Pilot 'Little Maestro'

[dennishoy]

Every so often, something comes up and you honestly have to question the mentality of some folk.

This 'Little Maestro' was rescued for spares recently.
The decorative work beggars belief.

The white plastic case has been painted black with what looks like bituminous paint using a large paint brush. The knobs have been painted over, likewise the edges of the back panel.

I'd hate to have this muppet as my decorator.

Now for your thoughts, please; I personally don't think it is worthy of restoration as removal of the paint will be difficult, easpecially on the back panel. The scale will have to be replaced too.

Any comments?

   

   

[Mark R]

Oh dear that is a mess! Chassis might be ok?

cheers Mark

[Joe]

A dial scan and service details are in The Archive.

The paint will come off the case with Nitromors and you'll be surprised how well it come up as, rather than damage it, it seems to do Bakelite good. Check what the knobs are made of first before trying it on those though.

The ferrite aerial is on a board which should be screwed to the back. It obviously isn't but hopefully it's still inside.

As Mark says, internal pictures would be nice.

One point to note: If the dial lamp blows the chassis goes live.

- Joe

[dennishoy]

Joe/Mark R, thanks for the encouragement.

I've removed the back and will have a go at restoring this first.
It's all there so I will try and get it working.

Silly question perhaps, but are the the three knobs supposed to just pull off or have I missed something ?
They seem (too) tight !!
Thanks.

[Joe]

They WILL pull off but have your Weetabix first!

- Joe

[Mark R]

Piece off boot lace behind them just to get a bit of extra torque.

[dennishoy]

Thanks guys.... all now off and the chassis is out.
Oh dear.... just discovered that the dial glass should be clamped inside the case, not Araldited to the outside of the front of the case. now even more of the gold stuff has decided to stick to the case rather than the dial glass. Good stuff Araldite (when used properly Grrr !!).

Also found a loose capacitor floating around under the chassis.
I'll post some pictures tomorrow when we have some light; this will keep me busy for a while.

Thanks again.

[dennishoy]

Joe, thanks for adding the dial scan to the archive.
Your one is different to mine, so unless someone has already 'repaired' this one, I'll give it a go.

It's this one(minus the Araldite !!).

   

[Yorkie]

I'm fairly sure I've got one with that dial Dennis, so when I get chance to have a furtle about in the loft, I'll see if I can find it and scan it.

I think it's one of the more arttractive dials in the Little Maestro range. This model did actually leave the factory in a range of colurs sprayed over the Bakelite as it very much went out of fashion as it looked so sombre. When I was a kid in the 40's Bakelite was never really highly regarded and was often seen as an inferior 'mass produced' substitute for wood, though at least it doesn't get woodworm, and if treated with care, is very durable.

The one that I have is in a gaudy turquuiose colour which I thought was a DIY 'paint job', but I later found it was a standard colour. I got an aerosol colour matched for it, but have yet to renovate the radio. (I'm presently dithering over whether to next tackle a 1930s Ekco A77, which would be a major total stripdown. My interest has been re-awakened as Robert Darwent recalled that I had one with a poor dial, and he alerted me to the fact that Ben Dijkman in the Netherlands has now produced a dial for the A77 at a reasonable 25 Euro).

[Joe]

You could re-do yours in Malachite Green and Sunshine Yellow, Dennis.

- Joe