Thanks Gerry. That’s a spectacular piece of work, and a fascinating article! Something for me to aspire to. I agree with your view on authenticity – there seems to be a delicate balance between functionality, appearance and integrity, and each of us will probably have to make the required compromises in each project, based on our philosophy, abilities, and the challenges the project offers. I’m picking up my first challenge on Saturday – a 1940/41 Marconi 207 cabinet radio with as yet unknown gremlins lurking within. According to the schematic there’s a 1.25V bias battery in there, which may very well be weak 🙂 and that one little item in itself poses questions. Should I put in a modern battery holder with modern battery? Should I hide a modern battery inside the existing one (if it still exists and if it’s possible)? Should I feed a bridge rectifier from the heater supply with a voltage dropper and smoothing caps to feed two series silicon diodes and forget all about batteries? I don’t suppose I’ll know which way to go until I start work on the thing! But I’ll certainly print the missing knobs. For that I use Cinema 4D on a Mac using a digital caliper for dimensions, to design exact models of the originals, then I’ll print them on an el-cheapo RepRap Prusa printer which works surprisingly well. Some post-print work will of course be required, but now that I’ve heard of high-build primer from your article, I’m fairly sure I can maintain the semblance of exterior authenticity!
