04x22 - Old Go Kart

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop, where
much-loved but broken treasures...

This is amazing.
It is absolutely brilliant.

..are brought back to life.
Welcome to my universe.

It's pretty marvellous. Furniture
restorer Jay Blades... It's so nice

that we can be part of that kind
of history

to just keep things going.

..and a dream team of some of the
country's

most skilled craftspeople...

I'm having a lot of fun, and
I'm really liking the end result.

Sounds like teamwork.

..bring their talents to bear
on beloved pieces of family history.

Look at that. I'm liking what I see.

It's working. You beauty!
Utilising expertise passed

down the generations... I'm going

to teach you how to do it the
old-fashioned way.

..transforming priceless pieces
of family history...

Oh, my goodness me!

..the Repair Shop team will
resurrect the items...

Oh, gosh! ..the memories...
I'm going to have to hug you now.

..and the stories behind them.

Oh, look at that!
Oh, thank you so much.

I can't see it
because of the tears in my eyes!

This is a very emotional job to do,
but incredibly worthwhile.

CHEERING

In The Repair Shop today, Suzie's
working on a family heirloom

that showcases some extraordinary
artistry...

If I could do half as good a job
as this, I'd be very happy.

It's that good.

..while a pretty kitty
with a romantic story behind it

grants Kirsten a challenge.

I have to say, um,

yeah, it's not something that
I'm used to dealing with. Yeah.

So it is, you know,
it's going to be interesting.

But first into The Repair Shop
today, Mervyn Bell with a cherished

memory of his childhood.

Hello. Hi there. I'm Jay.
I'm Mervyn. Pleased to meet you.

Dom? Metalworker Dominic Chinea
is just the man to knock this

rundown roadster back into shape.

Wow! What is it?
What's the history behind it?

It's a go-kart,
obviously three-wheeled.

When did you get this? About 1959.

This was just all red, gleaming
under the Christmas tree. Right.

Couldn't wait to get on it, you
know. I think there was a few chunks

taken out the doors as I went
through them, but...
LAUGHTER

It took a while to master, you know.
Right, yeah. And when I got

outside with it, you know, you're
so low down and speeding along.

And the wind in your hair and
everything. Yeah, that's it.
THEY LAUGH

Not much left now, but... Right.

I can see it in your eyes,
as soon as we start talking

about your childhood with this,
you just light up. Oh, yes.

And it's been special
ever since you've got it?

It's been ridden by everybody
in the family.

Nephews, nieces, my own children.
Yeah.

Everybody just had fun on it.

It's getting to the point now
where I'd like to see if I can get

something done so my grandchildren
can... Oh, brilliant. Right.

Because it is getting a
bit...wouldn't say dangerous, but...

Dangerous, I think it's safe to say,
yeah.

It's such an unusual-looking thing.
I've never seen anything like this.

On the rear tyre, it does mention

Lines Bros, who were the forerunners
of Tri-ang. OK. I see.

So I don't know whether it was
an early Tri-ang toy. I don't know.

There's a hint of a sticker here,
isn't there? Yes, yes.

Tri-ang was a 20th-century
toy manufacturer owned

by three toy magnates,
the Lines brothers.

I don't see a steering wheel
on this. How does it work?

Put your feet on there... Oh!
..and steer with your feet.

Dangerous! Yeah, yeah.
It is, it is.

So, I get you sit on the seat,
your feet steer.

But what's this, a brake? No, no.
No, they're... Well, it is a brake,

but it's also the mechanism to make
it go. OK. So, like...

So you can kind of... Yeah.

Go like that, and that... Yeah.

If you lift it up... Oh, so
that moves the back wheel. Yes.

Cranks around and moves the back
wheel.

So you can get back up the hill
again. Yes. Yes.

THEY LAUGH

And if you want to stop,
you just reverse and then it stops.

Ah! That's very clever, isn't it?
That is clever. Just simple, yeah.

What would you like us to do to it?

The main thing is the seat
and the seating area.

OK. And the wheels. These are not
the original wheels, are they?

No, they're not the original wheels.

The original front wheels were
similar to this.

OK. So how come they're replaced?

It just got so worn and the spindles
broke. My father,

he found some...
I think they were pram wheels.

Yeah. Obviously it used to be red.

If it could come back to being red
again... Yeah. ..that would be

ideal, and whether you can hold the
seat up and things like that...

Yeah, we'll do our best.

But importantly it's just,
it's going to work again.

Yes, and make it safe. Make it safe
to use again. Yes. Great.

So, Dom, what do you reckon? I think

it's brilliant. Yeah? I love it.
Yeah. I'm jealous, yeah. Me, too.

I want to have a go, man. I know.

There's a fair bit to do. There is a
fair bit to do. It has obviously

had a lot of use. Yeah. It has had

a lot of use. Yeah. Yeah.
Everybody's loved it.

Thank you for bringing this along.
Thank you. Lovely to meet you.

Thanks now. OK. Bye.

The state it's in now is a bit sad,
because I've had so much enjoyment,

and lots of other people
have had a lot of enjoyment

out of it, and it's got tatty.
It wants a little bit of TLC.

You know what, this would give you
oodles of fun, though, wouldn't it,

eh? Yeah, I would have loved

to have this when I was a kid,
absolutely loved it.

So, a lot of this stuff is quite...

Yeah, it's not too bad, it's not too
bad at all.

It just, it needs to come apart
completely.

There's a lot of bits
that are just worn.

I think it's just been well used
and loved.

You know, it's just, it's done its
job. It has done its job.

So it's just a case of obviously
finding new wheels. Yep, cool.

And then we'll try and have

a look at this seat, which is going
to be a bit of a tricky job,

to be honest with you.
As you said, it's done its job.

Now it's your turn. Thanks, Jay.
Thank you.

I need to break down
all the components into its each

individual piece and
then assess them for damage, wear.

And there's also little interesting
things, I think, as I take it apart,

the more I'm sort of having a look
at those chips in the paint. I think

we'll uncover some of the history
of this red paint.

There's hints of, like,
old stickers.

So I'm quite looking forward to
getting it apart and seeing what's

underneath all of this
dirt and muck.

Next into The Repair Shop is
Kim Davey from Portsmouth.

He's brought a piece of his family
history... Good morning.

..for leather expert Suzie Fletcher.

What have you got for me today,
then? I've got a leather g*n slip...

OK. ..which is in desperate need
of your attention.

OK.

Wow! Look at this!

I had it made for my father
back in '87,

when he was 60 years old.

So, Edward Davey? That's my dad.
And LX? 60, Roman numerals.

Fantastic.
My dad was a superb father.

He didn't have a lot of money.
Everything he had was ploughed

into his family.
He was the youngest of 13.

My word! He was evacuated
during the w*r... Mm-hmm.

..up on to the Stratfield Saye
estate, and he used to go out

with the gamekeeper,

and that's where Dad got
his love for sh**ting.

He then had five children
of his own,

and once I was old enough to be able
to have my own shotgun, then we used

to go out sh**ting together,
sh**ting clays.

His 60th birthday was coming up
and I just thought,

"I'll get him something special."

I got talking to a guy that I was
working with, and he said,

"Oh, I'm an amateur leathersmith."

He said, "I make cartridge bags
and g*n slips."

I said, "Well, that's fantastic.

"Could you just make me a g*n slip
for my dad's 60th birthday?"

And he said. "Yeah, sure, sure,
I'll do it for you."

When Dad's birthday came, I said
to him,

"I got you something special,"
you know.

It's emotional. Yeah, yeah. It's OK.

When he unwrapped it,

he just looked at me and he cried.

First time I'd ever seen him cry,
and the last time I'd ever

seen him cry. Oh, my word.

This was the first time that he had
something that was really nice.

Really? Yeah. And he... For his 60th
birthday? For his 60th birthday,

yeah. And I had a cartridge bag
made. Oh, my word.

He had the g*n slip
and the cartridge bag, and he walked

into the clay sh**t
and everybody said,

"Wow! Where did you get that made?"

And his greatest line was to say,

"My boy had it made for me."

Aww! He was so proud.

And, you know,
it still gets at me now. Yeah.

It was a magical moment. Magical.

Oh, bless your heart. Thank you.
Lovely. The work is stunning.

Yeah, thank you.

For him to be an amateur and
yet produce such beautiful work...

And his name was Ken,
and he was a maintenance man,

and he was a smashing fella,
and he really did me proud

with that. But, um, it starts to...

You can see it's started to fade.
There was white flashes

on the wings of the big bird. I see.

So you would like it to be, like,
freshened up,

the colours freshened up?
Yeah, just to freshen it.

The stitching is gone.

Yeah. It's a little bit crumpled
on this end. Yeah.

It's been in my cupboard
for 28 years, and I was so sad

that, under my watch,
it had deteriorated, and I thought,

"I've got to do something
about this."

How come you kept it in the cupboard
for so long?

Well, when Dad died, I got it out
a couple of times to go sh**ting

with it, but it just upset me
too much and I just, I just

couldn't do it.

I trust you implicitly. Do whatever
you need to do to make it sparkle.

I am going to put all of my love
into this and get it back

into the condition it needs to be.
Suzie, thank you very much.

It's been a pleasure to meet you.
And meet you, too.

It means absolute...

..oodles, because it was
his last nice thing that he ever

had, and it just,
it just means a great deal.

The craftsmanship in this
is outstanding.

I've been doing leather-work for
40-odd years, and in my early days

I was trained how to do this,
and to be honest,

if I could do half as good a job
as this, I'd be very happy.

It's that good.

The first thing I think would be
to just reattach the leather

chape here that's holding
on the strap. It's beginning

to get detached.

Over the years of it being
stood up on its tip, everything's

got squished down.

It's got flattened and it just wants
to fall down all the time,

so that needs to be blocked out a
bit. And Kim has requested that I,

I liven all this paintwork up.

I'm not sure how vivid
it's going to come once I clean it.

Hopefully that's going to brighten
it up enough, but if necessary

I'm going to have to go over
what Ken had done

when he originally made this.

Out in the metal workshop, Dom's
been busy with the 1950s toy cart.

So, I've got the go-kart
completely apart now.

It's actually come apart quite well,
which I'm really relieved about.

There's an awful lot of red paint
creeping

through, underneath this black
overpaint. Quite curious if I can

take off this layer of black paint
to see if there's

enough red paint on there, that
maybe we could try and save it.

It's really exciting doing this.
You can already see

how that vivid red is just coming
through already, and I've not even

really just started. I can just only
imagine how excited Mervyn must've

been on that Christmas morning,
when he saw this gleaming red

go-kart under his tree. Tri-ang
toys like this were the envy of

children in the 1950s.

In their heyday, Tri-ang were
the biggest toy factory

in the world, producing train sets,
go-karts and model cars

until the 1970s.

I'm really pleased I'm going
to be able to preserve the original

paint on Mervyn's go-kart.

A sympathetic restoration means
filling in the worst areas of paint

loss with a precisely matched
colour.

It's quite a slow process, just
touching in all of the chips and

damage, but being quite selective
about how far to go.

These are old kind of battle scars
from Mervyn's trips down the hills

when he was a kid, and I think
it'd be such a shame to paint

over all of that history.
Essential to any go-kart -

the wheels. And sharing
the outdoor workshop with bike guru

Tim has its advantages.

Tim, Have you got a second? Yes,
certainly. What do you think about

this? This is Mervyn's go-kart. He
wants to hand it on to his grandkids

and they want to use it. All right.

My concern is this wheel.
I don't know what to do.

Obviously it needs to be safe.

Yeah, from a safety point of view,
and structurally, I would replace

all the spokes. You think we have to
replace them all? Yes, absolutely.

All right. No worries. Brilliant.
Thanks, Tim. Cheers.

Wheels work by sending force
out from the hub to the rim

via the spokes.

After years of compression
and stretch, the spokes lose tension

and wheels get wobbly,
which is where Tim comes in.

What spokes do, they basically allow
you to straighten the wheel up.

I can true the wheel

up and down and also side to side
like that, and get it central.

Truing like this means the wheel
holds its shape perfectly

as it spins.

You can't beat
a good hand-built wheel.

A new solid rubber tyre is
fashioned and fitted.

OK, I'm happy with that.
One wheel.

Meanwhile, Dom is dealing
with the damaged seat.

So, it's basically just isolating
the broken area.

I'll cut this out,

and this should just leave me
with a nice, clean square.

Now the old damage there
has been removed,

I just need to shape a new piece,
weld it in and grind it back.

You'll never know
that we've been in there.

So, this is a really critical part
of the repair.

It's so important that
this is strong.

All the welding work's now complete
on the seat.

It's now structurally sound,
which is great.

I'm just cleaning it up to paint,
and I'm amazed, absolutely amazed.

Almost two thirds of the seat
is actually this beautiful

original colour green. I've got
a fantastic colour-match to that

green, so I'm going to be able
to introduce that colour onto the

top very carefully. I just don't
want it to look like I've just

replaced it for a brand-new seat.

Sometimes The Repair Shop
is called upon to help preserve

unique historical pieces,

and today sees one such item.

Caroline Crabtree and her daughter,
Jenny, have travelled from York

with a priceless family heirloom
in need of attention.

Hello. How we doing? You all right?

Yes. I'm Jay. Hello. And you are?
Caroline.

And this is my daughter, Jenny. How
you doing, Jenny? You all right? Hi.

So, what have we got here? A cat.

OK. Kirsten, if you don't mind
joining us.

Kirsten is The Repair Shop's
resident ceramics expert.

Oh, wow!
SHE LAUGHS

It was made by my mum
as a present for my dad

around the time they got engaged,

in the early 1950s.

It's so sweet, isn't it, actually?
I'm very fond of him.

Yeah, I can see why.
Let's have a look.

So, we've got this inscription.

"A hard beginning maketh
a good ending." So, what...

..is there something, is there
a meaning behind that?

The first time they met... Yeah.
..Mum and Dad were, they were stage

designers and costume designers,

both doing different costumes
on a show. Oh, right.

So the family story goes,
Dad said to Mum something like,

"Well, the costume's fine,
but you need a few petticoats,

"a few more petticoats
underneath it."

And she just lost it.
THEY LAUGH

Who was this guy coming, telling
her what to do with her costumes?!

OK. She did not appreciate it.

And she didn't know him
at that point? No, she didn't. OK.

So, a huge row. Yeah. Oh, no!

But then, you know, a little bit
later it obviously worked out.

So... They got to know each other
and got over it. There was a spark.

Yes. Yeah. Interesting.

So, that was when?
How...how long ago?

I think it was 1951.

I think it says on the base.

Oh, right, OK, yeah.

"A present for David
on the anniversary of the meeting

"at the Winter Garden Theatre."

OK, May 3rd, 1951. 1951. Yeah, so...

And they were engaged in 1953,

and I think this was made
around that time.

We went to New Zealand for two
years,

they worked in the theatre there,
came back in '59.

And of course the theatre had
changed and things had moved on.

The shows they used to do
weren't being done any more,

so they need to think of
something else

as a means of earning some money,

and they remembered this cat that
Mum had made, and they made a few

the same way to see if they would
sell, and they did sell,

and that was the beginning
of producing. Right.

And there's thousands of them
out there now.

You know, people have great, big
collections of these things,

but this is the very, very first
one. And they created a craze,

really. Yes. Cos everybody wanted
one of these. Yes, yes. Even now

I'll get a letter from somebody with
photographs of their collection of

cats, you know, shelves of...
How lovely!

Yes, so this is probably incredibly
desirable, then, to people.

I know, obviously, it's...
To collectors, yes, yes.

You know, they would give
their eye teeth to... Yes.

..even look at this, yeah.
The De Bethel cats were the thing.

And so, do you have memories
of this, yeah? Yes.

Yeah? Yeah, I remember, yeah,

the whole house, the studio,
just covered in cats in different

stages of painting and varnishing
and things.

So, it's papier-mache.

I can see it's really
sort of in the wars, even actually

as I'm holding it, it's starting
to... It's moving!
LAUGHTER

So... This is quite... Yeah.

..you know, all around the neck
is getting damaged and the base

is quite worn. Yeah, absolutely.

So, thank you for bringing it in,
the cat, and then hopefully...

Not hopefully! There we go.
We'll get this sorted for you.

Yeah. Lovely. Is that OK? That is
very OK. Absolutely. Thank you.

Take care, now. Bye.

He's not been out of the family's
possession before,

and I know how fragile it is now.

I'm excited he's going
to get fixed, but...

Yeah, a little anxious
leaving him behind.

It's a lovely story, isn't it?
It's like a fairy tale.

It's absolutely charming.

When it came out of the box,
I thought it was ceramic,

that's why I called you over.
Oh, right. It's papier-mache. Yeah.

I have to say, um, yeah,

it's not something that I'm used
to dealing with. Yeah.

So it is, you know, it's going to
be interesting.

Yeah, I can't quite believe
that this is THE first one. Yeah.

And, you know, it's, it's obviously
made with love from the heart.

When you was picking it up as well,

I'm glad YOU picked up, because
bits were falling off.

It looked like the head
was going to drop off at any moment,

even just on this table. I'm really,
really concerned about it.

But if it's in your hands,
then it's good. I'm OK.

I have to say, the less it's handled
at the moment, the better.

So I think the quicker I get it
to my desk and I can get to work

on it, the better. OK. Say no more.

You grab that. I've got this box.

With the cat landed safely
on her workbench,

Kristen can get to work ensuring
it survives another nine lives.

So, having an opportunity now
to actually get

a really good look at this
absolutely sweet little cat,

what we've got here is newspaper,
because I can actually see

the print coming through,

on top of a wire base, and then
perhaps some plaster or something

has actually been applied
on top of that,

and it's very, very fragile.

My main sort of concern is the head.

It's quite loose and the plaster
is actually starting to flake away,

so I need to do something
to actually stabilise that.

Kirsten's going to use
a consolidant -

acrylic glue mixed with a solvent -
to secure the flaking paint

and plaster and bring strength back
to the weak areas of the figurine.

It won't make a very, very sort
of strong bond, but what it will do

is actually just give us
sort of a gentle support.

I have to say, what I absolutely
love about this is that you actually

see the little bits of newsprint

coming through where the plaster's
come off.

It says something about shoes.
"Wonderful shoes."
SHE LAUGHS

With the small patches of flaking
under control, Kirsten can now

address the large missing areas
in the top layer.

I'm just going to support
these edges here that have lifted

away, and to do that

I'm just going to use these tiny
glass bubbles, and I'm going to mix

those with some consolidant

to make a paste that I can then just
float underneath the edges,

just to give them some support.
It's just a really nice way

of supporting flaking edges.

You can do it with sort
of very friable ceramics.

And hopefully it should work quite
nicely with these flakes of paint.

So, I think that's probably
all I can do for now,

and I'm just going to leave that
to harden and then I'll come

back to it.

Master saddle-maker Suzie is working
on the clay pigeon g*n slip.

Her first job is to repair
the shoulder strap.

This catch here is coming off,
and the only way I can get

to it is by undoing the stitching
on this side to get my hand in here.

So, when it comes to a repair
like this, unfortunately there's a

lot of undoing that has to be done
to get to even, like,

the smallest little spot.

Now the fun part -
going to start stitching.

So, I think I'm one of the luckiest
people on the planet.

As a kid, I would make saddles and
bridles for

my Sindy horse and my rocking horse.

I just... It was in me. There was
nothing else that I wanted to do.

I wanted to be a saddler.

With a case now sturdy enough
to work on, Suzie can set about

cleaning off 30 years of grime.

The way I like to do this is with
my bar of glycerine saddle soap,

which is an old way of conditioning
and cleaning leather, to give

it a nice dunking there
and then rub it on to a cloth.

So now we're just going to put it
onto this top area here,

and just see how it behaves.

Make sure it doesn't go too dark.
It's going to go dark

because we've got some moisture.
And, wow!
SHE LAUGHS

That's a lot of marks
coming off there.

This case really needs cleaning.
SHE LAUGHS

I love cleaning leather, because
you can just see it coming back,

and it just looks so beautiful.

Suzie can now address the crumpled
and flattened structure

of the g*n slip.
So, it's just a case of

sliding in a piece of wood that's
about the right shape and size

and to not stress the leather.

If I was to use something really
tight, there's a possibility that I

could actually split the leather,

and that would not be good.

The leather should reshape
around the wood,

helping it sit proud again.

While she waits for the magic
to happen, Suzie can work

on breathing life
back into the faded artwork

that surrounds the g*n slip.
The paints I'm using for this

are acrylic dyes made specifically
for painting on leather.

Unlike an oil dye, which

gets absorbed into the fibres,
the acrylic sits on the top,

so you can actually build it up
in layers

and it's not going to spread
the same as an oil dye.

Just testing this green
on my test piece of leather,

and it's really
very, very vivid, so I'm

just going to pop a little bit of
black in it, just get it toned

down a little bit.
Just try it on here.

OK.

So, that's, that, to me, is better.

It's less neon.

Just gently start on the crest here.

Look at this. This pheasant
is really beginning

to come alive now. It's fantastic.

I'm having a lot of fun, and
I'm really liking the end result.

In the outdoor workshop, Dom is also
nearing the end of his project.

He has restored and repaired
all the components of the

Tri-ang go-kart. Now he has to put
it all back together in time

for owner Mervyn's return.

It's kind of becoming a bit
of a big Meccano set now.

I just need to reassemble.

I managed to find these two new
wheels for the front of the go-kart.

These are from another Tri-ang toy
from a very similar era to

when this was new, which is great
news, because they actually fit

in exactly the same way
as the original ones would have fit,

and those two parts line up.

And then there's a little clip
that clips in there.

Almost the last piece of
the puzzle - the rear wheel,

the most important bit. Tim did a
fantastic job rebuilding it

for me. I think it looks so smart.
It's a lot safer.

Tim said it was just, it needed
completely rebuilding, it was just
dangerous, really, before, so I'm

really glad we've got this looking
really nice now.

This is the final touch now
on the go-kart.

When I was stripping off the black
paint, there was ever so slightly a

little bit of evidence here on the
front of the remains of a sticker.

I've sort of gone away and done
some research and found

that it would have been the Tri-ang
brand logo.

We've got a replacement here,
but it's brand-new, and I've gone

to such great lengths to try
and preserve all of this beautiful

original paint, I don't just want to
slap on a sticker. I'm trying to

really think about where it's going
to go, and I'm looking at all the

damage and the scratches on the
original paint,

where it's going to sit.

So, a tonne of fake damage
will marry up exactly

with the existing scratches
in the original paint.

When Mervyn first brought
the go-kart into me,

I...my initial reaction was like,
"What on Earth is that?" It's such a

strange looking contraption.

It's very different to your typical
go-kart.

Having worked on it for so long now
and spent so much time,

I've become quite attached to it
and it certainly, it's definitely

got charm. I really just wish I
would fit on this thing to give it a

go. I'm just really intrigued
to see how, what it's like to ride.

But unfortunately I'm never
going to fit on it, so...
HE LAUGHS

But owner Mervyn has brought
with him two people

who are just the right size
to hop aboard this revived

1950s dream machine -

his grandchildren.

I'm very nervous about
what Dom's done to the go-kart.

I'm hoping he's done a good job.

I'm sure he's done a good job,
you know, but

it's been my pride and joy,
and I'm hoping it's going to be all

nice and shiny and it's all ready
for Willow and Rowan to ride.

Willow was hoping
I would go on it first.

Hopefully they'll get as much
pleasure out of it as I did.

What's under there? Mervyn, hi.
Lovely to see you again.

Who have you brought along? This is
Rowan, my grandson, and Willow.

Hello, hey. Hello. Are you excited?

Yeah. Do you remember
what you bought along?

I remember a heap of rust. It was
falling to bits, and I'm hoping

you've managed to do something
with it, so at least it's ridable.

I'm so excited to show you, I can't
wait any more. You ready?

Oh, yeah.

Wow! Wow! Green seat as well!

Yeah. I can remember the green seat.
You can? Yeah, I remember it.

Yeah, just like it was.
Proper wheels! Is it?

This is amazing. Yeah.

Is it how you remember,
that Christmas morning?

It is how I remember, that Christmas
morning. Came down, saw this,

all shiny under the tree.

Most of this is, the original paint
was underneath. Was it? I've not

actually had to repaint very much
at all, yeah, even the green.

It's been so much fun
uncovering all the little history,

the little badge and all the,
you know, the colours. Yeah.

It's been an absolute pleasure
to work on this. Yeah.

So, it was a Tri-ang, then? Yes.
Yeah. Yeah. What do you think?

I love it. It's amazing. Thank you.

You're welcome. Do you want
to try it out? Yes. Yeah?

Shall we take it outside?
Great, this! Thank you.

Hey! Hey!
GIGGLING

Brilliant. To see them riding on the
go-kart,

it's like a continuation of families
and hopefully they can go and pass

it further down the generations.
That's great. Very good.

It's nice to see somebody else
having enjoyment out of it.

Oh, look at that! She's good!
She is good.

It was even better than I was hoping
for. I think it's amazing.

I think she can ride it better than
I did. Yeah?
THEY LAUGH

Is that good? Yeah.

I only wish that I could fit on it
and I could have a go.

I certainly got a lot of enjoyment
out of it.

More used to repairing ceramics,

Kirsten has got the weighty
responsibility of restoring

the papier-mache cat that launched
a collectibles movement.

She's already consolidated
the surface and strengthened

the structure, and the cat's now dry
enough to work on further.

The whole thing just feels
really sort of solid now.

So, the next stage is to start
filling. I'm going to be using

an acrylic filler to make up
these sort of areas of loss,

just to build them up.

It really sort of feels
like I'm making progress

with this now. It's just lovely when
actually you've got something that's

very, very fragile.

You almost daren't sort of touch it,
and actually now it feels

like a completely different piece
as I, as I apply the filler here.

So, having filled the areas of loss
with a filler, I'm now actually

going to try and smooth them back.

I use flour paper, so it's a very,
very sort of fine sandpaper,

and all I'm going to do
is just try and sort of flatten

it off and align the edges of the
fill with the actual papier-mache

surrounds. And I can take
the flour paper right

up to the original edge
without crossing over and actually

causing damage to the papier-mache.

With the surface now filled
and level,

Kirsten can begin to paint
the piece, recreating the delicate

hand-painted detail.

This is the part that I really love,
it's when it starts to sort of come

back together again.
So, I'm just going to be using

an acrylic paint for this and see
if I can sort of match

this background colour.

There's going to be a yellow,
there's going to be an ochre and a

raw umber, and I'm just going to
start off with that as a basic

palette and then sort of make
adjustments as I go along.

This has actually, obviously been
made by an artist, and it is a,

just a one-off piece.

You know, there's a real sort of
pleasure, actually, in taking a

close look at the work
that's been done.

I can see the brush strokes, you
know, particularly with the writing.

You know, you can feel
the movement, actually,

in the painting, and, um...

Yeah, it's just a real honour,
really, to be able to work on this.

I can sort of relate
to the sentiments of this cat,

really, as my husband is a maker,

and certainly when we first met,

I have some really lovely sort
of precious things that were made

for me by him, so...
So, yeah, I get it totally.

With the background seamlessly
matched and blended, Kirsten can now

begin painting in the fine details.

I'm going to do this sort of detail
down the front of his little jacket

and around the buttons.

This requires a steady hand.

When you're painting lines,

you just need to find the way
that it feels for your arm

to move quite naturally.

If you are sitting sort of awkwardly
and you try and pull the brush

in a...in a direction
that just doesn't feel natural,

you're going to end up with quite
a sort of wobbly line.

So it's, it's all about actually
getting comfortable and working

out which way your hand is going to
sort of flow quite naturally.

So, it's very much going
with the flow.

Suzie has nearly finished work
on the g*n slip.

With the leather rich and gleaming,
it's time to remove the wooden block

in the hope
it's reshaped the holster.

I have left the block in
on the front pocket here.

So, this was left overnight.

And there we have it. Now it's able
to stand up by itself instead of

flopping over.

As Suzie gives the leather
a final polish, owner Kim

makes his way back to The Repair
Shop to pick up the newly restored

gift he'd given to his father
nearly 30 years ago.

It was his 60th birthday
when I had it made for him,

and unfortunately he only had
the g*n slip for three years,

and he passed away and...

..it's been in that cupboard
for 28 years.

And I...when I did take it out,

I was really disappointed
at the fact that I'd allowed it to

deteriorate the way that it did.

And to have it back in its nice
condition again will mean

the world to me.

Hello. Hello, Suzie.

Nice to see you again.
What a pleasure. How are you?

I'm very well, and yourself?
Good, I'm good. Come over.

I've got something to show you.
Thank you.

You remember what it looked like
when you came in? I do.

It was very sad. It was. Absolutely,
and I allowed it to get it that way.

That was my guilt. Well, OK, are you
ready? Absolutely. All right.

Wow!

HE SIGHS

Brilliant. Absolutely.

It's very emotional. Yeah.

It's absolutely perfect.

It's a bit overwhelming. Yeah.

Wow! Wow!

Absolutely superb. Superb!

I can't see it
because of the tears in my eyes!

Aawww!

The detail and the colours!

Absolutely... The little bars
in the feathers.

Oh, it's beautiful!

There were three people involved
in this.

Me, my dad, and Ken, who made it.

Now there's four. Aawww!

You're part of that history,

and I'm very, very pleased
that you're there.

That makes me feel very special.

I thought I'd lost it. Did you?

Yeah, I thought I'd lost it.

But, um...

..it's back and gleaming.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the job,
and I've really enjoyed meeting you.

You are a gentleman. Thank you.
Thank you.

Thank you for your skill.
Thank you.

I'm feeling extremely emotional, but

extremely, extremely happy to put
the g*n slip on my shoulder,

and the memories - it just all comes
flooding back,

and it's a lovely feeling.

Kirsten is putting the final touches
to the first-ever De Bethel cat -

the little sculpture that sparked

a half-century-strong
collectors' craze.

The final stage now is to actually
try and recreate this quite sort

of thick varnish that is covering
the entire papier-mache cat.

So I've been doing a little bit
as I've gone along, and I'm now

just sort of putting a final coat,

really to sort of recreate
these brush strokes that you can see

on the original, that they're quite
distinctive and they sort of give,

give the piece the character,
really.

So, I'm actually quite pleased
with the way this sweet little cat

has turned out. I haven't done
a great deal of papier-mache

in the past and, um...

It was really quite badly damaged.

I'm hoping that Caroline,
when she sees this, is going

to be happy with the final results.

When Caroline brought the De Bethel
cat to The Repair Shop, it was

looking its near-70 years.

There were large areas of flaked-off
paint, and kitty was in danger

of losing her head.

Now Caroline's returned
to see if Kirsten has managed

to restore her family legacy
back to its fine form.

I'm looking forward to seeing
the cat, and...

..surprisingly anxious.

I didn't think I would be, but
surprisingly anxious about seeing

it again, wondering how it'll look
and whether Kirsten will have

managed to do what I hope,

so that it looks as near as it can
as it did when Mum first made it.

That would be,
that would be the best.

Hi, Caroline. Hello.
Lovely to see you again.

Hello. How are you?
A little bit anxious.

Are you? Well, I won't keep
you in suspense.

Wow!

I wasn't going to be the person
who stood here and cried.

Look at you, cat.

Can I put my glasses on?
Of course, yeah.

It's an absolutely fantastic job.

I can't see where you've been.
Thank you.

Mum would have been so impressed
to see it done so well.

Doesn't he look good now?

Absolutely everything I wanted.
It's lovely. Thank you.

You're very, very welcome.
I have to say, I'm quite relieved,

because I sort of felt
that connection very much

that it, you know, it was
hand-painted by your mother,

and it felt a great sort of
responsibility as I started putting

those sort of lines... Yes.
..back in, actually. Yes.

And also the fact that that wasn't
sort of made commercially, you know,

that was just a gift
from the heart, really.

It looks lovely.

He looks just as

I remember him from years ago.

Wonderful.
It's been an absolute pleasure.

It's lovely to see him again,

and it's just exactly
what I was hoping for.

If Mum could see it now,

she would be really impressed.

Because, like all artists,
she would think that nobody

would ever sort of fix her work
the way she does it,

but Kirsten really has.
She's done a terrific job.

Join us next time for more
extraordinary restorations...

Oh, gosh!

..on some of Britain's
most remarkable objects...

Oh! Oh!

..in The Repair Shop.