Harpo and Chico Marx

Harpo and Chico had no significant damage but were in need of some fresh paint.

A few brushstrokes later, the guys look better than new.

Ralph Kramden returns to black & white. Marilyn gets a new dress.

Loyal reader Brian asked me to bring Ralph back to life and try something new with him.

I suggested we return Ralph back to his early Honeymooners days with complete B/W makeover.
Voila!!

Brian also asked to have Marilyn's ugly surgical scar removed and to receive a new wardrobe.

Marilyn looks resplendent in her new red gown with matching mani-pedi.

Here she is on the left next to my original red-gowned Marilyn.

Esco President George W. H. Bush & Millie

President Bush arrived having suffered the all too common decapitation.  His head had been reattached slightly out of place and therefore left very visible crack lines.  George's base had also been badly damaged.
The good news is that the President's face and sidekick Millie remained in near perfect condition.

In addition to repairing the structural issues, I also repainted George though I left his face and all of Millie in their original state.

Esco Muhammad Ali Survives Crippling Injury

The former Cassius Clay arrived with both legs and feet shattered to the metal bone.

Muhammad also had his head broken off and reglued.

I began by piecing together the usable pieces of his legs and feet.  This process was made more difficult because the broken pieces no longer fit well on the bent metal support rods.

This process involved approximately 10 sessions of applying glue, filler, and putty.

Eventually, Muhammad was ready to be repainted.

And without further ado, the freshly restored Muhammad Ali!

Esco President Bill Clinton Plays On

President Clinton arrived in decent shape with his main issue being that he needed a nose repair and a painting upgrade.
Luckily his 2 best features--his sax and hair--were undamaged.

I performed the mostly surface level cosmetic repairs and also gave Bill a facial resurfacing.

Esco President Jimmy Carter & Peanut

President Carter came to me with multiple issues: the most serious problem was that there was a large crack in his shins from back to front, and Jimmy was therefore in danger of having his feet, lower legs and base break off.  The peanut farmer also had numerous paint issues and broken chips.  In addition, his skin texture was atrocious--a true pizza face.  On a positive note, he had really nice teeth and his peanut was in perfect condition.

In addition to the structural repairs, I gave Jimmy a full facial resurfacing.  This process involves sanding has face and filling in the imperfections.

While I was at it, I resurfaced everything else.

Sand, fill, sand some more and finally paint.

Esco Beatles

The Fab Four arrived in good structural condition except for George whose head had been broken off and glued back on.  Cosmetically all 4 had a sickly pallor and yellowish tinge; this was due to the skin tones fading over time.  Compare John and George to a "healthy-looking" Jack Benny.

Here is a "healthy" John and jaundiced John.

Paul's skin also wasn't Oil of Olay smooth.

Project completed and the clients were thrilled. 

                                               Ringo now has his real eye color--blue.

Here are the lads on display in Westchester, Il.