Post by Knotty Kitty on Oct 20, 2010 14:20:50 GMT -7
I went to a friend's house last week and as I was leaving noticed a little ChapMei fakie (one of the tiny ones, only a few inches tall) laying on the ground in the front yard. It looked like it had been there a long time. It was filthy, had no tail, and one side was completely black as if it had been sprayed with something. I asked my friend about it, and he figured it was trash and said I could have it if I wanted. I'm not about to turn down a fakie in any form, especially a unicorn, so I brought her home.
I assumed the black side was either spray paint or some kind of scorching from being left in the sun too long. (I'm in Arizona, you wouldn't believe the sun damage we get here.) I figured she would need a full-body repaint, or at the very least I'd need to replace her eye, which was completely non-existent on the black side. But first she needed a bath.
I went to the sink to wash her off. I started scrubbing, and the soap suds turned brown. Eew. I gave her a quick rinse to see if I'd made any progress...and the black stuff had started to come off! I kept scrubbing and was able to remove it almost entirely, save a few small stains here and there. Her eye paint underneath was undamaged, and now she looks almost good as new!
I wish I would have taken some "before" photos, but I really didn't think the black stuff would come off and was planning to photograph it after I'd removed the surface dirt.
But anyway, I feel stupidly good about rescuing her. She had been trash, and now she's sitting on my coffee table looking nice and being admired. She still needs a tail, but she looks a thousand times better than she did when I found her. It makes me happy.
I'm such a dork.
I assumed the black side was either spray paint or some kind of scorching from being left in the sun too long. (I'm in Arizona, you wouldn't believe the sun damage we get here.) I figured she would need a full-body repaint, or at the very least I'd need to replace her eye, which was completely non-existent on the black side. But first she needed a bath.
I went to the sink to wash her off. I started scrubbing, and the soap suds turned brown. Eew. I gave her a quick rinse to see if I'd made any progress...and the black stuff had started to come off! I kept scrubbing and was able to remove it almost entirely, save a few small stains here and there. Her eye paint underneath was undamaged, and now she looks almost good as new!
I wish I would have taken some "before" photos, but I really didn't think the black stuff would come off and was planning to photograph it after I'd removed the surface dirt.
But anyway, I feel stupidly good about rescuing her. She had been trash, and now she's sitting on my coffee table looking nice and being admired. She still needs a tail, but she looks a thousand times better than she did when I found her. It makes me happy.
I'm such a dork.