Good point. I just checked, and no remnants, so apparently it was originally painted. I just did a bit of an archaeological dig on the paint, and was a little surprised by what I found. I took an Exacto knife and started shaving off thin layers of paint. From the top layer down, here's what I've got:[COLOR="YellowGreen"]Lime green[/COLOR][COLOR="Black"]black sparkle[/COLOR][COLOR="DarkRed"]red[/COLOR][COLOR="Silver"]white or silver[/COLOR][COLOR="Black"]black[/COLOR][COLOR="Sienna"]flat gray-ish brown[/COLOR][COLOR="SandyBrown"]wood[/COLOR]That's 6 layers of paint!I tried this excavation process in the center section of the shell and also near the edges, thinking that if it was a typical duco finish, there might also be a layer of gold paint around the middle. But as far as I can tell, that's not the case - it appears to be the same 6 layers on the whole shell. And as far as I can tell from the catalogs on this site, none of those layers match a complete original catalog finish. So this is a bit of a mystery drum, to me anyway.I'm in the middle of stripping the paint right now with 3M Safest Stripper, so I guess I'll know soon if there are any more surprises/clues.Scott
My complements on your effort with this drum I think the worse shape they start in the more rewarding feeling you get when you make it right. BRAVO!
I was wondering were the layers of each color multiple layers, as to achieve a new finished color (each a new color). Are you thinking the black (possibly the original with a gray undercoat) would probably need a thick white undercoat to go to red? Sometimes to get deeper and more interesting colors (on cars anyway) various layers of clear colors and sparkles (silver or gold) are used to get what may end up being a deep black sparkle (white primer then silver then clear red then clear black). But maybe it’s more likely to be (1. grey primer then black, then 2. white primer for the new red and possibly silver for red metallic, then 3. black sparkle all by itself, then 4. green?). Just my two cents.
I’m looking forward to seeing your restoration.