My new repro D2 Case

[SpookyDad]

Guys. Here is a project I have been working on for a while. I have run out of paint and waiting on 1944 Militaria to ship me more.

The case is built with steel bands around the outside attached with flush set, solid rivets. The panels are a sandwich of 30 gauge galvanized steel with a layer of English oak veneer in the middle. The next one will be made out of Aluminum with veneer centers. The latches are steel and functional and I am working on the cover for it right now. The back pad is made as per my original but filled with poly fiberfill but I am working on getting some horsehair for the next one.

SpookyDad

[Kris]

Very nicely done !

[mboyd]

Lettering

Great job!!! How did you get the lettering to stand out on white, with a very fine paint brush or how? Mike

[SpookyDad]

This is a very early casting that I have had for a long time. It was cast in white resin. I carefully scraped the paint from the smaller letters revealing the white resin. On the larger ones, I just painted the cavity by hand with white paint.

Neil

[SpookyDad]

Here are some pictures of the finished case:

[Funksammler]

Nice one, where did you find the lettering? Are they transfers?

regards,

Funksammler

[SpookyDad]

Nice one, where did you find the lettering? Are they transfers?

regards,

Funksammler

My wife is a scrapbooking fanatic. She has a computer controlled cutter that will cut adhesive vinyl letters. It is called a Quickutz Silouette and it will do any TrueType font or other images. The only restriction is that the maximum width is 8 1/2". The vinyl comes on a roll so you can have as long a string of text as you like.

I didn't like the idea of having vinyl letters stuck on so I painted the cover flat black first, then stuck the letters on. After the ordnance tan paint went on I removed the letters revealing the black color underneath. I was a bit too eager and the paint hadn't hardened enough, so there are some tiny scratches in the paint where I picked off the letters.

SpookyDad

[DennyB]

Is this for display only or does it have a functional radio inside? This looks great, I am sure that you could sell these to reenactment units should you decide to start producing them en masse.

[SpookyDad]

In the first set of pictures (partially painted) I have my personal D2 faceplate. It has connections for a modern GRMS radio. In the fully painted pictures, I have replaced it with a blank unfinished casting. I put it on ebay with the option of purchasing the faceplate so I didn't want to show my own faceplate in it.

I planned to make more of them but I only got $349 for the case, cover and back pad. Since I don't own a chinese sweatshop, this isn't a good return on my time. I am rethinking whether or not to keep producing them. The battery boxes are even more work.

Neil

[DennyB]

I must say that you do outstanding work!

[cTapocTa]

Neil,

good job on that box! Can I ask you are you sure there was a horse hair inside the original back support? I have an original piece but do not dare to pop the leather cover. My upholstery guy is telling me he doubts very much there is enough space to fit in a horse hair and might be just filled with cotton felt.

Mikki.

[csmagdo]

Do you have these characters as a set? (TTF or OTF or so...)

Tnx: Csaba

[SpookyDad]

Do you have these characters as a set? (TTF or OTF or so...)

Tnx: Csaba

Since making this particular case, I have learned how to make silkscreen stencils. I now do my lettering with silkscreens. It really isn't that hard to do. So I don't have the letters.

I could have her cut some out if you would like to go this route.

Neil

[SpookyDad]

Neil,

good job on that box! Can I ask you are you sure there was a horse hair inside the original back support? I have an original piece but do not dare to pop the leather cover. My upholstery guy is telling me he doubts very much there is enough space to fit in a horse hair and might be just filled with cotton felt.

Mikki.

Thank you for the compliment. The original that I restored had both horsehair and a straw-like material. I have both and quite frankly, I would never use that combination again unless it was a restoration of an original. The straw-like material I have came from a 1930's wagon seat and the horsehair is of a similar vintage. I have two back plates that have only remnants of the leather remaining. They have bits of horsehair trapped between the leather and the plate.

I always do something different from the originals on all my repro stuff so that someone doesn't try to sell my repro as an original. Since the padding is hidden, I use a foam block on the repro's that I make. It wouldn't take too much effort to check that it was foam and not horsehair.

Neil

[cTapocTa]

I believe they had to incorporate the use of straw together with horse hair to make the padding firmer as horse hair but itself is very soft and would not do much by itself as padding is very thin.
Was your original back support plate made from aluminum or steel?