Complete Restoration Experiments

[FFB]

Yeah, the replacement artwork on the interior is pretty impressive and the color matching of the pulp looks really good too. Nice job!

[The-Collector]

Love your work.

[Comicdey]

You continually impress. Great work on an otherwise 0.5.

[chrisco37]

 

This one should always be on Pg 1.

[JazzMan]

Mike's thread should be stickied to this forum.

[chrisco37]

I think so too.

 

It seems like there are alot of new people checking out the resto forum. I bumped this thread for them to check out.

[frozentundraguy]

Book #29 Pushing the limits

 

When you look at the outside of the book first impressions would be that it doesn't need to be restored, it isn't in great shape but not the worst either.

 

 

 

So, you might be asking yourself why restore this book, in fact if I was just to restore this book because of the cover I probably wouldn't even bother posting it as people don't seem to get that excited over covers in this condition.

 

So, here is the reason why the book was sent to me;

 

 

 

 

 

Not only would this book end up getting a .5 but it would be labeled incomplete as well. Because the book isn't too valuable the owner didn't want to spend much and understandable so. The original deal was to just do a color copy but recent research indicates that the book would have either got an amateur for excessive color copies or get a .5 as incomplete. I didn’t know this at the time and how I found that out is another story for another day. While this book was waiting to get started on I had been running through my head about using a color copy and just didn’t like the idea, some because it would just be a color copy but also because I didn't think it would look good. After some time I decided I would recreate the missing art by hand and do it pro-bono as a experiment but how was I going to get-r-dun? The details of that will remain a trade secret but it wasn’t too dissimilar from how the artist, colorist and the letterer did it originally, I just had to be all three of those guys in one.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is what the page looked like after I did a full immersion leaf casting.

 

 

 

I didn't want the whole perimeter casted because the other side was in good condition so I blocked that area off before I did the full immersion leaf casting.

 

So once that was done I did the daunting task of doing all of the art work by hand and here are the fruits of my labor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was an experiment for me, I have recreated small amounts of art before by hand, I have done a coupon using an ink transfer process but I never had to do this much work by hand including all the writing.

 

Here is the finished product:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I was restoring the cover something was bothering me but I just couldn't put my finger on it, it was like having a splinter in my mind but I went ahead and sent it to CGC and here is the scan CGC sent me after grading.

 

 

I was looking at this scan when it finally hit me what was wrong with the cover. I did some check with other covers and confirmed my mistake. Looking back at it I feel stupid, a rookie mistake and then some. Needless to say after all my efforts on the page and the grade which isn't bad, I was pissed as this was going to be a great center piece for me.

 

Now, I could point out my mistake to you all but I am curious how long it will take before someone catches it, so I am going to let you all play the "where's Waldo game" to see who can figure it out if anyone can.

 

 

 

 

Terrific restoration. Worth another bump to bring this to the fore!

[joeypost]

You colored in part of the miscut on the bottom.

[Junkdrawer]

You colored in part of the miscut on the bottom.

+1

[JazzMan]

You colored in part of the miscut on the bottom.

+1

 

No duh.

 

nicely done (thumbs u

 

 

as far as the error on the cover..in case others want to guess

 

the front bottom edge of the cover is wrong

 

I thing you're on to it. Looks like Mike overdid the black at the bottom.

 

Yes, that was the mistake.

 

It makes me feel bad that others seem to notice this quickly but somehow it not only slipped by me but I am responsible for the mistake as well.

[TC33]

Nice work, looks good except for the black ct mistake on the bottom. Do you think CGC hit the grade at all for that? Maybe you could have gotten an 8.0?

[universal soldier]

Mike has come a long way since his Hulk 104 three years ago. There definitely is room for another talented restoration professional.

 

Oh man, you had to bring up that Hulk #104. When I think back to those days and that book sometimes I do this and sometimes I just have to

 

In a way it was good I did that book and posted it as it taught me early on what not to do.

 

It was very good that you posted that book, but it was also good that your reaction to a lot of harsh and sometimes hostile criticism was to make a serious effort to get better and do it right. A lot of people would not have reacted that way; they'd have gotten in fights, dug their heels in, and would have kept on doing lousy hack-storation instead of putting in the time to learn professional techniques.

 

It's been fun to watch you get better as time has gone by. I know that 6.5 isn't a grade that would get label chasers hot under the collar, but most paper conservators would be impressed and even stunned if they saw what you did with that book, as would any of the comic restoration professionals working in the industry today.

 

Absolutely. (thumbs u

 

Yeah, the criticism was so hostile at one point that I figured if I showed up at a con that I would have got jumped in the parking lot.

 

It would be great if most paper conservators and restorers would be stunned from the results of the All-Star #3, I would like to think that my abilities go beyond the average work that is done and that I bring something special to the table. I hope to push the envelope even farther with some of the future projects I have waiting to be done.

 

 

 

I have to give this man alot of credit. He took alot of heat when he first joined these boards, and it did not let up for some time. He took it like a man and took every scrap of info he could pick up around here and improve his methods and means. He came along way since he joined and it shows in his work. Congratulations.

 

You know, I look back at those days and even the present and I am glad for all the feedback I received both positive and negative. When I first started out, I though since the book looked better than before the mission was accomplished and I found out that was not the case. Perspective can be a great deceiver, I think as others who have tried to restore, have thought that the work was good when it wasn’t and hearing from others really helped me realize that the expectations of results required more skill and experience than one gets just starting off.

 

Speaking of perception, I have found the feedback from the forum absolutely invaluable. While I have been pleased with some results and disappointed in others I received feedback that is often the opposite. Since it is you, the collector/customer that is important to me, knowing what you like and dislike has been the best tool in my work as a restorer.

 

I can’t wait till the next batch of books come back from CGC to show you that hasn’t been posted yet which is why I haven’t show much new lately. It may be a little while, most of you know the time delay with CGC but as soon as they get back I will post from start to finish how they came out.

 

I want to thank all who have visited this thread and especially those who have posted responses. Over 55k in views is a lot, looks like 3rd most in this section of the forum; I almost hate to start a new thread eventually.

 

As one of your "harsher critics" early on, I can say you've definitely come a long way. Looks like you are getting really good with the leaf casting a well as other areas. (thumbs u

[Hero Restoration]

Book #30 Hammering Out Another One

 

Apologies for not posting in this thread for a while, I have been unbelievably busy.

 

List of defects of note:

 

Tape stain top right front cover

One piece of tape inside back cover

Subscription crease

Two puncture holes in back cover extend to several pages

Half staple split at bottom of cover

Stains on back cover

Stains on several pages

corner missing on one page

Multiple corner break creases lower right front

about 1/2-3/4 inch split at bottom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So as you can see, the book is complete and not in terrible condition, just not in that great of condition either.

 

One of the first things I do when considering a book for restoration, is to figure out it’s grade and current value. At the time, I concluded that it was either and 2.5 or 3.0, but to be sure before I say that to you all, I posted the book in the "Hey buddy, can you spare a grade" section. Including mine I received 17 grades ranging from 2.0 to 3.0 and the average came out to 2.65, so I guess it could go 2.5 or 3.0.

 

At this point is was worried that restoring was the wrong choice, the last thing I would want is for the book to go down in value afterwards including the expense of having it restored. Still, before I make any recommendations, I look up the value of the book and try to predict what it will be worth after it is restored.

 

I used GPA to find out what a 3.0 had sold for recently, GPA is helpful with this since I will also need to look up what restored grades are selling for. At the time I looked these up, my guess was this book would grade an 8.0 after restoration, which I feel was ambitious but possible, and was the restored grades with the most recent data.

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised at the large increase in value for an 8.0 restored VS a 3.0 unrestored and it wasn’t going to cost that much to do the work, so I gave this info to the customer and got approval to proceed. I just had to try my hardest to reach the goal grade.

 

I started with the usual, take photos and scans, dry clean, disassemble and solvent cleaning. Most of the edges were in good shape so I leaf-casted just a few area’s, here is the cover at that point.

 

 

Once I got that work out of the way, I did a few small repairs and added some secret sauce for added strength and stability.

 

Then I started the color touch, and while I was working on that, I proceeded to wash the pages in hopes of removing the stains.

 

 

Unfortunately, the stains did not completely come out. At the time I was at a loss on how to do better. Since then I have come up with a theory but it will be some time before the results will be in on those experiments, which I will have to try on practice books with similar stains.

 

Disappointed that this would affect the grade, I worked twice as hard to make up for it wherever I could. One way was to leaf-cast the missing corner of the page.

 

 

This came out pretty good, but I just noticed that I missed some stray pulp that is covering up the ink, you can’t notice it in hand but blown up it is obvious.

 

So with the pages cleaned, de-acidified and repaired, I returned my full focus to the cover. During the color touch process, I will frequently scan the cover to get a different perspective, it is also a great way for me to see things I missed or mistakes I made. Here are 2 scans near the tail end of the color touch.

 

 

Once the color touch process is done, I trim any excess paper from what I added, re-assembly the book, fold it and press it. I scan it again and look for any final touches it may need, then it is done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I either send the book back to the customer or submit it to CGC. This book was sent to CGC which is a great way to validate that the book was done within professional parameters and what grade it will get.

 

Although this book is not one of them, there are books that are so extensive, I am pushing the limits of conventional means, so it is good to see where CGC will draw the line on professional VS amateur, and complete VS incomplete.

 

One of the reasons my post in this thread of new projects has been infrequent, is because I am waiting for books to come back from CGC, and have some scans or pictures of the end result to post.

 

OK, so here is what you all have been waiting for:

 

 

 

The Label is hard to read, here is what it says:

 

8.0 EP White Pages

 

Restoration includes: color touch, pieces added, tear seals, cover cleaned, interior lightened, reinforced

 

My thinking is that it got an Extensive due to the pages being washed and repaired including the missing corner. It seems almost eerie though that it got an 8.0, my original prediction, lucky guess.

 

As always, I welcome all feedback, both positive and negative, and thank you all for your support and enthusiasm in my work and this thread.

 

 

 

 

[The-Collector]

 

Very nice.

 

Matt recently told me that a book with a sub crease won't go higher than 6.5 even post restoration. So sounds like a good results to me.

 

 

[JazzMan]

Awesome job, Mike!

[Phill the Governor]

Mike,

 

You continue to impress me, and I'm sure countless others.

 

Awesome work!

[Beige]

 

 

 

 

As I was restoring the cover something was bothering me but I just couldn't put my finger on it, it was like having a splinter in my mind but I went ahead and sent it to CGC and here is the scan CGC sent me after grading.

 

 

I was looking at this scan when it finally hit me what was wrong with the cover. I did some check with other covers and confirmed my mistake. Looking back at it I feel stupid, a rookie mistake and then some. Needless to say after all my efforts on the page and the grade which isn't bad, I was pissed as this was going to be a great center piece for me.

 

Now, I could point out my mistake to you all but I am curious how long it will take before someone catches it, so I am going to let you all play the "where's Waldo game" to see who can figure it out if anyone can.

 

 

 

 

I believe, that you have also missed out the first I in II on the clock face.

I have this book and you can definately see the first roman numeral.

Sorry.

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=6239963#Post6239963

[PovertyRow]

You actually had to quote that entire image heavy post to make your point, rather than just extracting the relevant image?

 

[Beige]

Nope - scratched my head and have no idea why you singled my post out of thousands of exactly the same type of posts.

But to unbunch your panties - sorry.

[PovertyRow]

Nope - scratched my head and have no idea why you singled my post out of thousands of exactly the same type of posts.

But to unbunch your panties - sorry.

 

Because out of the many exactly the same type of posts, this is one of the few amoung them that actually are important. Your observation of the missing partial numeral on the clock, was a VERY insightful and instructive comment. You ended up diluting it, which it did not deserve.