GEC BC5445

[Andrewausfa]

Some of you may have read the story on VRRR about my BC5445 where I'd just got the cabinet ready to paint when the shelf it was on collapsed and it ended up smashed on the floor. Anyway, I bought another one at a recent BVWS auction as I love the styling.

As you may know these sets have a Bakelite cabinet with fake wood grain painted on the end. On many of these sets the paint breaks down and crumbles off easily. Such was the set I bought recently, with one side of the cabinet almost without paint and the other pretty good. The speaker cloth was also rotten. I decided to have a go at re-creating the missing woodgrain but not to restore the set to 'as new' as I'd have to remove both painted sides and create a whole load of work.

The bare side was sprayed gold, then several mixes of oil paint were painted on using a technique called 'sponging', other layers were added using a fan brush.

Left side original, right side new.

Andrew

[Tedzed1]

Hi Andrew, I love these sets, wish I still had mine and not sold it.
Very ingenious way to effect the repair. looks good, I like it

[Pilot Mariner]

Hi Paul

I have a scrap one of these that could probably be restored which you are welcome to if you want it.

Mark

Hi Andrew, I love these sets, wish I still had mine and not sold it.
Very ingenious way to effect the repair. looks good, I like it

[Tedzed1]

Thanks Mark, I will take you up on your offer. :D

[Robert G0UHF]

Great result Andrew, it looks fresh from the factory!

I have a soft spot for this particular model. It was the first set I ever restored back in 1984, bought for the princely sum of 75p from a now long gone local junk shop. I still have it in my collection.

Fortunately with mine the painted wood grain effect was still quite good and just needed a careful clean.

Many years later I read somewhere that this model could also be bought new in just plain bakelite for a cheaper purchase price.

So rather than recreate the grain effect it is also acceptable to remove the paint altogether and polish the bakelite underneath instead as both types of finish are original.

However, I personally think the grain effect to be much more attractive and well worth the effort of restoring as you have done.

Excellent work!

Kind regards

[Mark R]

Nice one Andrew, great job!

cheers Mark

[Retired]

Hi,

Very well done Andrew and what a lovely looking set.

Kind regards, Col.

[Yorkie]

Excellent Andrew! The speaker grille looks as good as new too. Interesting that the GEC chose to disguise the Bakelite to make it look like wood. Bakelite radios and other Bakelite products seem to be quite sought after these days, and I wonder how many people appreciate that in its day, Bakelite was not generally highly regarded, but seen as a mass produced utilitarian product, and for radios, inferiour to wood, but it helped keep prices down and doesn't provide a home for woodworm!

Bakelite did have the advantage that it could be moulded into shapes that couldn't be made in wood - perhaps the best example being the KB 'Toaster'. (Tooling must have been hugely expensive though). Many Bakelite radios towards the end of the 50s were sprayed in brighter colours to disguise the fact that they were Bakelite. Melamine later displaced Bakelite for such things as plates, bowls and similar domestic items.

[Andrewausfa]

Thanks gents. Yes, GEC did a few different sets with painted ends, such as the BC5444 and 5347 which are very similiar to the 5445 in style. The one I'd like to get hold of is the BC5639.

I quite like the sets GEC put out post-war until mid-50's in general though and I'm always on the look out for them, some of the designs have a unique charm about them

Andrew