Tuesday, July 23, 2024
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Sun with Cloudy Periods
A Revisit to Chip Channel Restorations
(Part I)
My last post about this exceptional craftsman (craftsperson) was shorter than I thought. That was on November 16, 2021. Before that, I had written my first post on this very talented person about 10 years ago ,
who prefers just be called Chip.
When you visit Chip's YouTube website, you come to an opening page of many of his presentations. They're exceptionally filmed (video-graphed) and even more, they're very interesting. Ever more interesting is just how many viewers have seen his video productions on his restorations.
(In terms of viewers, we're talking in the millions of viewers).
I've screen-captured all of the images today from his video for this
Pressed Steel Toy.
Below is Chip's toy that was restored for that YouTube presentation.
It's a 1918 Structo Pressed Steel Wind Up
Tank Restoration Motorized Army Tank Toy
Chip always introduces his latest restoration with a restored tow truck
pulling the "wreck"to be restored and revitalized.
To view this 143.01 minute production.
You'll need lots of popcorn to watch how
Chip works to revitalize these very old and damaged toys.
Above: A closer look at the tank.
Chip always starts his restorations by dismantling his latest toy.
Every single part of every toy is carefully removed and catalogued.
Once all of the toy parts have been removed, Chip will
decide which parts will be restored.
I have tools for working around the house, They're in a small room that I call "the Bunker". Actually, the first owner of our house was an oenophile (connoisseur) of wines.
Chip has a shop full of tools, and machines for cutting, welding, sanding, painting and so forth.You name the tool or process for restoring a toy part, and he has it!
The screen-capture below illustrates what appears to be a welding job.
It's a wheel that will hold the tank tracks in place. What the photo shows is the 2 half parts that were separated, then sanded with different grades of sandpaper to remove all of the rust. Now they're being reassembled together.
Below are painted tank parts that hold the tracks together as the tank rolls along. They're in a preliminary stage, and will be finished and enhanced in the next photo.
Notice how the final paint finish is flawless
in terms of any dirt or bumps.
The tracks have most likely been placed in a liquid vat of
a metal finish through an electrolyte bath.
For a 1918 toy part (106 years old, er, "renewed" and restored)
they are super!
Below is a photo illustrating the superheating of a gear part.
The orange colour is not paint, but a super-heated part!
You must visit Chip's YouTube productions. They're exceptional in terms of production, script and narrative. But better still, is the magical skills that Chip has developed from many years of experience and hard work.
This photo below shows how the parts are reassembled.
I'm 100% sure that Chip has an excellent procedure
for keeping tract of all the parts of a toy for reassembly.
I remember how I used to sweat a lot when I'd assemble
a Revell airplane. Once I glued the two sides of a wing without the propellers
attached to the propellers.
The next instruction read
"do not assemble the 2 sides of the airplane wing,
until you have installed the 2 propellers!
Was I mad at myself!
You must visit Chip's YouTube productions. They're exceptional in terms of production, script and narrative. But better still, is the magical skills that Chip has developed from many years of experience and hard work.
I'll be working on more posts in the near future, so if want to see more of Chip's
work, visit him on YouTube.
Just one final note:
Remember to go and eat your lunch and supper!
Once you start watching his magical toy restorations,
you might forget to eat!
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