Brought this home yesterday. It’s in quite a state and missing a few things. I don’t have Colin’s skills so not sure how far I can go with it. Steel tank, hex nuts, can’t see any clue to model or date. Thought yesterday paint was brown, today in daylight looked more grey but in pic think it looks brown again.
From the hood colour, it'll be some variant of brown, Jean. Because of the war, the exact shades varied a bit. From memory, the brown and cream colours were introduced in July 1944 - Ian told us the exact date and manufacturer in his first post here. Vapalux 300 - steel tank... See also his book - page 25. Blurb Books UK I've two of these in rather better condition - brass and steel tanked versions - the steel tanked one can be seen in the post above...
Yep as David said Vapalux 300. The enamel hood actually looks very good. I have restored both versions using the rustoleum paint advised by Colin G. The steel version is a bit more problematic due to rust. Definitely worth restoring.
@Jean J Jean, if you decide to "branch out" into lanterns, stick with one type; Vapalux/Bialaddin! These are great lanterns and an easy fettle. I made a mistake years ago by not sticking with one type. I branched out and after well over 300 lanterns there's no turning back! Nightmare!
I really don’t think I will George and I don’t know what possessed me to buy this one. Yes, I actually paid money for it, must have been because of the poor light in the barn. I think the stoor on top saved the brown hood a bit, that’s certainly the best bit.
@Jean J Jean, overall it's not bad at all. Nice lantern and well worth restoring. I don't know what you paid for it but you seem to have a good eye for a bargain so give restoration a shot! The top in really in fine shape.
As far as I can see, that's a diamond in the rough, @Jean J . A clean up alone would make a lot of difference...you knew that. @Gary Waller Your lantern might be looking better now than when it was new, except maybe for some chipping on the hood.
@MYN yes, those original hoods in good condition are hard to come by and I’m yet to find a suitable reproduction.
You'll need a plate-type pre-heater complete with 'wick', a set of seals and a mantle. Probably a vapouriser, too...
@Jean J if you want help with the restoration I'll be very happy to lend a hand. When things calm down a little I'm sure we'll be over and I can take whatever parts you'd like me to work on.... maybe the fount and frame?
Looks like a good find @Jean J . Wish I had the skills to do justice to a lamp like that. Talking of skills, great work @Gary Waller
Jean, in the lower rim of the cage you might find 'Vapalux Hallifax' plus some patent numbers stamped. Many brass ventilators at that time went without any embossing, and only the lamps for the military had the crowsfoot and year stamped into the lower rim. The brown top indicates a lamp intended for a civilian market; perhaps under the present paint some traces of brown paint could show up. This Vapa 300 has the then new style collar (1944 and on), first in steel, then in brass, that is, one triangled hole instead of the previous vertical slits. This warrants a regular cylindrical glass introduced from early '45, so no hole in it. Most Vapa 300's of that era have no markings on the glass. This lamp is the most sparingly marked model, perhaps dictated by wartime production. They were furnished with the same cup preheater as its forebears; the dish variety was introduced with the later Vapalux 300X. A fine project you found, and well worth the effort and money you might invest further. Good luck and enjoy! Mike
Found it: a brown Vapa 300 offered for sale for a long time now on the 'bay, likely because the seller has misgivings about shipping it to civilised countries........ or the price too steep for a spoiled local market. However, the point is this lamp as an illustration (not too many about) for Jean her project. But it would, when purchased for this project, directly make a very presentable complete brown lamp in original condition, and for a very nice grey lamp with blending top in the end as well.
I finished cleaning, stripping and de-rusting the fount and frame and then painted them with Rust-Oleum Claret Wine. The steel was in a bad state... even worse than it first appeared and the original paint - the bits that were left - were incredibly hard to remove! Nothing worked, even my go-to vicious paint stripper so I had to use mechanical methods which is something I try to avoid. In the end it ended up looking ok I think. I didn't want to use filler to smooth the imperfections as I'm never sure it won't end up becoming loose so I used plenty of coats of paint plus a fuel-proof clear lacquer. Here's the end result... I went back and cleaned the brass rods and the top ring to complete the effect.
@ColinG You sure have done an exceptional job of the paint restoration. It looks a treat. Cheers Pete
The paint job certainly looks great. A note about paint-stripping:- There a some cured paints which are very resistaint to all sorts of commercial paint strippers. Even with the high VOC methylene chloride(dichloromethane) types. Apparently, these age-cured paints have high insoluble filler contents and relatively low in resin binders.
Thanks guys. I use a buffing wheel to polish the brass but you need to remove any thick crusty deposits first. I even tried burning the paint off with a blow torch but it melted into a black mess that still wouldn't budge! I wondered if the paint might have been epoxy based? It doesn't show much on the photos but the ring around the central boss was really pitted... not enough to perforate the steel plate but very rough!
