow when it's dry enough I'll go over it
with superfine steel wool. I could loose my mind trying to match the proper
yellow (if I haven't already previously) so I'm hoping to get lucky ~
The stenciling will be a Big problem, I tried a craft store but that was hopeless - I'm not stenciling F'n Bunnies on it no matter what.
Does any one who has done this before any suggestions ?

Hey, how ever much I appreciate your restoration skills, your work looks great, I do have a few questions.
Is the round minus the drivingband the one you are restoring? And iff yes, why not opt for a replacement drivingband only, as there is something like 97% of original paint still on the projectile? I think the general looks could also have been improved by an oxalic acid treatment to remove the rust. As the paint wouldn't suffer from the acid, it would have saved you the headache of doing the painting all over, besides retaining originality.
Best regards, Menno.
 
The yellow one without the band is not mine and is in original condition, one wouldn't want to touch it , beyond a reband perhaps.
Mine had been a lamp and was polished smooth and nickle plated, it had a casing some years ago, but the chap who sold it has no idea and doesn't remember it now ~
 
"I tried caterpillar yellow and chose school bus yellow over the caterpillar."
I just tried school bus yellow and I have to agree with Hazord, it's a bit more yellow and less mustard than the caterpiller.
I think the caterpiller in a pinch is not bad for a British projectile. I may try it on one if something of no importance comes along.
It's a bit subjective depending on what you have to copy and it's condition, even very difficult to show in outside light the true
nature of the colour used. The same colour by different manufacturers likely vary as well so very close is perhaps the best one can hope for. How good and consistant were the paints used back then and things do discolour over time so perfection may be impossible.

 

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The exact correct colour for a shell....one of the most difficult things in the finishing stages.
 
How it looks depends more on the lighting than what I do to it, but it's actually duller after I
used a paste of baking soda on it while spinning it. I didn't want to over do it and end up repainting.
I could have used super fine steel wool, but that might be too rough ?
I have to get a turn table base that has wider support, this nonsence is an accident waiting to happen ~
I know these are sold in hardware stores.
 

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