Restoration Notebook: The Story of the Broken 38-12CBI

In January 1938, new versions of Model 38-12 became available. One was in a brown Bakelite cabinet, while the other was in an ivory Plaskon cabinet. These Plaskon Philcos have become very collectible in recent years.

In June 2007, I won an online auction for a Plaskon 38-12CBI. The next six photos show how it looked when it arrived at my home.

The photo above shows how the 38-12CBI looked upon removal from the box it was shipped in. No packing material whatsoever was used; this very fragile set was merely stuck into a box, wrapped only in this Home Depot shopping bag, and handed over to the USPS gorillas.

You can tell even in this photo that the set is obviously damaged.

Sad. So very sad.

To say I was angry was an understatement.

This clearly illustrates what happens when you stick a fragile old radio in a cardboard box, with no padding or packing at all, and expect it to arrive at its destination undamaged. It isn't going to happen, folks!

Two years went by while the broken 38-12 sat in a closet. Then in October 2009, I decided to attend a radio swap meet in Nashville, Tennessee. They were holding a contest as part of the meet. One of the categories was an "Oops" category, which had to do with damaged radios you couldn't bring yourself to throw out.

I thought if nothing else, my poor 38-12CBI would be perfect for that.

It won third prize in the "Oops" category.

Meantime, I ran into an old friend, Gary "Rabbitt." I asked him if he thought he would be able to do something with this badly broken cabinet. He agreed to take a look at it.

The following photos were taken by Gary as he turned the ugly duckling back into a beautiful swan.

Fortunately, all of the broken pieces were with the radio. So Gary's first job was to gather the broken pieces in preparation to glue them back into place.

Here, Gary has glued the broken pieces back into place on the cabinet.

A view of the right side of the cabinet, which suffered the most damage.

This is how the inside of the cabinet looked after the pieces were glued back in place.

Here, Gary is roughing up the surface inside, in preparation for reinforcement of the cabinet where it was broken.

The surface has now been roughened on the inside where the breaks were.

Now, the breaks will be reinforced with fiberglass resin and fiberglass cloth, to give the cabinet strength where it had been broken.

Gary begins to apply the resin...

...and when he is finished and the resin and cloth has dried, this is the result.

Gary painted over the repaired area on the inside with black paint which matched the original paint used inside. This way, the repairs will not be visible from the inside or the outside when the chassis is back in the cabinet.

The first coat of primer is applied after the breaks have been filled and sanded on the outside.

After final filling and sanding, more primer was applied. Now, it is ready to be painted.

Because the cabinet was so badly damaged, painting is the only solution to make this radio look like it did originally.

The first coats of paint having been applied, the 38-12CBI cabinet is beginning to look like a nice Plaskon cabinet once again.

Gary's "after" shot of the radio, after reinstallation of the grille cloth, chassis and knobs and just before he shipped it back to me.

It looks fantastic! You can't tell it was ever damaged.

And here is the 38-12CBI, back at my house and still looking great!

Not long after I received the radio back from Gary, I restored the chassis. That was a very simple job, unlike what Gary went through putting that cabinet back together!

I still need to get a new dial cover, and paint the knob which had been broken, and which Gary also repaired.

In the photo above, with the radio in operation, you can see a faint glow above the dial. That is the dial lamp behind the Plaskon causing that effect.

With the lights out, you can see the glow above the dial more clearly.

I am greatly indebted to Gary Rabbitt for all of his hard work in putting this 38-12CBI cabinet back together. Without his efforts, this radio might have become fodder for the dumpster. But instead, it is once again a showpiece for my collection. Thanks, Gary!