Rebuilding/refurbishing a Victor #2 sound box question

[CMcPherson]

I would like to repaint the black part of the flange face plate.
The yellow lettering is in very good condition though and I don't want to effect that at all.
The only thing that I can think of to try is to somehow coat the lettering only in Vaseline, paint the black face plate and when it dries, remove the Vaseline.
Does anybody have a better idea?

[CDBPDX]

You could do like the printers do, paint a flat surface then press the back plate on the wet paint and see how it transfers. Good luck!

[De Soto Frank]

The back plate was not painted. It was chemically darkened. The white ( yellow ) filling in the lettering was paint.

What happened that yours needs to painted ?

Can you share some photos ?

[CMcPherson]

You could do like the printers do, paint a flat surface then press the back plate on the wet paint and see how it transfers. Good luck!

Great idea!

The back plate was not painted. It was chemically darkened. The white ( yellow ) filling in the lettering was paint.

What happened that yours needs to painted ?

Can you share some photos ?

Thanks for the info.
Sort of tarnished I guess huh? What chemical?
It's scratched down to the brass in many places. I have it pulled apart to rebuild and because I'm an anal retentive perfectionist, it'll bug the hell out of me to put it back together like that.
I just know that if I fix the scratches, my music will sound better.

[alang]

I would try liver of sulfur to darken just the scratches and see if the result satisfies you. More drastic things like painting can still be done if that is not good enough.

Andreas

[Henry]

Google "brass blackener" and see what comes up. Years ago the model railroaders used a product to blacken brass, so I know the stuff is available somewhere!

For example: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sour ... dnnci14DfA

Tiny URL (preview): http://preview.tinyurl.com/zthmtxk

[CMcPherson]

Well it worked!
I used a chap stick to cover the yellow painted areas and sprayed everything with mat black Rustolium.
When the paint dried I wiped off the wax.