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00:00A workshop full of wonders.
00:03I heard the word watch.
00:05Home to experts and time-honoured crafts.
00:09There you go, that's a good sound.
00:11Together repairing treasured pieces of the past.
00:15Oh, I like that. That is really good.
00:19Wow, look at that.
00:20Wow, look at that.
00:23Quite proud of that.
00:24And unlocking their stories.
00:27I'm completely blown away by this.
00:30Oh, dear.
00:31Bringing the broken...
00:33I don't know where to start with this.
00:35...back to life.
00:36Wow.
00:38Stunning.
00:40Wow, fantastic!
00:43I think it's just amazing.
00:46Yeah!
00:47Welcome to the Repair Shop.
00:55What stunning days?
00:57Absolutely gorgeous.
00:59It's not a cloud in the sky.
01:07First with a fragile item that accompanied a dark time in our history.
01:12Peter Gibson from Blackpool.
01:15Welcome.
01:17He brings some silent strings for violin restorer Becky Horton.
01:23Ooh.
01:23And here we have it.
01:25Sigmund's violin.
01:26Oh, my word.
01:28You've got that bit there.
01:29Lots of pieces.
01:31Yes.
01:32It's not my violin.
01:33It belonged to my late wife Margaret.
01:35He died ten years ago.
01:37Okay.
01:37And it actually belonged to her grandfather.
01:40He was called Sigmund Feitel.
01:43Sigmund was a Jew.
01:44He was born in Vienna in 1876.
01:47He was a musician.
01:48His job basically was just travel around Vienna, different nightclubs playing music for dances.
01:55And then the Nazis took over and he was sent to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp.
02:01Oh, my gosh.
02:01But Theresienstadt had a secondary function, that it was a show camp.
02:07Among the 140,000 Jewish people imprisoned at Theresienstadt during the Second World War were prominent musicians, artists and intellectuals.
02:18Certain cultural activities were permitted so the camp could be used in propaganda that presented Nazi treatment of those held
02:27there as benevolent.
02:29In fact, an estimated 90,000 people were sent onwards to their deaths, and those that remained endured unimaginable hardship.
02:4033,000 people died in the camp.
02:44They died because the conditions were so bad.
02:45How awful.
02:47Awful, yes.
02:48Yeah.
02:49Did Sigmund have this violin when he was in the camp?
02:51He did.
02:51He actually was told he had to get an orchestra, a band together, so that when Red Cross came, he
02:59could show them how good the conditions were.
03:02So this is just like an illusion to make it look like everything was fine?
03:05Absolutely.
03:05Absolutely.
03:06He did all the scores for all the different instruments.
03:10He was very lucky to die, very, very lucky to die, but he had his use.
03:13It's hard to fathom, isn't it?
03:16It's unbelievable, really.
03:17It came out, obviously, completely scarred.
03:20Definitely.
03:21And he never played it again.
03:24Didn't he?
03:24Never once played it again.
03:26That's incredibly sad, isn't it?
03:28Very, very.
03:29Margaret used to go over and visit them.
03:31Oh, she thought the world of her granddad.
03:32And she always used to say to him, play the violin for my granddad.
03:35And he said, arthritis.
03:38Didn't want to tell her.
03:39No.
03:40The true reason.
03:41Hmm.
03:42He passed away in 63, and Margaret's father took it back home.
03:47He put it as a display on the fireplace, right above the fire.
03:51Over the fire?
03:53Oh, my goodness.
03:54Thus, it's a little bit dried out.
03:57Yeah.
03:58What exactly would you like Becky to do for you?
04:00Make it playable.
04:02Something Margaret always wanted.
04:03I'd love to hear Blue Danube play on it.
04:06It was her favourite piece of music.
04:08She would love to have heard it being played.
04:11I will do my best to get it ready, playable,
04:15and then we'll hopefully hear what it sounds like.
04:17Really appreciate it.
04:18We'll see you very soon. Thanks a lot.
04:19Thank you. Bye-bye.
04:20Bye. Thank you.
04:25Wow.
04:26So much history.
04:27You can almost feel it, can't you? It's huge.
04:42I don't think I've ever held anything in my hands with such a poignant history.
04:46So I feel very responsible for this instrument because it really deserves some TLC now.
04:54One of my many and varying concerns with this instrument is the fingerboard.
04:58There's a lot of ebony chipped out and actually stuck on the neck here.
05:04So somehow I've got to remove this, flatten this, while still keeping the thickness of the fingerboard.
05:11The next concern, we've got cracks.
05:14In a violin of this age, I would be surprised if there weren't cracks,
05:18especially now knowing that it's been hanging above a fireplace.
05:22I'm really hoping not to see daylight coming through these cracks
05:25because that will mean they're open.
05:26If they're open, they will buzz and the violin won't sound very good.
05:30My little mirror will help me just look inside and see what's going on.
05:37Ah, I can see daylight.
05:39Unfortunately, I will have to remove the entire front so that I can repair the cracks properly,
05:45just to make sure it's up to proper playing standard.
05:54From brittle wood to bashed up metal,
05:58a sizeable challenge awaits printmaker and gilder, Alastair Mackay.
06:04This sign has got incredible patina.
06:07Is it patina or patina?
06:09I say patina, what do you say?
06:11I don't know.
06:12I'm in Camp Patina.
06:14I might join that camp.
06:17Hoping this weather-worn sign has brighter days ahead,
06:21Alison Grant and daughter Katie Fenema from Aberdeenshire.
06:27Hello there.
06:28Hello.
06:29Welcome, welcome.
06:30Thank you very much.
06:31Tell us about this beautiful sign.
06:34So this sign comes from my grandfather and great-grandfather's garage,
06:40which was in Braemar in the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland.
06:44I've been to Braemar.
06:46Have you really?
06:46You only got caught in a snowstorm.
06:48It's not a first to be stuck in a snowstorm.
06:50We have a wonderful photo of my great-grandfather ploughing the road just outside Braemar with the snow a good
07:01eight, nine feet high.
07:03This looks like it could have been out in the snow a few years, definitely.
07:07So the business was founded in 1901 as a garage.
07:11Prior to that, it had been a blacksmith, and they sort of self-taught themselves how to become car mechanics.
07:19It was always a family business. I worked there in summer holidays for six years.
07:26Wow. And do you know when the sign was made?
07:29We think it was made in the early 1960s.
07:32Right.
07:33And there were two of them actually, and they stood at the front of the garage.
07:36Right. Do you guys know what it said previously?
07:39Yes. So this is Castleton. The village of Braemar was split into two, Ochendrine and Castleton.
07:46And do you think this would have been maybe junior?
07:48I think you're absolutely right.
07:49Right.
07:51Braemar is a village that when my mother was a child would have been closed for a month,
07:57maybe two months each year to the south with snow.
08:00If you're travelling south, it's a good 40 miles before you get to another garage.
08:06When a car broke down out on the south road at night, my father, his name was Willie Grant, brought
08:15them home.
08:16And my mother made them a good cooked breakfast, and my father fixed their car.
08:20God, that sounds lovely.
08:22It was a nice community sort of thing that we did.
08:25I can completely understand why you've kept hold of the sign.
08:30I see it's got a lot of patina, but what is it you guys are looking for?
08:34We love that patina, actually. It's beautiful. And if you can retain some of it, I think that would be
08:39great.
08:40Because it reflects where that sign has been, an area we are very proud of.
08:46This one looks like it maybe has been folded in half at some point or something.
08:49Yes, not naming names, it has been stored folded for a little while.
08:54Right.
08:54And also just to restore the letterwork so that it reads as a complete sign again.
08:59But I think actually even more importantly for my mother, it's to be able to touch the sign and for
09:05it to feel smooth again and loved.
09:09Okay.
09:09I can't fathom how you do this.
09:12Neither can I yet.
09:16Thank you so much for bringing this in.
09:18Yeah, thanks guys, and I'll see what I can do with it.
09:37It's really beautiful when you see signs like this because you can see how they were made and the sort
09:41of manufacturing process that went into it.
09:44Originally, this would have been printed and I think that they have a real industrial quality to them.
09:51But over time, they become almost pieces of art.
09:54There does seem to be a lot of damage though.
09:55There's chipped enamel, there's damage to the metalwork itself.
09:59There's a terrible fold in the middle of this and there's a big hole in the corner and I think
10:03I'll need Dom's help with the metalwork on those areas.
10:06The biggest challenge I'm going to face is making sure that I can retain the patina in the way that
10:10Alison and Katie wanted and make sure that it doesn't lose its soul.
10:14The sign has lots of debris and gunk on it and I want to remove all that and see what
10:20the original enamel is like underneath.
10:23Once I've done that, I'll understand exactly what we're working with and where I can move on with the repair
10:28next.
10:35Here we go, yeah, perfect, got it.
10:37Yes.
10:38Really?
10:38We've got it.
10:39Oh my goodness.
10:40For the violin that played within the confines of a concentration camp, Becky can now begin to bring harmony to
10:48its fractured surface.
10:50I've given everything a good clean and I'm now going to address the cracks.
10:55You can't leave cracks on any stringed instrument open.
10:58If you do, it just affects the sound really negatively.
11:02The top part of this crack, I noticed when I was taking it apart, was open.
11:06So it's not just going to be a case of gluing this crack together.
11:09It's going to be a case of making sure it's completely filled and it's like a seamless transition between one
11:15side to the other.
11:17So all I'm going to do now is put some little clamping blocks on here and glue them either side
11:23of the crack.
11:24And then they will be able to take the little clamp which is going to enable me to knit the
11:28sides together as I glue it.
11:30Once the crack is all stable again and glued together, these will all come off.
11:57That's the glue in. I've now got to get the clamps right on and get them as tight as possible
12:01in very quick time.
12:03I want this crack to go together perfectly because what I do not want to have to do is open
12:07it up again.
12:12Once it's dry, I'm going to be able to start adding filler to it to try and make it blend
12:17in with the rest of the body.
12:26Next, with a delicate item filled with memories of the Middle East.
12:32Hello. Hi there. Hello.
12:34Charlie Smith from North Yorkshire has something of a puzzle for Kirsten.
12:39Oh my gosh.
12:40This was my late mother's ceramic birdcage from when we lived in Saudi Arabia when I was a kid.
12:47It's the first birdcage that I've seen made out of ceramic. Is this the first for you?
12:50I think it is actually, yeah. I think it's really lovely.
12:54It's quite unique and it was a beautiful thing when it was in One Piece.
12:58What was your mum's name?
12:59My mum's name was Jennifer. She bought it in a department store called Saudi House in Riyadh.
13:05It had been early 80s. My father was working in Saudi Arabia. He was a doctor, so we were living
13:10there.
13:11Saudi wasn't an easy place at that time. We used to go maybe a monthly trip to the big department
13:17store.
13:18That was one of her perks, if you like, as a lady in Saudi that she used to enjoy a
13:23lot.
13:23That's quite a big ask for your mum to set up home in a completely different country.
13:29Wherever we were, mum always made it home with whatever she had, things like this.
13:36She was very house proud.
13:38So what was your childhood like then?
13:40So we lived in Riyadh, the capital, and we lived in a compound.
13:43It was almost like a little town inside with its own recreational centre and shops and swimming pools.
13:50So we used to go swimming every day, finish school at two o'clock.
13:54We used to go running in the desert.
13:55Running in the desert?
13:56Yeah, it was excellent.
13:57Yeah.
13:58Whereabouts did this live in the house?
14:00So it's always been in mum's living room for as long as I can remember.
14:03It was always one of her pride and joys, if you like.
14:06How did this get broken?
14:07Mum had Huntingdon's disease and she used to have some uncontrolled movements.
14:14This ended up being a casualty and got knocked off the table in the living room.
14:19That must have been very upsetting.
14:21She was very upset, on the phone crying.
14:25My brother tried his best to stick it back together.
14:28For the last 15 years it's been broken.
14:31It's been in my garage.
14:32I just remember it from all the good times in Saudi when we were kids and I know mum loved
14:37it.
14:38Mum passed two years ago.
14:41So it seems like a long time but it's still a little bit raw.
14:46If it can be fixed, mum would be very proud.
14:50She'd be smiling.
14:51I think it's absolutely lovely and I'm looking forward to trying to get this back together for you.
14:57Thank you very much. Bye-bye.
14:58Bye-bye.
15:01This is amazing.
15:02I'm just itching to...
15:04Start cleaning it.
15:05Yeah.
15:06I can see a few cobwebs.
15:07Yeah.
15:08If you carry the thing with the cobwebs, I carry the rest of it.
15:10Lovely. Thank you.
15:25I think the birdcage is absolutely beautiful, but I didn't realise quite how much previous restoration has been attempted.
15:37Now I'm looking closely, I can see that there's a lot of these pieces that have been stuck together.
15:44It's always more difficult when someone's had a go at trying to repair something themselves.
15:51So part of my challenge here is to dismantle this before I can rebuild it.
15:59I know this is going to be tricky to try and put back together, especially with this curved shape.
16:06If one of these joins is slightly misaligned, it will then put the next join out and the final pieces
16:16just won't go in properly at all.
16:18To see the full extent of my work here, I am going to have to remove all of this surface
16:25dirt.
16:25I'm going to start with a cotton wool swab and some acetone.
16:32Once I'm satisfied that this is clean, I can then start to try and dismantle the old repairs.
16:53Alistair has decided that his repair of the Highland sign calls for a bit of tough love.
16:59The fold isn't as simple as it looks. It's been folded and then unfolded, which means that you get multiple
17:04bends within the metal.
17:06I'm going to have to work both sides of the metal and try and hammer them flat.
17:10I'm going to start very lightly and I'm going to see how the metal reacts to every hammer hit.
17:24I'm trying to change and vary the angle and the pressure that I'm putting through the hammer to make sure
17:30that I create the flattest surface.
17:36The methods I'm using just now would more commonly be used in car repair or bodywork repair.
17:42It's not usually something you would use on a sign.
17:45It's not common for them to have been folded in half.
17:53It does look a little bit like the metal is splitting on this side.
17:56I'm going to be a bit tentative with that area.
17:59I think it's maybe a sensible idea to talk to Dom and see if there's a way of stitching that
18:03with a weld to make sure that that stays secure.
18:15SHOT DO Enough
18:28Code
18:29Dom, mate, could you give me a hug with this?
18:31Well, that's looking better.
18:32Yeah.
18:33Well done
18:33We managed to get the fold out.
18:34Brilliant
18:35Going to need a bit of help with some welding, if that's OK.
18:39Oh, it's split.
18:39Yeah.
18:40And then fixing up that right corner.
18:43Make that a corner again.
18:44Yes, please, mate.
18:45Leave it with me.
18:46Cheers.
18:46No worries.
19:00At some point in its life, this corner was chopped out.
19:03It's my job to try and reinstate it.
19:06So I've cleaned up the edges, cleaned up all the rust around this area where the piece was missing.
19:11And I've made a new piece, which is the same thickness.
19:15And I'm going to weld it in place.
19:34On the violin repair, Becky is attempting to retain an important part of its history.
19:42This is the fingerboard from Siegmund's violin.
19:45I've got a bit of a problem with this.
19:47I want to fit it back on the violin.
19:49I don't want to replace it.
19:51This is where Siegmund played.
19:52This is where his hands touched.
19:54I have to preserve this at all costs.
19:56I would usually flatten the surface of the fingerboard, flatten the surface on the neck,
20:01because then you know you've got a really perfect joint.
20:03And I can't do that this time.
20:06It's very, very thin.
20:08I haven't got enough width left, so I'm going to just have to re-glue it onto the splinters
20:16that are already on the neck, making sure I match everything up perfectly.
20:20So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to gouge a channel in the underside of the fingerboard.
20:26It doesn't need to be too deep, but it will mean the glue that I put in will collect in
20:31the channel
20:31and make the bond stronger rather than squirting out through the edges.
20:39That should be deep enough, and now I can get it onto the violin.
20:47I'm going to have to work very, very quickly with this,
20:50because as usual, my glue gels very fast.
20:57Plenty of glue on both surfaces.
20:59Now I have to be incredibly careful to match up where it was before,
21:05because if I get this in the wrong place,
21:08I can't very well take it off and do it again for fear of losing any more splinters.
21:17It is actually starting to stick already.
21:21I don't know if I've got that in the right place.
21:23If I just offer the top nut up, it'll tell me.
21:27It's pretty good, actually.
21:30I don't think I've ever been so nervous putting a fingerboard on.
21:41Genuinely never want to do that again.
21:54Before reassembly, Kirsten must free the birdcage pieces from a previous repair attempt by Charlie's brother.
22:02What I've decided to do is, as parts are coming apart,
22:07I'm just colour-coding them so that I know that these bits belong together.
22:13This is just going to help me when I start to reassemble.
22:16I'm going to apply some paint stripper onto this adhesive,
22:23and I'm hoping that that will start to just soften it and break that down,
22:30allowing me to take these pieces apart.
22:34I know that many people would look at something like this in so many pieces
22:39and wonder where you could start,
22:42but I enjoy that challenge of trying to transform something
22:47that holds so many precious memories.
22:53I'm now going to wrap some tinfoil around those areas
22:58by containing them within a little tinfoil parcel.
23:03That's allowing them to activate and work on the areas with the adhesive.
23:15Becky, that is the sweetest thing.
23:17Isn't it?
23:18I've got my dad's violin that he brought over from Sicily
23:21as a very young man after the war.
23:23Do you play it?
23:24I don't, but he did.
23:25Do you know how old it is?
23:26I do.
23:27It's got a labelling side of Fratelli somebody's and 1850-something,
23:31but the sweetest little thing, yeah.
23:35The paint stripper seems to have had mixed results.
23:39There's different adhesives being used on this.
23:42This has come apart really nicely,
23:44and this was the clear adhesive that had been used.
23:49Unfortunately, I've also got yellow and brown adhesive,
23:53and that doesn't seem to be coming apart as easily.
23:57So I'm going to see if my steam cleaner might help me budge these sections.
24:13Sometimes it can actually jet the adhesive out,
24:17and sometimes it just softens it.
24:19I think there's some movement there.
24:24That's exactly what I was hoping for.
24:27That has come away really cleanly,
24:29so I can now carry on using the steam
24:32to try and get the rest of the pieces apart.
24:47Alistair's plan to disguise the Braemar sign's giant fold
24:51is off to a seamless start.
24:54I've got this back from Dom,
24:56who's done a fantastic job in welding the corner
24:58and the little crack that was in the middle here.
25:00I'm going to start filling everything now.
25:02So I'm going to use a car body filler,
25:05which is a bit unusual, but it's nice
25:06because it harks back to the heritage of the sign,
25:09and it'll give a really nice finish.
25:11I learned to do this fixing cars when I was younger,
25:14so it's quite like when you have a hole in your wall
25:16after you've been hanging pictures.
25:18Once it's all hardened and sanded back,
25:20I'll be able to get started with the painting.
25:45I've finished sanding and filling the sign.
25:49Before I move on with the yellow background,
25:51I'm going to start with the letter forms.
25:53In the middle, I'm missing an N and an R for junior
25:56and a T and an L within the Castleton word.
25:59Luckily, I've got a little bit of the N left.
26:01The bit of card that I've cut out
26:03is a copy of the leg of the N.
26:06I can then use that throughout the letters
26:09to make sure that I get the sizing and the scale correct.
26:19I'm really pleased with the letter shapes that I've got.
26:22I think that they match the originals really well.
26:24What I'm going to do is I'll lay a vinyl on top of the pencil marks.
26:28I'll then cut that vinyl out
26:29and that'll leave me a stencil
26:31that I can airbrush in the paint that we're using,
26:34which is an enamel so that when Alison and Katie see it
26:37and touch it, it feels like the original.
26:58It is the most satisfying thing peeling the vinyl off though
27:01because you see the new letter appear out of nowhere.
27:04I'm going to lay out the rest of the letters
27:06and then I'll go on to painting them in.
27:11As a sign becomes readable,
27:14a silent violin is edging closer to playable.
27:19I've now got the strings on
27:21and I'm addressing the retouching on the cracks.
27:26I have filled them
27:27and I have recreated the surface texture
27:30but now it's time to disguise the big white filler line.
27:34I'm using some pigments and some varnish
27:38and actually yellow, red, brown and black
27:40can produce pretty much all the colours on violin varnish.
27:44But there's not just one colour
27:46so I'm varying the tones of the colour that I put on
27:49because some parts are lighter, some parts are darker.
27:54I really want these cracks to blend in so Peter can't see them at all
27:58because what a sad history this has had
28:01and I'd like it now to have a really happy future.
28:07This violin was played by Sigmund
28:10as he was imprisoned in a concentration camp.
28:13Years spent above a fireplace
28:16had left it cracked and unplayable.
28:20It meant the world to Peter's late wife, Margaret,
28:24Sigmund's granddaughter.
28:26Hi, Peter, welcome back.
28:28Hi, Will, Rebecca.
28:29How are you feeling?
28:30Excited.
28:32Looking, really looking forward to seeing it.
28:35My late wife always wanted to hear it played.
28:39Are you ready?
28:40Very much so.
28:41OK.
28:41Yes.
28:55Wonderful, thank you.
29:02Incredible.
29:03Incredible.
29:06It's a fabulous piece of work, thank you.
29:09The cracks have gone.
29:11It's beyond my dreams, it really is.
29:14I expect it being nice, but it's just, I don't know.
29:19I just wish Margaret could have seen it.
29:23It is a beautiful violin.
29:25I expect you'd like to hear this played again.
29:27I'd absolutely love it.
29:29It's played out certainly not as good as Siegmund must have been.
29:31I've got two of my children, Noah and Daisy.
29:34Lovely, thank you.
29:35And we're going to just have a little band moment.
29:37A bit lovely.
29:38Yeah?
29:56A bit lovely.
30:04Bye-bye.
30:04Bye-bye.
30:17Ah, that was wonderful, thank you.
30:19She was speechless.
30:22Her biggest dream was what you've done for me.
30:25It has been an absolute honour.
30:27Ah, thank you so much.
30:31I just can't thank you enough, it's been absolutely fantastic, really has.
30:36It's over to you.
30:37Thank you very much. Bye. Thanks again.
30:46It's perfect, absolute perfect.
30:49It's Margaret's special memories of her grandfather,
30:53whom she loved dearly.
30:56I was married to her for 25 years,
30:59and now this is all that's really left,
31:03memories and this violin.
31:19And now a tale of young love and rock and roll
31:22told by Ross Mallion from the Isle of Butte in Scotland.
31:27He's hoping Dean can save a precious piece of his past.
31:31Hello.
31:33Hello. Hello. You all right?
31:34Yeah.
31:35I got this jacket in the early 80s.
31:39Not long after I got it,
31:41my girlfriend of the time,
31:43Meriel,
31:44who was studying at St Martin's School of Art,
31:48did this on the back.
31:50Wow, look at that.
31:51That's incredible.
31:52She knew that I was a massive comic book fan.
31:55Did you know she was going to pen that?
31:57No, I didn't.
31:58I came back and she'd done this interpretation
32:00of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns,
32:04which is just one of my favourite comics anyway.
32:07I mean, I was just blown away.
32:09I would have been.
32:10You know, we've been together for about three or four years.
32:13OK.
32:14But we've always stayed in touch.
32:16We've always been friends.
32:19Unfortunately, she passed away this year
32:22from quite a long battle with lung cancer.
32:24Sorry about that.
32:25And she's a really massively talented person.
32:29Clearly, yeah.
32:30Really creative.
32:31Very generous.
32:33One of the world's beautiful people.
32:35Every time I look at this, I think of Merrill.
32:38And I've always treasured it.
32:40You know, I used to wear it to go into gigs
32:42or to raves or to parties.
32:44And people would come up and go,
32:45oh, that's so fantastic.
32:47It's been all over the world with me.
32:49I've worked for lots of different bands.
32:51Started off by doing Lighting from the Orb.
32:54I did Pulp, Primal Scream.
32:56Oh, really?
32:57One of my favourite bands, that.
32:58Yeah.
32:59And this was with you throughout the whole thing.
33:01This has been a constant companion.
33:03And it's been worn to them.
33:05Well, with all due respect, you can see that.
33:07Yeah.
33:08The zips are broken in places.
33:10And it's got things like here,
33:12where it's starting to deteriorate in places.
33:16Yeah.
33:16The more you wear it, the more it's going to come apart.
33:20So what is it that's, my dear, want to repair this now?
33:23My 16-year-old, Elias.
33:25They're very kind of punk rock in a way.
33:28I've always been, oh, Dad, I really like that jacket.
33:30And it'd be nice for somebody in my family
33:33just to keep a hold of it and wear it with pride.
33:36You've left me quite a lot of work to do here, Ross.
33:39So I'm going to get cracking and do the best I can.
33:42All right.
33:43Thank you for bringing it in.
33:43You take care, Ross.
33:44You too.
33:45Bye.
34:03What a fantastic item this is.
34:05I do often get asked to repair leather jackets,
34:08and I do enjoy, actually, a lot different to shoes,
34:11which I'm used to working on.
34:12The main issue visually is kind of the fading in the leather.
34:16It looks really, really distressed.
34:18The main zip itself has some fraying on the tapes,
34:21so if Elias wants to wear this, that will need replacing.
34:25The inside of the bottom of this jacket
34:27has this band where the lining is attached to.
34:30This piece of material isn't leather.
34:32It's kind of a polyurethane fake leather, if you like.
34:35But I feel with the condition of it,
34:37it's really not going to last much longer.
34:39So I'm going to have to replace this.
34:41There's no way I can repair it.
34:45Now to the best part of the jacket.
34:47This is fantastic, isn't it?
34:49It's just a shame that so much of it has faded.
34:52I think I might ask Lucia to take a look.
34:57I think the first thing for me to do
34:58is to get some moisture back into this leather
35:00and make it more workable
35:02and get all the years of rock and roll grime removed.
35:23Now that evidence of the old repair
35:26is stripped away from the birdcage,
35:28a complex conundrum awaits Kirsten.
35:32Now that I've got all of the pieces laid out in a system,
35:37I've got the task of trying to get these back in place.
35:42I think this is one of the most challenging pieces
35:46that I've had to do.
35:47It's all sort of going up into the air
35:51and it's held by very small points of contact.
35:55To start with, I'm going to try and make up this bottom section
35:59that I can then build up from.
36:02The adhesive is a two-part epoxy resin
36:06and I'm going to try and get these joins as tight as I can.
36:11I can't help but think of Charlie's brother.
36:15I mean, hats off to him
36:17because I'm amazed that he even had a go in the first place.
36:26Now that I've got the base reasonably together,
36:32I can try and start to reattach some of these ribs.
36:52I've got all of these rib sections
36:56that need to attach onto the base,
37:01but the problem is that they also need to attach onto this top section.
37:08So this is a slightly more of an experimental technique that I'm trying here.
37:14I've decided to try and use these small cholestyrene balls inside the base
37:21that is going to give me some kind of a support.
37:24And it also means that once everything is bonded,
37:29I can just tear the plastic and release the beads.
37:33I don't know if it's going to work.
37:35I'm going to start applying some adhesive.
37:40This thing is so fragile.
37:43It's really just trying to get these sections aligned as well as I can.
37:49And this is where the beans in the bag come in handy.
37:55I'm just going to check the alignment.
37:57That hasn't moved. That looks fine.
37:59And I can apply the tape and pull those joins together.
38:07I'm almost daring to think that this method may work.
38:12I'm absolutely not out of the woods yet.
38:14I've still got loads of ribs to balance and reattach.
38:22As Kirsten patiently proceeds,
38:25Alistair's work on the Highland sign is heading in the right direction.
38:30I've finished the lettering and now I'm moving on to the yellow.
38:33Normally I would have put a yellow base down first
38:35and then put the black letters on top.
38:37But because of the way that the enamel signs were made,
38:40the black lettering was sunk into the yellow enamel.
38:43That means that I've got to copy the texture.
38:46The yellow background has to be sprayed on with an air gun as well.
38:49However, I've got to cover the black letters that I've already painted.
38:53I've laid more vinyl down.
38:55I've cut those letters out.
38:56And when I've finished painting the yellow,
38:58I'll be able to peel those off
38:59and those letters will be perfectly black.
39:01It's really fiddly,
39:03but I think it will definitely be worth it at the end
39:05to create that texture that I've been looking for
39:08through the whole sign.
39:12I've got basking fluid here.
39:14It's a liquid form of latex.
39:16I can paint that into the areas that I want to keep the patina
39:19from being painted by the spray that I'm about to put down.
39:28This is a base colour
39:29that I'm going to layer multiple variants of yellow on top of.
39:33I have to change those shades ever so slightly
39:36to make sure that I can copy the weathering that's happened
39:38and showing the progression of time.
39:43I'm quite nervous about this part.
39:44It kind of is the culmination of all the work that I've done,
39:47so it really is the point of no return.
40:10With the sign's finishing line in sight,
40:13the transformation of the hand-painted jacket
40:16is just beginning for Dean.
40:19I've now removed that old piece of PU leather
40:22that was just degraded and feels even worse.
40:24Now it's off.
40:25In its place, we'll go this lovely piece of real leather.
40:30Now with jackets, it's always quite difficult
40:31because they're made inside out,
40:32so you've kind of got to reverse engineer the seams.
40:35I'll stitch along this bottom line
40:37and then I'll fold it over.
40:38You'll be able to see any stitch
40:40in between the lining and the new leather.
40:44Comics was never something I got into as a youngster,
40:47but my son now who's eight,
40:50he's started writing comics
40:51and doing all his characters and storyboards and stuff.
40:54It's quite interesting, actually.
40:55It's funny to see the imagination go wild.
40:59I think everything's lined up properly.
41:02The moment of truth is when I stitch it and see.
41:09Now it should be reasonably simple.
41:11It's just a straight stitch line
41:13along the whole bottom of the jacket.
41:16There's always the simple jobs
41:17that require the most attention
41:19because it's easy to get complacent, I think.
41:38I'm surprised myself, actually.
41:40That's really quite pleasing.
41:42It looks so neat.
41:53Kirsten's about to discover
41:54if her experimental method
41:56to hold the birdcage pieces in place
41:59has paid off.
42:01That is all of the joins filled
42:03and I feel ready to try and release
42:08these little balls
42:10that have been supporting the ribs.
42:16It feels quite amazing
42:17when something you've worked on
42:19that's just been in really so many pieces
42:23comes together.
42:26That thrill really just never goes.
42:29Look at that now.
42:30It's just pouring out.
42:34That's really fantastic.
42:36I'm now going to start filling
42:39the joins and the losses
42:41on the interior
42:42and then I can start to retouch
42:45this beautiful design.
43:07Now that's the first half
43:09of the zip glued in
43:11and now I'm going to glue
43:12the other side.
43:13It's vitally important
43:15that I get this right.
43:16I'm really keen not to lose
43:17that original shape
43:18or distort it in anywhere
43:20and a zip put in wrongly
43:22can definitely do that.
43:24But what I have found
43:25in this lapel of the jacket
43:27is an indent
43:28from where the old zip was
43:30kind of pushed up against
43:31over the years.
43:32So I'm going to follow that.
43:35that should be
43:36everything lined up.
43:38I ain't really going to know
43:40until I stitch it.
43:46And that is lovely.
43:47There is a real deep satisfaction
43:49with that when it comes together
43:52and that is ready to stitch.
43:54Then I can get it to Lucia
43:55to have a look at the artwork
43:56from it on the back
43:57and see what we can do there.
44:08Alistair also has paint work
44:10on his mind
44:10as work continues
44:12on the old garage sign.
44:14The layers of spray
44:16that I've done
44:16have gone down really well
44:18and it matches
44:18the rest of the sign.
44:20What I'm going to do now
44:21is start adding texture.
44:22Although the area
44:23I've coated
44:24with the paint
44:25on the fold
44:26looks brand new
44:27I don't want that
44:28I want it to look aged
44:29and so I've got to add
44:3130 years worth
44:32of winters and summers
44:33onto it
44:34by dappling in paint
44:36with a sponge
44:36to build that texture
44:38and create that ageing.
44:42It's actually all going
44:44to disappear
44:44into the background
44:45when the letters
44:46are revealed.
44:49This sign
44:50from an old family business
44:52had been battered
44:53by brutal weather
44:54in the Scottish Highlands.
44:56It was bent in two
44:57and letters were missing.
45:01You can't even tell
45:02that that fold
45:03was ever there.
45:04I know,
45:04it's disappeared,
45:05hasn't it?
45:05You've done such
45:06an amazing job.
45:06Oh, thank you.
45:09Alison and Katie
45:10have returned
45:10to see what Alistair
45:12has managed to achieve.
45:14Welcome back.
45:16Well, thank you.
45:17This is really
45:18very exciting.
45:19It's lovely to see you.
45:20It looks awfully big.
45:23How have you been?
45:24Heart rate's maybe
45:25going slightly up
45:26just now with excitement.
45:28I just hope to see
45:29all of the lettering
45:31in place.
45:31No pressure, Al.
45:33Well, I think
45:35the moment has arrived.
45:36Oh, yeah.
45:37Shall we?
45:38Go on.
45:46Oh, it's beautiful.
45:50Oh, my goodness.
45:52It's beautiful.
45:54It's absolutely perfect, Al.
45:58I love the fact
46:00that it still speaks
46:01of its age
46:02and that it's shiny.
46:06Yes!
46:06It's shining with pride.
46:08Goodness.
46:09Can you touch it?
46:11Absolutely.
46:12It's smooth.
46:13You feel that the enamel
46:15is dense, protecting it.
46:17I think it feels gorgeous.
46:20Katie, would you read
46:21the text to me
46:22to remind me?
46:22So, J. Grant Jr.,
46:25Castleton Braymar.
46:28How wonderful.
46:29It's just thrilling
46:31to see it restored like this.
46:33Yes.
46:33You've brought the family
46:34business back to life,
46:37so thank you.
46:38My pleasure.
46:39It is absolutely wonderful.
46:42Thank you so much.
46:44It's been lovely
46:44to meet you guys.
46:45And, yeah,
46:46I'll have to pop into Braymar
46:47for a cup of tea sometime.
46:49Refuel and see your...
46:50Refuel.
46:50Refuel.
46:52Please do.
46:55I wouldn't have believed
46:57it was possible
46:58to restore the sign
46:59as perfectly
47:00as Al has done it.
47:02It felt wonderful
47:03to touch the sign
47:04and feel it restored
47:07to smoothness
47:09where it had felt rusty
47:11just a couple of weeks ago.
47:12It's beautiful.
47:14This sign symbolises
47:16really the hard work
47:18through many, many generations
47:20of my family.
47:21I think it's a wonderful tribute.
47:23It just feels like
47:24it's had so much love
47:26poured into it.
47:34With strength and structure
47:36now returned
47:37to the leather jacket,
47:39Lucia can take on
47:40its impressive tribute
47:41to Batman.
47:43I think the big challenge
47:44for me is going to be
47:45the hands at the top
47:46of the shoulders,
47:47which is where
47:47the greatest damage is.
47:49I don't want to make it
47:51brand new,
47:51but I do need to
47:53reintegrate the actual
47:54areas of loss
47:55so that the whole
47:56comic Batman
47:57reads properly.
47:59I'm going to start off
48:00really quite simply
48:01and go with the lettering
48:02because Dean's put
48:04a new edge on the bottom
48:05and this letter E
48:06needs to be extended
48:08over the bottom.
48:09So I'm going to see
48:10how my paint
48:11sits on this
48:12just to finish off
48:13this letter E.
48:18Now I'm mixing
48:19a little bit of
48:20black with this white,
48:22but I think
48:23we've got a bit of ageing
48:25going on with these colours
48:26anyway,
48:26so I need to put in
48:27a little bit of
48:29maybe a yellow ochre.
48:36I think once
48:37I've got the colour
48:39I can modify it
48:40because I want
48:42this to be broken up.
48:43All the other letters
48:43have cracking in them
48:44and I want to keep
48:46that cracking there.
48:58I've moved on
48:58to the area
48:59of Batman's hand
49:01which is really
49:02quite a powerful
49:03part of the image
49:04and it just happens
49:06to be in the most
49:07damaged part
49:08of the jacket as well.
49:09I'm just having
49:10trouble figuring it out
49:11because so much
49:13is missing.
49:14The hand is like
49:15clenched like that,
49:17sort of doing
49:17this powerful punch
49:18but against the
49:19blue background
49:20of his cape.
49:21So I'm going to
49:22have to play
49:23with the paint
49:24and mix the blues
49:25and the blacks
49:26and just keep
49:26putting them in
49:28and then knocking
49:28them out
49:29until I actually
49:29get the shape
49:30that works
49:31on this jacket.
49:38It's been a real
49:40learning thing
49:41for me
49:41to see how
49:42an artist
49:43like Meriel
49:44transposed
49:45a two-dimensional
49:45image
49:46onto a three-dimensional
49:49moving jacket.
49:50She's done
49:50a fantastic job.
49:52You think it's going
49:53to be absolutely
49:53straightforward
49:54and it really
49:55isn't.
50:00After a painstaking
50:01and precise puzzle,
50:03the birdcage
50:04is rebuilt.
50:06I've blocked
50:07in the white areas
50:08and I'm now
50:09just starting
50:10to put the pattern
50:11back.
50:13I'm using
50:14a clear acrylic
50:15paint to which
50:16I add
50:17the acrylic colours
50:19and damage
50:21is slowly
50:23starting to
50:24disappear.
50:25So I'm just
50:26going to carry
50:26on retouching
50:28and once
50:31that's completed,
50:32I cannot wait
50:34to give this back
50:34to Charlie.
50:45This ornament
50:46symbolises
50:47a happy childhood
50:48in Saudi Arabia
50:49but an accident
50:51had left it
50:52smashed
50:52into pieces.
50:55For Charlie,
50:57it's a treasured link
50:58to his late mother,
50:59Jennifer.
51:01Hi, Charlie.
51:02How are you doing?
51:03Good to see you again.
51:05How are you?
51:06Very nervous.
51:07Where's that?
51:08Because all the
51:09spokes from the
51:10cage were damaged.
51:13So it was a
51:14wreck, really.
51:15Are you ready
51:16to see it?
51:18OK, hit me.
51:29It's perfect.
51:30Absolutely perfect.
51:36Spectacular.
51:38I just remember
51:39the call
51:40the day
51:40mum broke it
51:41and she was
51:42crying on the phone.
51:43She was in her
51:44right state,
51:44bless her.
51:45She's going to be
51:45smiling today.
51:49I just remember
51:50it being up
51:51just like that
51:51in Saudi
51:52on the sideboard
51:53when we were kids.
51:55Good times
51:55growing up.
51:56Yeah.
51:57I can't believe
51:58the transformation.
52:00Amazing.
52:02Absolutely amazing.
52:04It brings back
52:05my mum.
52:06I can hear her
52:06talking.
52:08Almost.
52:10So seeing it like
52:11this must be
52:11quite something.
52:13A little bit
52:13overwhelming to be
52:14honest.
52:15Do you think
52:16your brother's
52:16going to be
52:17surprised as well?
52:17I think he's
52:18going to be
52:19in the same
52:19state I am.
52:20I'll remember
52:21every day
52:22the good times
52:24looking at that.
52:25It certainly
52:26tested me
52:26but it's been
52:28a real pleasure
52:29to get this
52:30back together
52:30for you.
52:31Amazing.
52:32Thank you very much
52:32indeed.
52:33You're very welcome.
52:38Amazing work Kirsten.
52:40I'm going to go
52:40and find lots
52:41of wrapping stuff
52:42and a big box.
52:48I think what
52:48Kirsten's done
52:49is incredible.
52:51It's amazing
52:52that she's
52:53made it look
52:54so perfect.
52:56I'd like to think
52:57now it's going
52:57to be a family
52:58heirloom
52:58to hand down
53:00to the family.
53:12How are you
53:12getting on?
53:13Oh it's been great.
53:14Yeah?
53:14Yeah really
53:15really interesting.
53:16A bit of a challenge
53:17right?
53:17A bit of a challenge
53:18to say the least.
53:20Oh wow.
53:20Worked out a lot
53:21of stuff
53:21and learned a lot.
53:23It's been really great.
53:24You've done an
53:24incredible job.
53:25Thank you so much.
53:30The hand-painted
53:31tribute to Batman
53:32is almost ready
53:33to return
53:35but not before
53:36the last polish
53:37from Dean.
53:38As a final finish
53:39for this jacket
53:40I want to give it
53:40a coat of
53:41some nice black cream
53:43and I was going
53:43to hold off
53:44with this
53:44when I first saw it
53:45because I didn't
53:45want to ruin
53:47any of the wear
53:47and the patina
53:49on the leather
53:50but it's so worn
53:52that all that wear
53:53is still going
53:53to come through
53:54even if I polish it.
53:56I know Elias
53:57is keen to wear
53:58this again
53:59so it's important
54:00that I get
54:01as much nourishment
54:02into that leather
54:02as I can.
54:04I'm really pleased
54:06with it.
54:06I know Luchia is.
54:09So now the test
54:10is Ross and Elias
54:12happy with it.
54:16Ross's late girlfriend
54:18Meriel hand-painted
54:20this jacket
54:20as a surprise gift
54:22and it was highly
54:23treasured
54:24but decades
54:25of parties,
54:26gigs and globetrotting
54:28had left it
54:29falling apart
54:30with flaking
54:31paintwork.
54:33Dean.
54:34Hello Luchia.
54:35How exciting
54:36is this?
54:37I know yeah,
54:37we got that.
54:37We did,
54:38absolutely.
54:39Back to be reunited
54:41with his superhero
54:42sidekick
54:42is Ross
54:43and his youngest
54:45child,
54:46Elias.
54:48Hello Ross.
54:49Hello.
54:49Hi Elias,
54:50nice to meet you.
54:51Nice to meet you too.
54:51Elias,
54:52why does this jacket
54:53mean so much to you?
54:54That influences
54:55so much of my style,
54:57whether it's like
54:57the music he got me
54:58into,
54:59just so much of
55:00who I am
55:01is linked to my dad.
55:03It means a lot
55:04to me
55:05because it means
55:05a lot to him.
55:07Are you ready
55:07to see it?
55:08Is it time?
55:11Sure.
55:12Yeah,
55:13I can feel my heart rate
55:14going up.
55:14I can hear it.
55:15Mine has as well.
55:25Oh my giddy aunt Fanny.
55:33It looks
55:35incredible.
55:37It still looks old.
55:38It doesn't look brand new.
55:40I love that.
55:42It's just...
55:44I can see like...
55:45Oh my god.
55:46It's...
55:47It's...
55:47Perfect.
55:49It's gorgeous.
55:53I just...
55:54I don't know
55:55what to say.
56:00For me it was
56:01a super challenge.
56:02It really was.
56:03How she's transferred
56:04that design on here
56:06is very clever.
56:07You've got a work of art.
56:08A living work of art.
56:10Time to try it on.
56:12Yes.
56:14Oops.
56:16Ready?
56:18That looks incredible.
56:20It's stunning.
56:23It's just outrageously good.
56:26I can't wait to be going
56:27to like punk shows
56:29and doing my own gigs
56:30wearing this.
56:31This is my dad's jacket.
56:33Isn't that cool?
56:34Thank you so much
56:35for doing all this
56:36wonderful work on it.
56:37You can go enjoy it now.
56:41Oh, that looks so good.
56:43Absolutely fantastic.
56:45To see this
56:47has just been
56:48phenomenal.
56:50It's such a big part
56:52of who dad was
56:53growing up as a teenager
56:55in the era of punk rock.
56:58It feels
56:59like an honour
57:00to wear it.
57:01Mariel would be
57:03so chuffed
57:04for this still
57:05to exist
57:06and be
57:06a real testament
57:08to her talent.
57:09It's just incredible.
57:14If you have
57:15a treasured possession
57:16that's seen
57:17better days
57:17and you think
57:18the team can help,
57:19please get in touch
57:20at bbc.co.uk
57:23slash techpark
57:24and join us
57:25in the repair shop.
57:56We'll see you next time.
57:57We'll see you next time.
57:58We'll see you next time.
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