Hallicrafters Defiant rust bucket

[kalee99]

Hi all,
Thought it was time I put a post on here!
Just bought a Hallicrafters SX24 in a sorry state.
Hope to restore it over the next few weeks/months. Will start by de rusting then on to the electronics. I think I have been lucky as this one seems to have the 240V option on the transformer :-)
Will keep updating as I progress.

Paul.

[Michael Watterson]

A lovely machine.

Will you "make do" with the warped and discoloured (Celluloid?) windows or replace them?

[kalee99]

Hi,

No I will replace them with a polyestar material. It is indeed celluloid and will make a nice flash in the garden when I set light to it after making templates from them (allowing for shrinkage).

Paul.

[kalee99]

Hi all,

Now digging my way into the set. have dismantled it and de rusted the chassis with Navel jelly. I have removed the S meter for attention as the scale is rotted away. Movement is intact so made a new scale on Photoshop and printed it on translucent printing media so the rear mounted bulb will still illuminate it.
Quite pleased with the results.
Re strung both tuning dials, now starting on re capping the chassis. Did a mains test on the transformer while all the valves were out and happy to say all voltages are ok and no heating up. The hidden mains filter capacitor went bang as expected so I now know where it is (or was) for replacement with an X2 type
Enjoying the work very much.
Paul.

[kalee99]

Hi all,
Have re-capped the chassis, de-rusted everything and got the set working very well. I then had a big choice to make; To either leave the cabinet as it was or repaint it and use the new decal water slide decal paper to replace the printing. The new decal paper may be of interest to members as it is now possible to print in white using an ordinary laser printer!
I decided there was no point in spoiling the ship for a half penny of tar, so I repainted and created new lettering on photoshop. I re did the warped tuning and band spread dials as well.
I am very pleased with the results and am amazed at how good the set now looks an plays.
My next project for the decal paper is to find a set with a broken glass dial and see how this new media sticks to glass?
Paul.

[Michael Watterson]

Looks great.

Where did you get the waterside /decal paper and how does it work? Is it a two step process?

[kalee99]

Hi,
Yes the water slide paper is very good and must be quite new because I have looked for it for previous projects over the years and what I bought was most unsatisfactory.
I bought it on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 1275919792

It is sold for model makers and is only for laser printers. It looks just like a rather thick semi glossy paper. Glossy being the printing side, you just prepare your graphics on your computer to look like what you want the final result to look like and get the scale right to fit your job.
With my Brother printer I had to select “bond paper”, as all the other settings gave a smeared result.
Then it’s just a case of carefully cutting out your decal, dropping it into a bowl of tepid water until it loosens from the backing. Then slide it off onto the job. I found they need a good overnight to dry out, as they look rather thick when first applied but when dry they are almost flush to the surface. I like to apply a coat or two of clear spray varnish to be certain of durability.
I am well chuffed with the results and will have no hesitation in using this amazing decal paper again.
Paul.

[kalee99]

Hi Andy,

No you just print as normal. So I made my decal like the one attached here. this is a low res' of the exact one I used. I only had to scan my background colour that I painted the cabinet to get an exact match. The lettering is just as you see it. It was hard for me to get my head around it but it works very well.
Paul

[rob t]

So that is all printed in black but comes out white?
Rob T

[Michael Watterson]

Maybe he has a colour laser and printing blue on white background decal paper?

There *IS* a process to do White, Gold, Copper, Silver etc on Toner using a laminator. It works just about with transparencies that are printed black toner. My decal paper works perfectly, but only whatever the laser prints (mine is black) and is clear background for glass etc, it doesn't work with the thermal transfer foil as ALL the surface goes sticky in laminator. You can get white background decal paper. Then with a colour laser you can match an opaque background, but it's no use for clear/ transparent glass.

[kalee99]

So that is all printed in black but comes out white?
Rob T

No, it is dark blue ground with white writing. the decal is opaque so has a white background.
They do a clear one for glass decals but I have not tried that one yet.
Paul.

[Michael Watterson]

The problem with a Clear Decal is that only a couple of Alps printers can print white. See my Sky Emperor thread.