Fixing a treasured collectable
One of my treasured possessions was broken when moving furniture around and I looked for ways to fix it up.
22/11/2018
When a treasured collectable gets broken it can be heartbreaking. This elephant head has been in the family for over 40 years, since the time of Rhodesia! It holds dear memories and I simply could not bear the thought of losing it. The purpose behind this article is to show you that sometimes you can fix treasured pieces back to almost original condition, using products you wouldn't normally think of.
The original tusks for the elephant head were smashed into pieces, so it was necessary to craft new tusks. Alcolin QuikWood is a 2-part epoxy putty normally used for repairing wood. I figured since it's an epoxy putty it could quite easily be used to make the new tusks and it worked brilliantly. The colour was almost identical to the original colour of the tusks.
As a result of crashing to the floor, both of the ears had come loose from the head. They were only attached by a thin layer of copper foil. To remedy this 10-minute epoxy glue was used to secure the ears back in place. The only problem was that you could see where the repair was done. It was necessary to apply a couple of coats of Rust-Oleum Metallic, copper, spray paint to cover up the repair.
After letting the spay paint dry thoroughly, I then used acrylic craft paint in a dark brown to add an antiqued effect to the elephant head. A paintbrush was used to apply the paint and this was then wiped off with a kitchen towel, leaving behind paint in the cracks and crevices.
