All right another carpenter! That what I do along with the cabinet gig.

I will spray the shells, I do not paint any other way. I know it will not look vintage at all but thats Ok, if I get the color colsem thats good enough. This product is a spray only conversion varnish. I suppose you could brush it but you better be quick!

Here is a link to the stuff,

http://www.mlcampbell.com/products/categories/pigmented_topcoats/solvent_borne/postcatalyzed/stealth

I know this is not a product that can be used by everyone. I am having it made up for myself and to have ready if someone wants me to spray a drum for them.

Wow I will have to look into those products. Previously I had tried automotive paint on some test wood strips but I was getting bad chemical popping or gas outs. I am trying to get some of my veneered drums to a high gloss similar to how Sonor does at the factory.

Yeah I started out as a construction laborer and then worked my way up after I left the Army. Anyway these days I am more of a manager as a General Contractor. That was a fun license to get in Florida!

bm alkyd and thats it, dead on match for the old stuff

Sorry to bump an old thread, but it seems we're in a new world....

I tried to get Benjamin Moore N333 from two local BM dealers, and each told me a different story (different levels of competence of the employees at each, I believe), but it seems that the N333 is no longer available under that code number (or perhaps at all), and even if you could special order it as a base, you'd need a tint component, and that is also an unknown (it used to be said that "02 Bright White" was the premix colour, but now it seems everything's changed at BM). Does anyone have any real-world experience with anything current that is "the same" or at least "close enough" (I'm talking about 99.9% close) to match an otherwise matched kit? Jaghog, you said BM alkyd - do you know which one you used? Semi-gloss white? I've emailed Jack Lawton, as I figured he'd know if anyone would, but I've gotten no response yet (I know, he's a busy man), so I wanted to put it out there, here, especially since things seem to have changed, and the common InterWebs answer of "BM Regal Semi-Gloss N333" no longer appears to be "gospel."

This is for a '66 (I believe, if it really is a match for the other drums in the kit - the date code is obscured as you'll soon understand) silver sparkle 22" kick drum, which a previous owner decided to "doodle on" all over on the interior in a variety of ink pens. I've tried removing the ink using all the usual no-invasive methods, but it appears to have impregnated into the paint, necessitating a sanding through and repainting. Fun. Real fun. I'm only willing to go through all this trouble because it's clearly an original Hollywood kick and otherwise undrilled/unmolested drum, and by all evidence and accounts it's the original match in the set with at least the top toms (I believe the 16" floor tom is otherwise, but that doesn't bug me)....

Anyone? I'd start a new topic but it's really the same old topic, just BM has changed.....

I had my color studio make me a quart of paint from that number and it was not correct. I think that number is no good anymore. If I send him a drum he could match it dead on, but it would be a spray only lacquer. I would say take your drum to a paint store like Sherwin Williams and have them match it up with what ever kind of paint you want, thats the best I can tell you.

I did have a color sample here that matched very close called tena, I think, but again its lacquer.

Navaho white us also pretty close it seems to me they mite of used two whites...

I'm late to the party, but I wanted to add one comment... I read (somewhere) that Ludwig used lots of 'surplus' auto paint that it purchased cheap to use on the painted drums. If that's the case then use of oil based paints (from the auto industry) would explain the yellowing of the older drums. They must have been using the ceiling white type paint by the late 50's/60's because painted drums from that era stay white over time.

It's funny too that I accidentally discovered using the Benjamin Moore Super White because I have used Benjamin Moore paints exclusively since the early 70's. To this day I have never painted an interior surface with anything else. Tommy - I wish your family store had been around the corner all my life, I would have helped them pay the rent all these years! :D

John

Thanks for the replies. I guess I have to haul the whole bloody thing thing into a paint shop now. If I could find the idiot who scrawled inside that thing... :mad:

the only current oil paints available still from BM are satin (F235) and Hi-Gloss (K133), which are either less or more shiny than semigloss

both come in a premixed factory white (F235-01 or K133-01)

the only way to find a semigloss would be to track down an old surplus supply store or junk savager who still has VERY OLD cans of paint... you might get lucky, but i doubt it

you MIGHT get away with the HiGloss rubbed with 0000 steel wool after its cured, but you'd have to try it