Which paint to touch up Strand lanterns?

[Stuart91]

I've picked up some second hand Strand lanterns -mainly Quartets. They were stencilled by the previous owners and it's proving very difficult to remove the lettering. If I use a paint remover powerful enough to shift the lettering, it lifts the paint from the lantern too.

 

I'm now thinking that the best course of action may be to paint over the stencils rather than try to remove them. Can anyone recommend the best paint to do this? Given Strand's demise (and current resurrection) I'm not expecting any success through official sources.

[Trunker]

It's some sort of heat resistant powder paint. Can anyone expand on this?

[neilalexrose]

I've used barbecue spray paint before now - heat resistant and available from most good paint retailers, so easy and relatively cheap to get hold of.

[Lardy Lampie]

Engine Enamel is the best as it is heat resistant. You will need to power up the light outside as the paint will smoke until its "cooked" onto the lantern.

 

Its avaliable from all good car paint stockists and car parts suppliers.

[Neil Hampson]

Cheap and cheerful. Wilkinsons barbeque paint, anout £4 a can, from surpise surprise Wilkinsons.

There is also a Plasticote version BBQ paint about £7 a can. available from B&Q and most hardware stores. The Plasticote is good for at least 400deg C but it does need a good 24 Hours to cure off and will need to be 'baked on'

For small touch ups the engine enamel works well and dries much quicker, but it depends on how good you want the finish as you will always see the brush marks.

when I have used the engine paint on lanterns like the Patt23 I have 'dabbed' the paint on giving a textured appearance that was in keeping with the other paint finishes on the lanterns.

[Biskit]

Cheap and cheerful.

 

On the subject of cheap... for my lanterns I use satin-black car paint, the kind of stuff used for the mainly-out-of-sight bits of a car which just need painting discreet black. It is approximately the same looking finish as Thomas par cans, Strand Quartet etc. No 'official' temperature rating, however I've never had any smells or fumes etc even from heavily used items. Wouldn't use it inside a lamp-house though!

 

The best bit... £17 for 12 x 400ml cans, which is £1.42 per can, from Beal Workshop Supplies (Morley, West Yorkshire). They also sell grey primer spray for the same price.

 

Ben.