I have just come into possession of an early 300x. It has a brass vent with black enamel cap with two screws. There is no engraving on the vent. The cage is riveted and the air nuts are hexagonal. Bialaddin logo "300x" and patents on the collar with the triangular cutout. Large filler cap. Chrome plated spirit/preheater plate which may be later. Looking at the comments in the reference library this seems to place it pre -1949 but not close to 1946. It is intact but very neglected, but it seems to have been natural brass in the past. The underside looks like it may have been painted gold or it may be reminants of lacquer on brass. So my question is - what colours or finishes were these sold in ? I have seen the maroon ones, chromed ones and read about pale green. Were these ever released in gold or lacquered brass I wonder ?
No markings on the hood at all, looks like the 1949 military version that would have been a drab olive green or grey, but they are usually marked with a crows foot and date. I’m not aware that they were ever released in plain brass or gold. Try taking the frame off and see if you can see any paint residue.
There was a 300x on eBay recently which was a darkish cream.. not seen one that colour before? It had a military crowsfoot and date painted on the base so was original
I saw that one. It was very popular on the bidding as it appeared genuine and real examples of cream ones are not common.
Well I have disassembled, cleaned and fitted new seals. There was no paint evident anywere apart from under the base, where I found a small strip of what looked like grey paint, in amongst the solder that was stuck to the surfaces. There were no markings apart from the usual commercial ones. Despite appearance I do not think that this lantern has seen a lot of use for its age. The burner is is very good shape and the tank insides not too dirty. The vapourser is the older type with the roll-stamping. The jet cleaner was like new, as was the NRV, but there was evidence of it being opened before. All seals were cracked/brittle. Test firing revealed low pressure in the mantle. Despite the needle looking OK and being very clean it was snagging inside the vapouriser, I suspect slowing vapour flow. Despite this the mantle broke and burned my test globe kept for just such things. The brass tank surface takes the word "patina" to a whole new level and it is not possible to make it look good without removing the patina. As it has obviously been stripped and polished/varnished in the past this is a candidate for a re-spray. I will do it in grey to maintain originality.
