If At First You Don't Succeed

Friday, March 23, 2012

If At First You Don't Succeed, Then Try, Try Again

     There's an old expression that says: "If at first you don't succeed, then try, try, again". If you've read my blog instalment, you will have read my year-end report and my successes and failures. 

     I purchased the toys below not realizing how much worse the toys were, since the seller didn't mention how badly he/she had removed the axles and tires from the car body. He/she "butchered" these toys and badly damaged and broke those semi-circulatrparts that hold the axles in place. Of course,that was never mentioned.

     The toys were purchased at a low enough price, such that I figured that I could resell then at a small profit. Unfortunately, that was not to be, after 2 unsuccessful listings. The 3 small metal drivers are probably worth the price of what I was asking,. However nobody was interested until today.

    I just received an e-mail via E-Bay from a buyer who had purchased toys from me already. It's always a great feeling to have repeat buyers! He was interested in just the 3 men, but I said that I had already started to restore the toys, and would only sell everything complete (as you see below). The reason is that if I were to sell the 3 men (and this buyer only was willing to pay X amount of dollars), then I would have to re-list the cars, axles, and tires, and might have a problem trying to sell just those parts.

    I've offered this particular buyer a fair price but for everything, but only on condition that he look at the finished race cars,and then decide if they are to his liking!

A Composite Photo of 6 Small Images

I listed the above starting at $ 40.00 plus $ 6.00 U.S. shipping 2 times, but there were no offers!

oThis is a primer aerosol spray to apply to the toy when you're ready to paint it.

It coats the raw metal , and has good adhesion qualities to receive an aerosol finishing paint.

Notice the French and English writing.

I live in Montreal,Quebec, Canada, and  everything has to to be labelled and written in or 2 official languages.

There are many other brands of this material, so by all means choose your own.

Don;t forget to work in a well ventilated area, and do not smoke!

This is a plastic-resinous based filler that is used to fill holes, and damage to "real'"cars.

I checked to see if the above had French on the back side of the tube, and it did.

In Quebec, we have "Language Police", and some of our French Canadian Citizens even go about searching for contraventions of our Provincial and Federal laws on labelling- but that's a whole other story and a blog!

These are small files about 3"(75mm) long and vary in width from  1/16"-1/8"(2mm-4mm).

I tried my high-speed Dremel machine, but  it will damage the putty and remove much too much.

THis restoration requires hand work with the small files and find sandpaper starting at 200 and going up to 600. These numbers are just like those used on the "real cars".

This is 1 of the 2 toys that I purchased.

Its body is in excellent shape, but for the terrible damage to the axles holders).

The great thing is that Ican use this as the "model" from which to repair the really badly-damaged other toy.

Notice how the plastic putty fill the holes.

These holes were due to bad oxidation of the metal chassis.

This is the first application of the putty.

Naturally, I read the instructions AFTER I used the putty.

Ishould have applied the material in thin layers, rather than like peanut butter!

I'll be working on the front damage later.

I used my Dremel to remove the oxidation (rust), but I should have did everything by hand.

This is going to be extra work and a real "challenge"to repair.

Another view of the toy.

And yet another view of the toy.

The result of the first sanding.

There is still lots of work to do, and I will have to apply a second cost of putty.

*Make sure that you wear a mask over your nose and mouth to filter out the microscopic particles that result from the sanding!

A view of the rust-free toy that I will use as a model for the toy needing lots of restoration.

The toy needing the restoration.

A side-by-side comparison of the 2 toys

The application of the first coat of paint.

Another view of the car.

I decided to work on the car in 2 stages .

 When I finish sanding down these other areas, then I will apply a second coat of putty to all of the areas needed restoration.

Another view of the car needing restoration or body work.

I've been going to a high end "body shop", which is a term for car repair.

I've gone twice and asked the owner questions about restoration.  I figure that repairing a small toy should be like repairing a "real"car.

Ieven joked with the owner and he laughed. I said that if I do a good job on restoring the toys, could I have a job with the "real cars".

The weather is getting nice, and I have my "real spring jobs"to do around the house.

My wife wasn't too happy with me yesterday, and she did some of my chores around the outside of the house. So today, I said that I would spend less time on toys, and more on my "seasonal duties".

So to all of my readers, I wish each and every one of you a pleasant weekend wherever you may be.