Restoring the Blue/Gold Era Parts

Hi, Howard (the restorer) here.

I love restoring old parts. The blue/gold period is quite a beautiful colour scheme but most of the parts from this period are in yucky condition. I bought a Pilot gold marker pen (extra fine point) from a art shop and it was stuck in a drawer for a few years. Eventually I got round to marking out the very time consuming criss-cross on a (now almost complete) no.9 set completely restored and repainted in blue/gold livery.

The criss-cross has to be done one diagonal direction at a time. Wait for them to dry and then do the other side. You should use a ruler with some masking tape along the bottom to prevent capillary action causing the ink to run (happened to me a few times even with the tape in place). Practice makes perfect. The pictures of the car are an early version and the completed no. 9 set (almost done!) is pictured below too.

Here is a picture of the car that inspired it all (from another website!). I made the car for my son (he is currently too young to play with it but in a few years...)