My first Tilley x246 Guardsman Feb 1960, fettled up to a working condition. I intent to use this as a working lamp, but will improve it over time. The original hood is a bit tatty so have used my x246b hood for test purposes. Any advice on what paint to use on the frame to protect from rust and withstand the heat?
If you don't light it very often, I'd be tempted to leave it as really doesn't look that bad. Lot's of Guardsman lanterns have led hard lives and the frames have become rusted to hell and back, particularly up here on the West Coast of Scotland. When that's happened you don't have a lot of choice and a complete de-rust and paint is needed, but yours looks worth preserving as it is. Maybe a coat of clear lacquer to protect the speculum plating, but I doubt I'd bother. You've found yourself a nice example.
Looks like a standard Tilley ‘gold’ painted tank. @mauld Colin’s right about its good condition and I’d not bother about using heat-resisting paint for the frame if you did decide to paint it. It doesn’t get hot enough to require it, though that on a Tilley CS56 stove does, and its gloss black stock colour justified using an auto brake caliper paint to restore it on my example - caliper paint stands up to the heat well. John
@ColinG @presscall Thanks for your advice, I cleaned the frame with a wire wheel, it had gold paint on it and was rusty at the top so i'd like to protect it from further rust. The tank has some names scratched into it, so could do with a repaint or back to brass. All that in due course i'll just enjoy using it for now especially as the nights are fair drawing in.
Aye, lighting one of my grand old lights in the evening is a pleasure my wife and I have enjoyed, sometimes while we watched an old B&W movie! As for pain, oddly enough, one of the nicer gold paints I've found for spraying Tilley's and other lanterns is SuperDec Gold. It's pretty cheap and they sell it in our local hardware shop in Fort William. Recently I've started adding a top coat of fuel resistant clear lacquer, as some spray paints are attacked by the paraffin.
@ColinG Is that Highland Hardware, or Marshall and Pearson for paint? My daughter lives in "The Fort".
Marshall and Pearson's stock the SuperDec in a range of basic colours including gold. For a better range of specific colours like the Antique White I used on the Coleman 169, I used Painter's Touch from LBS (Lochaber Building Supplies) which is on the Ben Nevis trading estate. That's also where I get the Claret Wine paint that I use for older Vapalux models.
@ColinG I looked at marshall and pearsons web site and they do an enamal version of brass for £5.75, small can though. PlastiKote – Fast Dry Project Enamel Aerosol | Marshall and Pearson Wikes do the same paint for £8 Plastikote Fast Dry Enamel Aerosol Spray - Brass 100ml | Wickes.co.uk My daughter joked that it would be cheaper for me to get the bus from Edinburgh to Fort William buy the paint from Marshall and Pearsons then back by bus on the same day than it is to buy it from Wikes. I have the older persons buss pass but you have to pay £1 to book a seat on the bus, so 25p saved. I think that's taking thrift to the extreams.
Ha ha, that made me laugh! I'm now eligible for a bus pass and applied for the card so I could in theory get free travel, but jumping in the car is just too easy! I've seldom used the plastikote spray enamels so I had a look at the links you posted. Be warned, these are blooming small tins - 100g vs 400g for a regular sized spray can and they don't go far! Marshall and Pearson's generally stock SuperDec but maybe they don't put it on their website. Next time you visit FW to see your daughter, we'll have to meet up. You could even pop over to my place and we can be proper lantern geeks!
I read this advice while preparing my Guardsman frame for painting. I used a quality metal paint (Maston Hammer Metal Paint (Smooth)) according to label directions and let it dry/cure for over 48 hours before using the lantern. What a disaster! The paint literally started bubbling on the “ears” of the frame. I snuffed out the lantern, let it cool, and then found that my original 171 glass was fused onto the lower ring of the frame due to the paint having melted. It was nearly impossible to extract the glass from the frame without breaking the glass, and then it took a good 30 minutes with hot soapy water and a scrubbing pad to “chisel” the paint off the glass. I then had to sand and ultimately invest in a soda blaster to remove the paint from the frame so I could paint it the correct way with heat resistant paint, which I would have done to begin with had I not read the claim here that such paint was unnecessary. So, to the OP, if you’re still making up your mind about painting your frame, please consider my experience so you can avoid the same mistakes. FWIW I used Maston Heat Resistant 600 deg. C paint according to label instructions (including baking the painted frame in the oven at 200 deg. C for an hour).
Thanks @Jaska for the advice, I've already painted it with standard paint but haven't got to the firing up stage yet. I saw this thread Rusty Tilley X246A frame - what's the best course of action? and liked the look of the finish rustoleums chrome paint gave, I think I could apply a VHT satin clear coat over it VHT Flameproof™ Coating -- High Heat Coating So I may be repainting before firing up.
All I can say is be very cautious. I took the time to ask Maston for their advice about spraying their heat resistant paint over the metal paint I’d already applied, and here is their response. It makes sense to me that you can’t leave a paint that will soften due to extreme heat under a coat(s) of heat resistant paint. In my case the metal paint was extremely difficult to remove. It wouldn’t even come off with liberal amounts of paint remover, which represents yet another expense I incurred as a result of painting with non-heat resistant paint. If I were you I’d do whatever it takes to “unpaint” your frame and then paint it with appropriate paint.
@Jaska Sorry you had that happen to your paint job, but not having used that specific brand of paint when painting a Tilley lantern frame I can only report what I’ve found to be the case with the paint I’ve used. Glad you reported your experience however and it does vindicate playing it safe and using a heat-resisting paint, I acknowledge. John
Having now done many lantern and stove cages, bottom plates, and frames, I offer the following advice based on studied observation; 1. Heat resistant paint (baked at 200°C) is fine if you can get it in the right colour and finish, and you have the means to bake it properly to 200°C. 2. Heat resistant paint that requires “staged” heating (going through different temperatures) is also fine but sometimes fails to cure properly. 3. Automotive paint that is usually baked for an hour at 65°C or 95°C is also fine, as long as you follow the instructions. 4. Automotive “ceramic” paint and calliper paint is also fine, but I still bake mine at 65°. 5. If you want a paint that provides a galvanised finish and appearance, I’ve found one in Australia that works extremely well on frames such as Coleman lantern frames. I still bake it at 65°C even though the instructiond don’t say so. 6. Tilley use to bake their paint in an “infra red” oven (there’s a photo here somewhere). I don’t know what temperature but I’m assuming well below the melting point of solder. 7. Paint in direct contact with flame will fail, as will paint on hoods and vents. Cheers Tony
