Tommygun

I getting back to restoring my Lafette 42 and would rather use a paint chemistry that is as close to that used during the war.

So, what did the Germans use; cellulose, enamel or something else?

Cheers,

Tom.

There are some chunky, cast aluminium parts present on the frame. Will there actually be a perceivable loss of the alloy while it is soaking? Pitting or other loss? What sort of time frame might I be looking at?

Tom.

I tried that several times and it wouldn't work. However, I've just tried and it has now been rectified.

I have a feeling it might be related to cache problems with Firefox which is giving me grief with everything at the moment.

Tom.

I've just made a couple of posts which contain several spaced sentences and paragraphs but instead of coming out as I intended they have been posted as one long string of words which makes for difficult reading.

Can this be retified?

Tom.

I did a bit of research and came up with the following:

Craftmaster Paints

Min order: 1Lt @ £21.49

Chemical type: Alkyd

Granville Supplies

Min order: 1Lt @ £11-12

Chemical type: No cellulose so I think only Alkyd or 2 pack

Paint Store Ltd (Leamington Spa)

Min order: ½ Lt @ £21 for Cellulose & £15.28 for Fleet Poly. 1Lt of thinner @ £10.08 & primer @ £8.33 for Poly

Chemical type: Cellulose, Poly & 2pack

RR Motor Services

Min order: 5lt @ £45

Chemical type: ?

Supertune

Min order: ½ Lt @ £13.20

Chemical type: No cellulose

Cheers,

Tom.

Apologies about the layout. I tried to edit and it lost its spacings. Tom.

I'm currently restoring a German Lafette 42 machine gun tripod (not strictly vehicle related), however, I need some additional advice on paint and rust stripping.

Obviously I want keep costs down and I need to consider alternatives to blasting since there are parts which are a bit sensitive such as the ele/trav block, leather wipers within the cradle etc.

In regards to the paint removal I have read that vehicle and furniture restorers use Caustic Soda with great success. However, will this be effective on the remains of the German primer and paint (or what remains) and then the liberal top coat of post-war Austrian green?

When it comes to rust and stain removal my initial thoughts were to use Jenolite liquid but it is a bit pricey when I may want to soak large components. I then came across the use of Molasses and water which, according to Youtube, seems to be very effective.

Have any of you had experience of these alternate cleaning agents and how effective they are on 60/70 year old paint and rust?

Cheers,

Tom.

Thanks to you both. I'll give both a shot.

Tom.

Since I have a Lafette 42 machine tripod restoration project in the offing I thought I'd ask those who use a lot of paint.

Therefore, does anyone know where I can get sizeable quantities of German WW2 colours i.e. Red Oxide, Panzer Grey and Dunkelgelb.

There was once a company called 'The Vintage Paint Company' which had stock colours and a match-up facility, however, they seem to have disappeared.

Any ideas who may specialise in this sort of stuff?

Cheers,

Tom.

That is true. I think I signed up around then but never went anywhere with it.

Tom.

Hi, I'm Tom. Always had a lifelong interest in WW2, be that weapons, concrete, militaria or vehicles so I thought I'd stop by here and see what's going on. I have a few questions not directly related to vehicles but it is WW2 restoration related so hopefully someone can help with that.

Chin chin.