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Just scored a "robin's egg blue" 500

Started by Rokumoncat, May 05, 2015, 10:02:05 AM

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Rokumoncat

Hi All,

I just scored a powder blue 500 on the e-pay place. Seller assured me that it was really blue (the dial appears brown faded). I hope that this is not (once again) a painted black phone. Had that happen several times before. The only other genuine powder blue 500 (non-modular) that I have won arrived shattered. Keeping fingers crossed as this will fill in one of the 'holes' in my 'easy' phone collection.

Best,

Joe

TelePlay

#1

jsowers

If it's the one John posted, you have good news and bad news. Good news is that it looks like it's all aqua blue plastics and not black plastics painted aqua blue. Bad news, and it may not be too bad, is that the housing is painted and the handset and dial face are not painted, which is why they're faded.

If you look at the bottom edge of the housing in the auction picture of the base, and zoom in, you can see the original faded aqua blue color and some paint dripped over the edge. You can also see a refurb sticker on the bottom from 1973. That was an era when they used thin paint sometimes. There were several refurb shops, so each one could have used different paint methods. By thin, I mean the paint comes off with denatured alcohol and a paper towel. You can test it in a hidden area like the handhold at the rear and see if the paint comes off.

You could also leave the paint on and treat just the handset and dial face and see if you can reduce some of the fading and make them match. If you look inside the handset, you should see the original aqua blue color.

Good luck in whatever you try to do and I hope it arrives safely. There are lots of posts on getting plastics back to their original color on this Forum. Others may speak up with what they did to aqua blue. I haven't done anything to that color.
Jonathan

podor

I sanded and buffed a light blue 2851 that was badly discolored. It took forever, especially since I'm picky. The results were great, except for the hand set. The underside was tough, trying to make keep the Bell Systems Property wording in tact. It's better, but not perfect.

savageje

I bought one in that color a few years ago and the whole thing was badly discolored.  I sanded that thing for what seemed like forever.  It polished up pretty nicely, but there were some of the tighter spots on the phone (inside and around the handset cradle, inside the handset) that I just couldn't get rid of all of the discoloration.  It really is a great color when it comes back to life.

Rokumoncat

Hi All,

That indeed is the phone that I won. I am keeping fingers crossed that it is painted with the "thin" paint. I will get some Everclear and remove the paint. If it is Polane, I will be sanding... and sanding... and sanding. I do need a light blue phone for my phone collection. The good news is that I have a new buffing motor, (my wife bought it for me) and have gotten pretty good at preliminary polishing with a loose buff and plastic polish. Then I hand finish with Novus polish. One thin that I have done in the past is covered the Western Electric / Bell system property on the handset with duct tape cut to match the area where the logo is. Not a perfect solution, but keeps the lettering from "pulling".

Best,

Joe

WEBellSystemChristian

#6
I know I'm OCD about paint removal, but why remove the perfect, fade-free paint that's covering up a probably faded plastic housing in the same color? Trust me, this paint is Polane, and I have passed on several rare phones (like a Rose beige 500 that ended up going for $15 on ebay) because they were covered in strong paint that wasn't the original color. This paint is probably very good quality, and since it hasn't faded, will be a good model for when you remove the discoloration on the other parts.
You will hate sanding to death, believe me! Leave the paint on, it's good quality and will polish up nicely! :o

FYI, you should try using peroxide cream to remove the discoloration. We have a few topics in the restoration section on this very topic.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford