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21-8-2022 15:15:22  #1


Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

I photoshopped an idea for painting the ribbon cover of this drab brown Optima. Do you worry about cosmetic enhancements downstream from your ownership?


- Be kind 
 

21-8-2022 18:19:51  #2


Re: Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

Hi Mike

Here are my thoughts on repainting a typewriter. If it's a common model, why not? If the paint is already pretty scuffed up or damaged, there's nothing to lose. If it's a less common model, think twice. If the paintwork is in pristine condition, why ruin the authenticity of the machine for the next person?

Optimas are quite rare in this part of the country and the paint on yours appears to be in excellent condition, why try to improve on something which is nearly perfect. Smith-Coronas on the other hand are plentiful around here and the one pictured here was badly scuffed up when I bought it. Therefore there was nothing to lose.



 


We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
 

21-8-2022 19:32:25  #3


Re: Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

Hi Mike,

I only have 2 machines that I took some paint to...my Aztec 600 and my Royal FP.  In both cases, I only repainted the ribbon cover and with the Aztec 600, the paper tray as well.  Out of 46 machines, 2 got a little repaint.

Neither machine needed any paint, but the solid green of the Aztec and the amount of grey on the Royal FP was just not appealing to me.  With a little addition of a nice ivory-cream color to both, they make me smile when I pull them out for work on my desk.

On 2 other machines, I switched space-bars to an accent color and kept the original space-bars in the cases for a future-owner.  Did this on my 1957 Royal QDL and my 1961 Olpymia SG1.  Again..solely for my own enjoyment.

I think my work is done well enough that I think these machines will find new homes easily enough when the "sand in my hour-glass" starts to run out and I need to thin-out the collection.

 

21-8-2022 19:33:35  #4


Re: Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

Hi Sky,

Wow ! That is really lovely work you did on the Smith-Corona.  Thanks for posting up your work for us to see.

 

22-8-2022 06:21:33  #5


Re: Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

Sentiments understood. That SC looks great. Looks almost like a vehicle wrap the way it follows the curves. You could type in the woods and not be noticed!

I'm still undecided, but if I paint it will be to brighten it and draw me to use it. . . and I would want to do a good job of it. As for legacy, I remember a friend of mine had a sports car and he had put one of those protective "bras" on the front. Someone commented, "so you're protecting it for the next owner?" Maybe a dumb analogy but I'm not fully caffeinated. 


- Be kind 
     Thread Starter
 

22-8-2022 08:40:39  #6


Re: Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

I love the 2-tone color offering on this Torpedo 30 which I believe is original factory paint...as there is another one on the TWDB galleries with lots of paint damage, wear, and paint fading.

I hope to be able to replicate its look, one day, on a totally otherwise trashed machine.
.

 

22-8-2022 21:17:39  #7


Re: Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

Hi Mike and Pete

You're on the right track, it's very close to a vehicle wrap, the body panels have been hydro-graphed or hydro-dipped. I got the idea after talking to a custom hydro-graph specialist at a gun show several years ago. It's a pretty good typer too, plan to get the platen re-covered some day, then it will be a sweet machine. All the best,

Sky


We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
 

23-8-2022 06:14:16  #8


Re: Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

Inventive. Would be interesting to see that technique on other restorations.


skywatcher wrote:

Hi Mike and Pete

You're on the right track, it's very close to a vehicle wrap, the body panels have been hydro-graphed or hydro-dipped. I got the idea after talking to a custom hydro-graph specialist at a gun show several years ago. It's a pretty good typer too, plan to get the platen re-covered some day, then it will be a sweet machine. All the best,

Sky

 


- Be kind 
     Thread Starter
 

23-8-2022 09:31:37  #9


Re: Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

so it is written so it is done. I think this brick red worked out ok.


- Be kind 
     Thread Starter
 

26-8-2022 07:05:41  #10


Re: Thoughts on custom painting a typewriter

Love it...love that 2-tone look. 

Do these feel/type similar to Olmypia SM 3/4 machines ? 

Do the underside of the key-tops have that spring-assist feature as the SM's do ?

 

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