Millennium Falcon ESB Palitoy Box restoration

Hey all,

So I picked up this poor old Palitoy Falcon box from Iain before he headed over stateside. I figured that I've done a bit of tape/sticker removal on a few boxes recently and would give this one a go. The main thing I use to remove old tape is lighter fluid, works a treat using cotton buds and working very, very slowly!! Hope you enjoy looking at the pics, I'm pretty pleased with how it came out










This is what I was left with once the tape was off and before I tackled the clean up!




And the final box...







Thanks for looking,
Cheers
Gary

Brilliant work mate 8)

I ve worked on a few boxes it's hard work but worth it

Great stuff mate congrats

Cracking job buddy, good arrows! PM me for a warming winter tipple if you're free sometime.

That is one hell of a transformation Buddy!!
Good work

Blimey - that looks great - if I'd have known you could do that then I'd have charged you for them :lol: :lol:

Very well done! :shock:

Just one question. How did you take the tape off without tearing the print underneath?

Nice work. I repair old boxes myself. As long as they are all there and not tore to ****, there is always hope.

Thats a cool save of a box, looks brilliant, how did you get it all flat to nicely go back together like that?

WOW :shock: :shock: Seriously good job mate especially with all that brown tape.

Ready for display now..

Well done, sterling work sir

This is brilliant work- what a great job

Beautiful..

What ever happened to that boba fett graphic token thingmy,.. Weren't we supposed to collect them and send them off for something? Did that happen?

Same Palitoy ESB box as my childhood Falcon.

Looks great. Super job.

Truly amazing restore job!!

Excellent restoration job there. Nicely done.

Nice work, another box saved. 8) :wink:

Thanks for all your comments guys....especially you Iain...Cheeky Bastard

The structure of the box was actually in pretty good shape, no major rips or tears, the lamination of the cardboard was starting to separate so that needed addressing.

My thread about sticker removal shows how I got the tape off with minimal damage to the image
http://www.starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18402
I lost some bits here and there but overall I was really pleased with how it turned out. Got a few more beater boxes to try and bring back to life, but this was certainly the worst of the lot!

Great...and thanks for sharing. How much lighter fluid do you need and is it on a cotton bud or do you soak it completely and work from there?

Great job how do you sturdy them up. I have a box everythings there but some flaps are deterorating. Should i use tape on the inside of box to fasten box back together if so what kinda tape?

Hey, I use quite a bit of lighter fluid to be honest, at times drenching the affected area then wiping clean. I soak a cotton bud then gentle pull back the tape whilst working the fluid under the tape, by other thread shows this in a bit more detail.

The only tape I use is double sided tape to stick the box back together. To be honest once the cardboard has lost it's structural integrity there isn't too much you can do other than support it with a card insert to help hold the shape. If a box flap is hanging on you could try using a glue to join some of the ripped card back together, I did this a little on this falcon box just to rejoin a couple of bit on the end flaps.

I wouldn't use tape to hold box flaps together as I try to get the boxes back to their original condition without the use of it. However if it's for your own personal collection I would go with a brown paper tape as it would appear more invisible

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gummed-Paper-Tape-36mm-200mt/dp/B0027INOK6