If that was mine and a keeper, I would get the paint off with acetate. You might be lucky and its even brown underneath, but if it was sanded before it was painted, as I see it has been primed, so probably there will be bright metal in places under the paint. Wirewool the metalwork smooth, so any active rust is sealed. Then don't oil it and handle it often, rubbing off any active rust with your hands. The cylinders are decent quality steel and in a few years you will see an even brown patina begin to develop and it will look honest and aged. Home rebluing kits over pitting never looks good, you tend to loose the sharp edges and it will rust out of the pits in time. Same for browning solutions.
There are ways of artifically creating patina by using solutions of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide etc, but I have never tried it. I have an Improved Model D, that if you look carefully has obviously been polished many, many years ago and has a beautiful even patina.
That was a good buy, especially with the provenance. Sure if you put it in a perspex box the pub would buy it off you as a display item if its still open, but it would be a shame for it not to get used.
Last edited by silva; 16-11-2022 at 07:09 PM.
"helplessly they stare at his tracks......."