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Towards the end of last year I was asked to restore this particular model which arrived with extensive rigging damage and in need of a deep clean and re-painting. The first task was to sort out the rigging which was fairly complex in certain areas this would require each piece being checked for strength and replaced if required which would take a fair time to complete as you can imagine. Once the rigging had been checked the remaining broken rigging could be retraced and replaced to complete the re-rigging which in the end proved to be quite intricate. Now that the rigging was finished the deep clean could now take place, the first task of which was to remove all the damaged fittings and replace them or simply re-fit them into their correct positions this although fiddly didn’t take too long to complete. The deep clean using various tools and methods took quite some time to complete and when finished was sealed with a Matt varnish to enhance the end result.
With the rigging and the cleaning now complete and the next job was to re-paint whilst carefully matching the original paint colours the detailed paint scheme on the upper part of the hull, this would prove to be very fiddly and time consuming with some areas being more difficult than others (mainly behind the shrouds and deadeyes) but in the end certainly enhanced the finished result.
The lower part of the hull remained the same colour at the customer’s request to keep the aged effect of the model. With 90% of the work now finished one of the remaining jobs was to make a new figure head which after some research on the internet was done and fixed into place followed by making a new main mast flag to replace the original one.
With the model now complete the very last job was to very carefully check her all over making sure everything was as it should be. The last job on the list was to make its display case finished in the style and colour requested by the customer.
Overall this restoration proved very rewarding and is now back with its owner to be enjoyed for years to come.
