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Sunday 12 April 2015

A Splendid Munk

This reintegrated Olympia Splendid 33 takes its new name, the "Splendid Munk", from a little bit of banter between the Very Reverend Ted Munk and myself over visions of a green repaint job. It's supposed to be a "Wilderness green", but it looks more like an apple green here. The portable was originally cream, but the paintwork was badly worn, uneven and chipped. Worse still, someone had daubed it all over (including across the spacebar) with green liquid paper. (Yes, there was such a thing as green liquid paper, I remember it well.) It looks a bit like an Optima P1 now.
Part of the clean-up involved green (and white) liquid paper on the platen, feed rollers, bail rollers and especially the Perspex card holders. These are the usual places this stuff clings on to, like real paint, and apart from anything else it's unslightly. It's easy enough to get it off rubber surfaces with Methylated Spirits. But for the Perspex, Shellite is the only thing. Does a great job. But the holders must be taken off the machine to clean them properly. The only thing not present and correct on this machine now is the Perspex guide across the back. Otherwise it operates like a very purposeful little Olympia.

4 comments:

Bill M said...

It never ceases to amaze me how sloppy many 'typists' were with liquid paper.

Nice looking paint job.

How's yours type? I have one, but it is at the bottom of the list for a good typer, especially if compared to a Hermes Baby or a Skyriter.

Richard P said...

I like that color!

Liquid Paper is repulsive stuff, in my opinion. Never seen it in green before.

My experience has been very much the opposite of Bill M's: among those three I would put the Olympia first, then the Skyriter, then the Hermes Baby.

Ted said...

Beautifully done! I've been inspired to do a bit of repainting on a plastic SCM Cougar too - had to freshen up a badly sunbleached plastic shell. (:

I haven't heard of the stuff you're using on the clear plastic guides, but Bill down at MTE clued me in on using LPS-1 for that job. Cleans white-out right up and doesn't fog the plastic. Might be chemically similar stuff.

Rob Bowker said...

That's an inspired colour choice. It looks great and perfectly natural.