Stage 2: Repair & Reconstruction
Once I was happy with the results from the initial surface cleaning process and had worked on some of the larger areas of the statue, I decided to halt cleaning for a while, whilst I worked out my plan of action to repair and reconstruct the damaged areas of the statue.
The process of filling cracks and joining seams would require sanding and finishing so there wasn't any point in cleaning these areas beforehand.
I decided to begin with the upper body section of the baby Jesus figure.
The worst damage was on the Right Arm, which had sustained two bad breaks at the forearm and elbow, and a shattered upper arm. All these sections are being held together by a loop of metal armature wire running through them which will have to be removed and replaced with a new armature. Also, the break labelled B. in the photo, has been glued using a rubber impact adhesive which will have to be removed before repairing.
The second major area of damage is the crack through the base of the head. An attempt has already been made to repair this with what looks like an epoxy resin - the bond is strong and the alignment of the pieces looks good so I will probably leave this as it is. However, exess glue has seeped over the joins which will need to be removed, and there is a missing section on the right jaw which will have to be filled and shaped.
The final area requiring attention is the hands which have both lost fingers. These pieces are missing so they will have to be rebuilt and resculpted to match the hand style.
The process of filling cracks and joining seams would require sanding and finishing so there wasn't any point in cleaning these areas beforehand.
I decided to begin with the upper body section of the baby Jesus figure.
The worst damage was on the Right Arm, which had sustained two bad breaks at the forearm and elbow, and a shattered upper arm. All these sections are being held together by a loop of metal armature wire running through them which will have to be removed and replaced with a new armature. Also, the break labelled B. in the photo, has been glued using a rubber impact adhesive which will have to be removed before repairing.
The second major area of damage is the crack through the base of the head. An attempt has already been made to repair this with what looks like an epoxy resin - the bond is strong and the alignment of the pieces looks good so I will probably leave this as it is. However, exess glue has seeped over the joins which will need to be removed, and there is a missing section on the right jaw which will have to be filled and shaped.
The final area requiring attention is the hands which have both lost fingers. These pieces are missing so they will have to be rebuilt and resculpted to match the hand style.
posted by Ross Dearsley at 3:32 AM
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