MK
Well-Known Member
For many moons I've been on the look out for one of these beautiful lamps. Some people pay silly money but my pockets aren't that deep. My fortune changed at the end of a phone call to a friend who loves Sci-Fi. I said, "By the way, I'm looking for a Saturn lamp from the 1939 World's Fair. I know this is shooting the moon, but if you ever run across one..." It just so happened a friend of his who handles estate auctions had one available and offered for my friend to buy it. But he passed because the base of the lamp had been painted grey and had enough projects going on and didn't want to take on another. I was very excited to hear this...until he discovered that this was a a year ago. We both agreed that the lamp was long gone. Nevertheless he messaged his friend. As it turned out, no one bid on the lamp at auction so his friend's mom bought it. And she was willing to sell it. The planet was green but as I said, the base was opaque grey inside and out. They were kind enough to take a bit of solvent and removed a little paint on the inside of the cone shaped base and discovered it was translucent and slightly frosted. I was confident that I could restore the proper green color.
It was a paint removing the grey paint. Especially in the corners of the steps. My first attempt to paint it was based on a thread here that the guys used Krylon Stained Glass spray paint in Summer Green. That guy painted the planet as well as the base, so it was ok. My goal was to keep the planet's original paint and match the base. Summer Green was not easy to find. Walmart's website was about the only source. After all that I found Summer Green to be too vibrant. I removing the paint on the outside be left the light mist of it inside the cone. That alone helped a lot. Then I tapped off the bottom edge to keep it almost transparent and sprayed just a little of Krylon Stained Glass Sea Foam Green and just a bit of a limy yellow Rust-oleum. The latter is very potent. In the wrong hands it would be too much. But it was a fab touch in matching the planet. At any rate, my Saturn Lamp itch is scratched. I hope this saves some steps for the next guy.
It was a paint removing the grey paint. Especially in the corners of the steps. My first attempt to paint it was based on a thread here that the guys used Krylon Stained Glass spray paint in Summer Green. That guy painted the planet as well as the base, so it was ok. My goal was to keep the planet's original paint and match the base. Summer Green was not easy to find. Walmart's website was about the only source. After all that I found Summer Green to be too vibrant. I removing the paint on the outside be left the light mist of it inside the cone. That alone helped a lot. Then I tapped off the bottom edge to keep it almost transparent and sprayed just a little of Krylon Stained Glass Sea Foam Green and just a bit of a limy yellow Rust-oleum. The latter is very potent. In the wrong hands it would be too much. But it was a fab touch in matching the planet. At any rate, my Saturn Lamp itch is scratched. I hope this saves some steps for the next guy.
