Atwater Kent "Bakelite Brown" Cabinets

[Winky Dink]

I have repainted two other Atwater Kent metal-cabinet radios. I've tried five shades of brown spray paint, and none of them were a satisfactory match with the original cabinet color. Surfing various forums and websites I found one restorer who mixes his own paint, and I found a list of Atwater Kent paint colors which included "Bakelite Brown."

I haven't got the wherewithal to mix my own spray paint, but thought I'd try spraying and wet overspraying with the colors I had on hand. After much experimenting over two days, I achieved my best result with dark brown lightly oversprayed with a mist of red for the hue, and then a light overspray of black repeated until it was the right value (darkness).



I have so many layers of wet paint that it's gonna take two weeks to dry. And I never want to do this again. If someone tells me, "You can get Bakelite Brown spray paint at oldradiopaint.com," then I'll have a screaming fit.

But seriously, does anyone know of a source for a good color match in spray cans? Or does brush-painting look OK on textured surfaces?