Phonoland

I'm finally getting around to working on my AMI Continental 2. There are two plastic shrouds that are attached
to the glass dome (plus one small piece in front). Mine look like they were red at one time, as they should be, but
have faded to an almost white color.
My question is can I just paint these red or does the light shine through them for a red glow?
If they do light up, what type of paint would be used? Thank you for any help.

This is a common problem in Continental 2's. The UV content in the florescent tubes bleaches the shrouds.

When I rebuilt my C-2 in 1988 I was still working in theater tech so I just brought home some RoscoLux. This is thin color media for use on stage lighting. There are several grades and at that time the 'Lux was the toughest and designed for use with high powered quartz sources.

I simply encircles each of the two upper tubes using a sort of cherry red. This will still leave the obvious bleached area visible when unlit and there will be different field intensities between the bleached (white) and remaining red areas. Lit, however it was fine. When I sold the machine I gave the buyer a half-dozen color sleeves I'd made as replacements.

If you wish to paint it, you will need a translucent media such as: http://www.krylon.com/products/stained_glass_color/
-or similar. Often these paints are available at hobby/modeling stores.

I decided against paint because it too will eventually fade and you will just build up layers if you decide to repaint again.

Rob/NYC

Hi,i painted mine some 15 years ago with automotive paint the type used on plastic. I lightly sanded down with very fine wet and dry first then applied the spray paint. I colour was red to match jukebox. The colour has not faded over the years and still looks great,when lit up it glows an even red all over. I did apply a light coat of white primer first again for plastic surfaces. Hope this helps,
John in Spain

Thank you both for your help! The Roscolux is a great idea, but I want it to be the correct color when unlit. I ended up using the VHT red plastic tail light paint that is sold at automotive stores. The wet sanding and white primer was a good idea and worked well. I did have to spray several coats to get it the correct dark red color. Looks great and even all over.