Help with Saturn Lamp

[SCOFFMAN]

Greetings fellow prop collectors!

I just recently acquired a 1939 World's Fair Saturn Lamp off of eBay (just picked it up from the Post Office today actually.) It is in very good shape except for the blue interior paint with the images of the stars and planets - on the top half of the sphere the paint is completely gone, and on the bottom half it has deteriorated. From various pics that I have seen on the Internet and eBay this seems to be a fairly common problem as I've seen quite a few that are just plain frosted glass - only those lamps that saw very little use seem to have maintained the deep blue interior coloration (for those that were blue originally, as I know the lamps came in other colors as well; pink and green being the most other common colors.)

Here's my first question: Would anyone that owns one of these lamps be willing to take and share some detailed, close-up images of at least the top half of the sphere and the individual star, moon & planet shapes and possibly the lower half of the sphere as well, particularly if you happen to own one that has the cobalt blue interior paint? I would be very grateful if anyone could provide me pics! I'm thinking it wouldn't be too difficult to create stencils to be able to recreate the original paint job as they are fairly simple geometric designs.

Second question: What type of paint was used in the originals? Was it some sort of water-soluble application, a gel/film that was applied or some sort of lacquer or colored varnish? This is assuming that someone actually knows. Otherwise, for those of you that own one, I'd appreciate your best guess. Krylon Candy Sapphire Blue?

Third question: What type of replacement bulb should I use in the lamp? Mine came with a vintage Champion bulb (I doubt it's the original, but it definitely is vintage as I can tell by its more tear-drop shape, the Champion sticker and the color of the glass - it has a grey/blue tint to it and isn't totally clear like modern glass) but I'd like to preserve it and not use it. I have found from an Internet vendor that the modern replacement is probably either an A15 or A19 shape bulb (can't really tell since they don't give dimensions) and is probably 15 to 25 watts.

Interestingly enough, I just found another web page that was an old auction for a Saturn Lamp; it stated it included the original Mazda bulb which was 10 watts. This is interesting: 'The Mazda name was used from 1909 through 1945 in the United States by Shelby Electric Company and later General Electric...' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_(light_bulb) Wow, the things you learn prop-collecting!

Oh, man... that lamp with original cord and socket, in nearly perfect condition went for $47 on eBay in July of 2010... UGH!

Anyway, any help would be appreciated! Thanks much!

Scoff
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Fiery the angles fell, deep thunder rolled around their shores, burning with the fires of Orc.

[joberg]

Great description of that lamp! I love when somebody makes the effort of describing (and researching) the object/prop they acquired.
For the paint, it was good old oil type of paint (with lead of course...now don't eat the flakes ). Various techniques were used but the most popular was: pour the pain inside your object and with little manipulations
of your hand you're now "swishing" the liquid inside.
When every surface has been coated, remove the exess by turning the sphere upside down and let it dry as is. Since oil paint dries slowly, you'll have to make sure that you're perfoming the same "swishing" motions every 10 minutes or so, until the paint is not moving anymore...and you can use a blow-dryer to "fix" the outside coat also. Try in a glass to perfect your technique.

There's also the spray-paint...a little tricky (overspray can make it uneven by bouncing on the side of the sphere) also not every spray-can has a good nozzle; try to find those at your local hobby shop...good luck.