[ Matthew Caulfield wrote in 100103 MMDigest:

> The paint now on the façade is probably not original, and it is not
> known whether original paint is under it.  But the plan is not to
> remove layers to expose any original paint, only to overpaint the
> façade in an appropriate fashion.

Matthew Caulfield asks about repainting a band organ façade.  One of
the better reference works on this subject that discusses identification
of original paint colors, conservation, materials, and repainting is
Deborah Lange's book "Restoring the Glen Echo Park Carousel".  This
book document's Rosa Patton's superb restoration work with hundreds of
photos and is probably as close to a "how-to" guide as you will find.
See  http://home.comcast.net/~carrousel/ 

Of course, a sure-fire route to a stunning façade is to recruit Rosa to
do the work.  You won't be disappointed.

Cheers,
Roger Wiegand
http://www.carouselorgan.com/