I recently finished building this one from parts ive collected Steel tank resprayed by me No pressure tit Steel cage salvaged from my parts bin Hood found at car boot sale two years ago ,dated 1943, original blue cap.
The lamp came to me with a much later military cage dated 1954 it also had a very rusty green hood from a later model and it had also been handpainted with household green paint which was peeling off, looked a bit of a basket case but as we all know these things can be sorted out. There is no lighting hole in the glass, one day I might find an original. The tank also had a dent in it about 2 cm across which I used car body filler to repair which took a lot of work to get right and a good few layers of primer filler to hide it , very pleased with the result. It's also fitted with a twin tie thorium mantle from juliands , I always tie these from the inside at the bottom it gives them a nice shape. A few more photos
Very nice job. I’m on with restoring the same lamp at the minute although mine has the pressure pip. The steel tanks do take a lot of work to get right. So far I’ve stripped the paint off, 2 pack filler, then 3 coats of primer flatting down in between coats. I’m just waiting for the RAF blue to arrive in the post..
A very nice job indeed, you must be very pleased with the end result. The cap appears to be in very nice condition,
The Vapalux is just one fine lantern! No expense spared. Excellent material! You did a fine restoration, too!
Hi Ian, I'm in the process of restoring one of these myself. The tank and frame are steel and were covered in a silver hammertone paint which had started to bubble because of the underlying rust. I'm looking for a close paint match, could I ask, what did you use? I have a rattle can of the RAF Blue/grey from BSC but it's way too dark. Thanks in advance for your help and advise
Hi Scott Here's a picture of the paint tin I used A grey primer was used as the base with several coats of the main colour, Hope this is useful to you Regards Ian.
