Accordion Celluloid Repair

[boxplayer4000]

On my circa. 1938 Hohner Morino a former owner had glued, what may have been a strip microphone, to the outside of the treble grille. Over time the glue has reacted with the celluloid to make it rough and dull. I started to remove the roughness with wet 1200grit emery cloth and polishing fluid quite successfully. The grille contains a white, decorative strip and I thought, wrongly, that 1200grit would not affect this strip. It was too late when I removed the wet dust rubbings that I saw that the strip had been removed as well. I need to know how best to repair the white strip and would welcome any advice readers may have. I have a small amount of white celluloid in semi-liquid form for repairs or would some kind of paint do the job?

 

[Panya37]

I believe that acrylic laquers with acetone/toluene thinner can be painted on cellolose, but - HEALTH WARNING - I have only read this on a thread, and haven't done it myself. Safest would be to get a piece of cellulose from an accordion repairer and try whatever you are going to use?

 

[JerryPH]

The hardest part is going to be to match the colour, no matter what method used.

 

[kimric]

Nail polish works well and is basically liquid celluloid if you are doing detail work. Pieces of celluloid can be bought online or from a accordion shop (if there is one anywhere near you). I have a lot of small pieces in the shop if you want to contact me.

 

[boxplayer4000]

Thanks to everybody who offered advice.
I have/use celluloid/acetone solutions for repair purposes but should have explained that the actual painting or application of whatever material was my problem. The faded white line which I needed to restore is a fraction of a millimetre thick, its a curve and I know the colour matching would have been difficult. I may just leave the defect which is slight in any case. The accordion is 70+ years old and has had restoration work done on it at some stage to reed valves and wax as well as bellows tape. It has a pleasant Scottish musette, is air-tight and is easy to play. I just need a buyer