Another day off! Bank holidays are always such fun! The sun was belting down so I worked all day in the garage. Having confronted the masses at the local hardware store first thing, I came back armed with loads of goodies (again!) in the combat to restore this here cab.
I bought some antique furnish cleaner, which I tired on one of the small red spots near the back of a side panel - the result looked sweet. A virtual t-cut as the paintwork was restored perfectly! But I know how this stuff works - for instance I used a bit on my matt-black spray patch I dud yesterday and it swept it clean off. I'll leave it a week before I go and do the whole cab I think.
Having seen the cleaner take off my paint on my repaired hole, I realized with 90% certainty that it stripped it because I didn't prime it. So I masked up, primed it, then used Satin 'semi-gloss' black spray paint from Halfords (car shop). The result is incredible! The match is astounding. I've got a slight line where the paint reached the marking, but I hope that'll rub out.
In the evening I used the cleaner on the marquee to try and remove the glue - wow! The thing looks great! Almost NOS. One more go tomorrow and it'll look fabulous: theres no scratches on the exterior at all! Cool... but I've got a NOS one incoming now any day....
It looks so good it makes you think about re-spraying the cab and re-stenciling it, but seeing I don't have stencils, nor are they available yet on the web, I'll carry on regardless.
I also primed the control panel, and sprayed it with satin paint all over, so it seems far more fixed and a better surface.
With little else to do I moved onto my tabletop I got at the same time for the rest of the afternoon - out came the Stanley blade to strip all the blue paint from the glass, and I put a switch in so I don't have to keep plugging in and out the wall socket - not without giving myself a 240v blast from the mains like an idiot.
I've also spent the day fretting about the joystick assembly - as the Defender's one originally had a thin metal shaft with a knob on top. I don't think its too hard to source one of these... But its the fact that the overlay only has a slot wide enough for an up-down movement only. I had wanted to make this a JAMMA cab to play lots.... What to do... anyone?
