Depends upon what grit of sand blasting you would intend I think - too harsh a blasting would not be good for the
fixture. Nope, never seen any of this specific
fixture in person though I do have some black
Strand PC’s hanging on a bar of a similar age.
Never tried the sand blasting though I know there is some dentist like tools that could vary in both grit and pressure if not in using a high pressure water to do the same. Were I doing it, I might
wire brush off the loose stuff lightly, than sand what I could. Than I agree with powder coating as the best method. Otherwise, you will tend to want to sand less in removing the paint that wants to stay and more to raise some tooth to the finish of the
fixture in it being the primary concentration both of the areas with and without paint. More a question of smoothing out the junctions between paint and not paint, but also in roughing up the surface slightly to allow for the paint to have something to adhere to. Clean the
fixture perhaps with
denatured alcohol before painting also after done sanding. I’m a bid fan of the spray booth like paints auto body shops use. The place I work at uses a spray booth, but our paint is I think somewhat custom for the high temperature. Sticks just about as well as powder coating and it takes the heat almost as well. Otherwise given it needs to be high temperature paint, charcoal grill paint is the norm for use - though it would be better if you can somehow air brush the paint on than use the spray can or brush. Very hard to ensure a uniform
thickness much less mistakes with a can of spray paint.
For colors, I think between
Strand and
Altman at least, one of them still sells the olive drab color. It’s been mentioned as a replacement paint on stagecraft before but would be a hard search to find the specific posting. Still there has been past discussions on old
fixture re-hab. Given the factory paint is still sold, it would already be high temperature. Were you in the US I would just say
call Vara-Light/Dimatronics/
Hub Electric in Crystal Lake, Illinois because they
stock the old parts and no doubt the paint. Sorry no website known of, much less sources close to you.
Too bad so much of the paint is gone or I would say leave it alone. Most antiques loose their value once “fixed up.” A shame to make it black even if well done. I have my own X-Mass present someone found for me at a garage sale. A Chicago Lighting Plano
Convex to add to my Bantam Superspot - one of two known about in my area and Major brand Plano
Convex that was chopped down in length. The Chicago PC unlike the other two has some serious rust issues that will necessitate some action on my part. The other two, while the Bantam spot needed a
yoke and
gel frame much less
lens, both are in sufficient condition that they don’t require more work. Once lit a upstage scene with a
Altman 101 and the above Bantam. Hard to re-produce the graininess given off by the
lens or the ancient feeling
color temperature of the lamps with modern fixtures. Worked with a few PC beams in the past, it’s it’s own unique
category of light
fixture.
Since the Pratt
line is still very much used out there, one might check with
Strand lighting to see what they recommend, otherwise if someone in the blue room
http://www.blue-room.org.uk/ forum has mentioned their own solution.
On Mayhem’s advice, matching the coating would be great, otherwise the auto painter would be the next best solution. These guys do it for a living thus have a much better quality and knowledge on what to use than us.
Unfortunately, our powder coater works on a
flat fee so if you want something painted, it needs to wait until the next bulk of
truss is going in for the value of it. On the other
hand, our old man at the shop did set up a
electric stove in the shop and has had some amount of success in powder coating equipment himself. Were it closer to the kitchen we might use it for more than just baking coatings.
Photos of the Major and Bantam Plano
Convex fixtures from our side of the pond are on the way to Mayhem to post as a furthering of the antiques. The Bantam spot is unique due to it's
wire cooling rods above the
fixture that kind of float in space, plus it's custom use of brass colling fins and painted aluminum ones. Very kind of Art Deco
fixture. The other one known about while complete including a
lens train kit similar to that of the Pratt however was spray painted gold so it could be
lobby sculpture. Totally destroyed it's uniqueness.