The other day I picked up this sign at one of my favorite gettin' spots. It s an original made by Veribite Chicago. I don't really no the date of manufacture, pre-1959 is all I know. Anyway. It's R U F F rough. I walked past it for 2-3 weeks. All the while thinking about what could be done to put a little life back in it. The corner had been torched and was missing, and it had chips everywhere. I bought it and brought it home. I decided that I was not gonna restore it (because of the condition, and my skillset is not up to par). Besides if I want a nice one I could buy a porcelain repop for less money. I felt that after the life this thing had lived, it at least needed to be complete. Let's just put the missing corner back on and leave the rest be......great idea. Here is how it worked out. This picture is what it looked like when I got it. It's such a shame to see it cut up. I started by grinding the torch slag away. I was real careful not to damage the porcelain any more than it was already. Next, I traced the "crown" sign top on a piece of paper, lined it up to the missing side and finished by tracing where it had been cut. I cut that shape out of paper and transfered it to a piece of sheet metal that was left from an other project. That sheet metal was cut to replace the missing piece. Sheet metal butt clamps were used to line up and hold the two pieces together while it was welded. After it had been welded, the welds were ground smooth. I had to keep the heat low so the porcelain would not get damaged. the imperfections were filled using glaze putty and filler primer. I painted the orange first because that is the bottom layer of porcelain. The black was then masked off and painted over the orange. the colors don't match other than being orange and black......but that's ok. It was some rattle cans that were in the cabinet already. Like I said, I didn't restore it, but I put a little life back in it and made it more enjoyable to look at. I don't feel sorry for it anymore.
Nice save! I'd bet a couple months in the sun and those colors would blend right in and folks will think it was repaired "back in the day". Thanks for sharing with us.
Nice job! I'm guessing the longer it ages the closer the paint will come to matching, what with UV and oxidation.
Many museums restore/repair exactly the way you did. They believe that a painting/sculpture/piece of pottery looks much better as a representation of what it once was if a visible repair is made making the item whole again. I have viewed pottery where the original Shard is very small, then the rest of the “new” pot, plate whatever is plain material. Or, a statue missing its nose is replaced with a new one, very obviously not made to blend in. The sign Looks great!
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