Post by RLFoster on Feb 9, 2019 16:15:59 GMT -6
So I don't have a clue whether this fits in this category, but screw it...here it is!
Let's start at the beginning...
In 1997, I had just been reassigned to an Air Force base in the United States (Clovis AFB, NM) after having spent 13 straight years overseas. I came back, spent 30 days of leave visiting family, bought my first AMERICAN car, and settled in.
That Christmas in 1997, I bought my Mother a replica of a sculpture of a cat that I loved called "Serenity". Now, bear in mind that she had one of the friendliest, most personable cats I have ever seen at the time named "Teedee" (don't ask me why, because I don't know). Anyway, she loved the sculpture and put on her main TV cabinet where it sat throughout her time in Michigan then came with her to Florida.
Well, about a year ago in 2018, she started to notice that the paint was beginning to flake off the figure. Over time, it got progressively worse to the point where she finally approached me about the possibility of doing something about it. I told her I'd do my best, but couldn't promise anything.
On the day she came over to take me out for my birthday lunch, here's what the figure looked like -- it's NOT good.
The front top didn't look too bad:
However, the base looked terrible:
And the rear of the base was even worse:
But, the most problematic area of the whole figure was the back...how could I ever hide this damage:
So, starting four days ago, I started by chipping away all the blatantly loose paint, sanded all the edges, and applied some Mister Surfacer. Then I sanded everything again and applied putty. Then I sanded it again and applied the first coat of primer. Some of you are getting the idea that this story is not ending quickly -- you are right! After priming I sanded, puttied, sanded, primed, sanded, puttied, sanded, primed, puttied, and sanded...I think that's it.
Anyway, after all that, I painted the cat white (as it was originally) all gave it two coats of clear liqueur before calling it done. Here's what it looks like:
I'll be taking it back over to my Mom tomorrow and can't wait to see the look on her face.
Until next time...
