What paint should I use on sheet film holders where the white notes area is missing?

[AtlantaTerry]

Over the past dozen years or so I have been buying used 4x5 sheet film holders to the point where I now have about 90.

It was raining all last week and there was not much else to do so I started cleaning the holders. Some were missing the white area where one can use a pencil to make notes. On a couple holders the white areas almost fell out so I glued them back into place. That is when I learned that the white area is not paint but a small bit of plastic that is inserted into place on the holder.

Very likely I can not contact the manufacturers of those old film holders as they are probably no longer in business.

So I was thinking that I could fill the hole with some sort of thick white paint. But what paint should I use? It would need to have enough "tooth" to accept pencil notes yet allow those notes to be erased.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
Terry

[Jim C.]

How about just a piece white styrene plastic the same thickness ?
Paint will gouge out depending on the temp of the holder and the sharpness of whatever your writing with.
I don't know what Fidelity used for those little inserts but they absorb everything that is used to write on them
some old holders I have are impossible to clean off those areas.

[AtlantaTerry]

Jim, but would it not be difficult to precisely cut really small rectangles of styrene plastic?

I assume the way to do it would be with a jigsaw or other fine detail saw that I do not own.

Thank you for the suggestion.

[Drew Wiley]

I just scissor off a little white vinyl electrical tape, or opt to use different colors of the same to quickly differentiate different kinds of film.

[lenser]

My daughter has her kitchen walls all painted with some sort of black board paint that you can write on with chalk and erase if desired.

If there is a white version of that pain, I would suggest that as it obviously has a "tooth" to hold the writing medium and even if the white could not be cleaned easily, it could just be repainted.

[Jim C.]

Jim, but would it not be difficult to precisely cut really small rectangles of styrene plastic?

I assume the way to do it would be with a jigsaw or other fine detail saw that I do not own.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Styrene is easy to cut, no power tools needed.
All you need is a metal ruler and a hobby knife, measure, score and bend, it will break off.
A little sanding to get a better fit , glue and your'e done.

For those little label areas hobby stores may even have precut strips the correct width ( about .29 " or 7.5 mm )
don't know the thickness since none of mine have fallen off, Plastruct is the brand of styrene strips and sheets.

I see you're in Atlanta try Pearl Paint, I think they have a store there, or Dick Blicks.

[AtlantaTerry]

Jim,

Good ideas.

I have a Hobby Lobby store nearby. I may drop in to see what they have for white Styrene.

Thanks.

[Bill Burk]

I wonder... Maybe Appliance Touch Up Enamel would give you a tough white surface.

[AtlantaTerry]

Bill, that is a great idea. I have a bottle around here somewhere...

[jp]

That's where I put white plastic labels from my labelmaker. Trim it with scissors to fit, and put it in. I label for the film it is used for and a holder #. like "tmax400 #7" Then I will use that holder only for that film till it dies or is restickered.

[AtlantaTerry]

I have a Brother TZ Label Printer and use it to create the numbers I assign to each side of the film holders.

What I wanted to do was create a surface that I can write on. The plastic labels you mentioned and mine are too slick to write on.

[Lou Baleur]

Perhaps just cover with a liquid paper type of correction fluid or the newer correction tapes. The surfaces are meant to be written on.

[AtlantaTerry]

Lou,

Fair enough. I will give it a try then report back here.

Terry

[denverjims]

I have successfully used tape as well but not electrical tape as Drew suggested (although that is not a bad idea). I use white, first aid waterproof, adhesive tape. I bought 1/2" width and trim it with X-acto knife to an exact fit and use fine point permanent black marker to number holder and indicate film type. Rather than try to erase when I change film type (I date the load on the freezer zip lock bag I keep the holder in), I just remove existing tape and cut another. Cheap, easy and reasonably good looking replacement for original styrene.

[Drew Wiley]

My objection to liquid paper correction fluid is that it's just basically white shellac with a very fast solvent, and will get brittle with age and UV exposure, potentially
spalling off in annoying little bits of white dust and going somewhere you don't want it. In other words, I wouldn't use it for that application myself.

[AtlantaTerry]

Drew, good point. Per your advice, I won't try it.

Thanks,
Terry