First of all.. i have to say that I HATE APRONS!!!!
Im not sure if ill ever do another apron restore.. its such delicate work and really tests my patience.
This is still not finished because im still not 100% happy with it ... its close.... but it aint there yet! Sorry Creech.. dont mean to tease you but i want to go just a little further with this before i CC it.
Anyway, im happy to post on this now.
Heres the apron as it came to me - doesnt look too bad, but theres rust underneath a lot of it and this has to come out, so as always, i have to go back before i can go forwards
So the centre of this apron has to be rubbed back and the rust removed/ treated.
If this isnt bad enough - the white HAS to be matched. Looks white yes??? No its not its actually a blue/grey and it took me quite a while to match this, but i believe i got there. Notice how the text now has lines through it due to underlying rust lines
As you can see - i now have to repaint quite a bit of the orange stripes and oval shape, the black and of course the text - oh the text!
Also - it cant really be seen here but the bottom left corner was all rusted and so all detail is lost here also
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Problem with an apron is that the paints used are just so thin and this apron has some hidden issues. Each time i made a stencil and removed it, i would lift more of the original paint. EVERY time i took a step forward, i also took a step back. This means LOTS of meticulous touch ups. As i would wipe away something i was not happy with, id wipe away something i wanted to keep.
So the solution to this??? I CC'd it to preserve what was there and then carried on the work over the top of this. This allowed me to relax a little... but not quite completely.
The text - always the REALLY tricky bit... how do i go about this??
Id be at work and this would be on my mind - maybe water slide? Maybe cut vinyl?? Could i paint it and retain the original look and feel to the apron?... I decided to hand paint it. yes - its tested me and im still not 100% happy with it. Its a case of SLOWLY building up the text with a very fine brush. I cannot wipe any mistakes here. If i go wrong, i walk away and let dry. If i get nervous, i walk away before hand shake sets in.
At the moment, im working on this in the morning before work, allowing to dry during the day and then do another bit in the evening when i get home. Gradually, it coming together and looking squared off... just some fine adjustment needed now to the edges of the orange and some of the text.
Anyway - this is it now.. looking 99% done. Centres of the 'P's" need to be uniform and the "O" isnt quite there. It will be CC'd, allowed to cure and shipped back to Creech who is chomping at the bit to get his game back.
Will i RESTORE another apron??? Er.... ask me in a month or 2 when ive forgotten the pain i went to with this one - LOL!
