Cliff,
If it’s any help this is my own method for repainting instrument panels like this.
As Bruce says, strip with Nitromors then thoroughly clean the bare metal with White Spirit and a Scotchbrite pad then dry with paper towels. I prefer to prime the metal with an acid-etch primer. Some Halfords stores sell “U-Pol” acid-etch which is great stuff but not always stocked for some reason. Failing that, I too have had generally good results with Halford’s own Grey Primer.
However, my preferred option is to use a coat of Halford’s “Filler Primer” either over etch-primer or even directly onto the metal. This filler primer is a little thicker, and so hides some of the scratches in the metal and is yellow which often looks a more authentic colour showing through the inevitable chips that the edges of the panel will pick up.
Now this is where I disagree with Bruce (sorry Bruce!). I speak predominantly from experience of Hunters, but I think it applies equally to other 1950s jets – I always use Halford’s Matt Black for the final coat and nothing else. Originally, the intention was to eliminate as many sources of potential reflection on the inside of the canopy from items inside the cockpit as possible. That’s why everything was matt black, the matter the better – even screw heads were painted over with matt black after instruments etc. were installed. Some of the original paint on items in my Hunter are amazingly matt, more so than I’ve been easily able to replicate. In my opinion Halford’s Satin is way too glossy. Their Matt has a very, very slight ‘sheen’ to it but seems about the best and most consistent I’ve used, having tried several different brands.
So, for what it’s worth, my advice for 1950s era panels is strip > clean > acid-etch > Halford’s yellow Filler-Primer > Halford’s Matt Black, then fill in the lettering with white (or Eau-de-Nil for Hawker stuff). If you can resist the temptation to start whacking the instruments back in (difficult I know!) then it’s worth waiting a good few days for the paint to cure before doing much more. It’ll be much harder are chip-resistant by then.
If in doubt, prime up a bit of scrap aluminium and try both the Matt and Satin and see which matches your original panel the closest.
Good luck!
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