When I saw this Shmel 4 stove (complete) on a used items portal for not much money, I did not hesitate to buy it. Already n the photos, the color of the tank seemed suspicious to me. When I unpacked it, I immediately noticed that it had been "treated" with silver plating, which came off when rubbed with a finger.Under the mounts of the coasters were preserved fragments of the original paint, which apparently did not please the previous owner. At least it did not worry me, because I like to experiment with colors. I considered choosing a color close to the original, but the desire to " make it weird" was stronger. ( I hope you will forgive me). Since somewhere here I saw an American Thermos stove in a beautiful , marine, metallic color, I wanted my Shmel to have a similar one. I prepared a paint,in which the base was a silver color and two pigments, green and blue. These paints are used in printing on metal (packaging) and are thermosetting. I then cleaned the Shmel tank. The steel was healthy, with no signs of corrosion. I degrease it well and covered it with a thin layer of adhesive varnish and dried it in the oven. Then, with a small sponge roller, I applied the first layer of paint and also "baked" at 180°C for an hour. Another layer and "baked" again. Finally, a layer of coating paint and bake again. While fixing the paint in the oven, I of course did a routine inspection of the burner and cleaning of its components. I also cleaned the burner and replaced all the gaskets, and NRV and SRV seeds. The stove is ready to work. Of course, I had a moment of hesitation before firing it up ( it looked like new) but after all, I had to put it to the test. I was not worried about the hardness of the paint, as I have already applied this kind of coating to several other stoves. Among them here. Renewing and firing the Shmel stove But just to be sure, I conducted a chemical and flame resistance test. .So I filled the tank, poured the spirit plate and fired it up. P.s. If the color scheme of the stove seems kitschy to you, consider it a reference to the 1980s. Greetings
Hi @Knee, great score and excellent well documented thread, you have done a excellent job of the Shmel 4 restoration well done there
@Knee Staniskaw you have made everything really professionally and the result speaks for itself! That’s the way to do it! Nicola
