Thanks Manny me too! I'll be posting pics as soon as I get them...

Mitch

I especially like the wire on the p-83! Plyers and bailing wire and a quick easy fix between set 3 and 4. Ingenuity Laughing H

Nevin

They'll end up nice. I'd fill, sand, & paint--no money, & not hard to pull off. What do you mean that the lugs were offset on the snare?........marko

Cool . Project, I love the challenge of restoration of kits like that.

Yes I think that's my plan, fill sand and paint, for the reasons you gave.

For some reason, somebody took off all the snare lugs, filled the holes, and re-mounted the lugs a little to the side of the original location. Why? :)

Anyway, I'm super interested to see where that ended up putting the snare beds...!

JC, I'll be sure to post progress pics...

Mitch

I think that you can count on the outer ply being unsuitable for a faux "natural" finish. Of course, if you're aiming at a grungy garage band look, that would be suitable. I had a similar group of old Ludwig and Slingerland drums that I wrapped in a jelly bean mix of Satin Flame wraps. That wrap is much thinner than Glass Gliiter and Sparkle wraps.

I'm hoping for more of a "rough antique" look heh. The one closeup of the tom shows some pretty open grain...along with that little gouge.

Eventually they'll probably need a wrap. Now here's a thought - I had some success fabricating gold sparkle wrap for some MIJs awhile ago, [http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=44684], and though these are Ludwigs, if the wrap isn't original, who cares who made it as long as it's durable and looks good?

The only issue I had was a certain ripple effect on the surface, which I could try to address. And now I know where to get this stuff - http://www.save-on-crafts.com/germanglitter1.html [although it appears to be out of stock lol]

Just a thought...

Mitch

DTF - Level and smooth the surfaces of the shells, paint on a base color of choice, say a light copper-tint color that resembles ginger ale, then take that bag of silver glitter and add it to some clear-coat. Spray on as many coats as it takes to give the finish some depth, then finish off with straight clear-coat. Cheap option that will produce good results.

John

John, there's a thread here or on another forum where a guy did that to perfection - buffed it to a glass-like surface. I'd need a gun and a booth and it would still feel like sandpaper lol...

The Dura-lar and Krylon glaze work great together; the outer surface is a plastic sheet, pliant when the glaze dries with the sparkle stuck to it.

Only problem last time was the wrinkle in the dry-pattern of the glue, and the gold sparkle was too fine, it was the larger silver glitter that saved it. So I might try to improve on that whole deal.

Alternately if the shells turn out smooth enough, i do love me some racing blue!

Mitch

I would cover them with real drum wrap. My experience with painting very grainy/gouged shells is that it takes a ton of work to get the shells smooth enough for paint, and its like you never get it good enough. To me it was not worth the effort when you have wrap available. And, drum wrap from Sams, precision or where-ever will have a beautiful finish that is professional looking, the drum will look like its supposed to.

I am working on a Ludwig 70's kit right now that is in the same condition of your clubbies and there is no way I would consider painting those shells. I will wrap them in veneer and stain/ lacquer them. The wrap will be a more expensive choice but in the end it will produce the best results and will be appealing to others when you go to sell it.

Not saying you don't have the skills to paint them, just saying that the wrap would be the best end result with shells in that condition.

Please keep us to date on the project.