This Hermes Rocket from the year 1955 was a donation needing a bit of repair; carriage, platen, paper rollers, feet, the usual. My first thought was “parts machine”. Yet I have a fondness for the older Rockets and this little guy spoke to me. He wanted a second chance.
After I was done getting the machine into tiptop shape I began to realize the paint on the typewriter was suffering from a lot of wear. I did not want this machine to just sit and pout in the corner of the shop feeling sad about its appearance. Knowing how invigorating a nice hair cut and a shave feels, I thought a good paint job on this little guy would cheer us both up.
The machine has those understated greenish gray key tops that give this year such a grand feel. The really big question is what color to paint this wonderful typewriter. Do I paint it PINK? No. Does it want sparkly paint? No. How about a Kelly GREEN? No. . .
I know! How about one of those hammered finishes? I just painted two Selectric typewriters with hammered paint and since coming off the paint fumes I still think they are pretty snazzy. OK, that is it! A dark gray hammered finish it is.
Off to the nifty new sandblaster and away flies that nasty old finish. A little more prep and that new gray hammered finish is sublime. Even the clam shell cover got spruced up. I left the space bar with its worn patina. The wear mark is testament to the usefulness of good typewriters. I put on a purple ribbon as the typewriter is now rather Kingly in its appearance. Let me know what you think.
5438196 New platen, rollers and rubber feet.