Look at these two photos. The technique I describe could work on dashboards as well except you wouldn't do any sanding on the dashboard. Just be sure it gets a good cleaning. http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=43r5fyd http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=2qxnc7l In restoring old radios you run into a lot of problems with nicks, scrapes and scratches. When a complete refinishing isn't going to be done, my solution is to use artist's oil paints and do hand painting. Don't think of "art work" when using them. Think of them as concentrated oil based stains. You can use them thick or use paint thinner and thin them as much as you want. Other benefits of oil paint are; 1- Unlike some coloring agents you can buy for furniture repair, oil paints are permanent. 2 - You don't have to buy top line paints. Student grade paints will do the job. 3 - Shelf life is super! Keep the caps on and they will last for years and years. 4 - Color matching isn't that difficult. You will be mixing some version of brown, so Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, and Burnt Umber will do about 90% of the wood colors. Mix colors on glass, plastic, or aluminum foil and put a small dab on the cabinet. If you don't like the color match, wipe it off with a rag and paint thinner and adjust your color and try it again. Sometimes you have to fill in damaged areas before painting. After repairs are made the first step is to match the wood color as described above. Paint in the wood color with a soft bristled brush and then use a blending brush to smooth it You need a very soft, long bristled brush for blending. The brushes women use to blend their make up works fine. I buy them in garage sales. Very Important! Use only the very tips of the brush for blending. Use them in a light flicking manner and wipe the tips often on a rag as you work to prevent paint buildup on the tips. Allow this base coat to dry before painting grainlines. Preparing a fine point brush for painting grainlines; Andrew Wyeth has done much of his work in a technique called "dry brush" and this is how he prepares his brush for this type of painting. 1- Thin the paint with paint thinner and stir it thoroughly so it is well mixed. You want it to be fluid, like soup. 2 - Wrap a tissue around the ferrule and slide it up and absorb some of the fluid from the heel of the bristles. 3 - Tap the brush point on a tissue to remove some fluid. You now have a "dry brush and you can paint fine lines. Splay out the bristles and you can paint multiple textural lines. Splay out the bristles some more and you can paint lots of little dots. 4 - You can use a straightedge to rest the ferrule on as you move the brush along. Give the brush some wiggles as you move it if it suits the grainlines you want. The brush; Use a fine point brush. Don't use any brush with bristles less than 3/4" long. 1" is better. You don't see auto pinstripers using short bristle brushes. 2 - To test a brush, wet it and fold the bristles over. They should snap back into place when you realease them. If they don't, you have a mop. Get rid of it. The cheaper synthetic artist's brushes will do the job. Oil paints take longer to dry, but that is an advantage if you have made a mistake or simply wish to wipe off and change something you have done. I like to say that anyone who has the motor skills to write their name can do this painting with a little practice. If you're sure you can't do this work, look around for someone you know who can. .Here's a couple more comments about doing large jobs like the radio; I sanded the entire cabinet lightly with fine sandpaper. Just enough to remove any grime and corruption. Then I gave the cabinet a very thinned, weak coat of oil paint - rubbed on with a rag. This thin toner restored the color and gave me a reference for matching the color I would paint in the damaged areas. After painting in the color over the damaged areas and letting it dry, I rubbed on another very thin toner over the entire cabinet. This integrated the cabinet color and the color I painted - just in case I didn't have a perfect match. After painting the grainlines I gave it all another very thin toner. This time I wanted to be sure that there was optical integration so the cabinet would look correct when seen in a glare. These added toners were so thin that they added no noticeable darkness to the cabinet color. The final step was a coat of finish. I have had no problem using lacquer, polyurethane, or alkyd varnish over oil paint. I haven't tried shellac or waterbourne finishes. For faster drying, Winsor-Newton makes a line of oil colors called Griffin. Instead of the traditional linseed oil as a vehicle for the pigments they use an alkyd emulsion. Thin coats of this paint will dry overnight and they are as permanent as regular oil paints. W-N sells the emulsion under the name of Liquin and it is useful for making thin toners that wipe on smoothly. Nitrocellulose lacquer doesn't go on it very well. Stewart