Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

I was finally able to finish stripping and sanding away the NATO Green paint from the wooden coil case yesterday, and this morning I applied filler to the few sections of wood that needed this attention. As with the three wooden boxes/cases for the 52-Set, the bulk of the filling was focused on the finger joints where the exposed end grain of the pine is susceptible to wicking in moisture over time and wearing away. There were also two short strips of joinery between sections of the pine boards that needed a fill.

There was also an interesting discovery in the assembly of the wooden coil case, compared to the three wooden boxes/cases.

On the boxes/cases, where any of the flat head wood screws had been countersunk, a creamy white glazing putty had been used to backfill over the screws. On the coil case, these holes were filled with small pine wood plugs. If you look closely on the top left front corner of the attached photo, you can see one of these plugs quite clearly. On the left side, another can be found about 3/4-inch back from the leading edge and another about two inches further back.

Hopefully this evening, I will be able to sand off the excess filler where needed and I can then start repainting the case Flat Olive Drab.



David

[David Dunlop]

Not quite ready for painting yet.

With the putty filling now out of the way on the coil case, I started on the two bits of wood reconstruction this morning, working with a neutral coloured wood filler.

The worst damage was a roughly three inch long gouge out of the leading upper edge starting from the upper left corner with a depth equal to an eighth inch equilateral triangle at the extreme corner, tapering fully out as it progressed to the right. The other damage was a small but deep gouge on the inner face of the rim about one third of the way down the left edge.

The long upper damage seems to be the oldest with quite a few coats of NATO Green paint having built up over it and its surfaces were quite smooth once the paint was gone.

The smaller gouge had only one coat of paint present and the wood was quite rough and pokey. Both were readily visible, with or without paint on them. so needed to be dealt with at this point in time.



David

[David Dunlop]

The wood restoration bits are now completed and a start on painting the coil case can now be made. I think the first step will be using a small brush to detail out all the interior fiddly recesses and fittings to the point where the larger interior flat panels can easily be dealt with using a small roller.

We shall see how it goes and adjust plans as needed.



David