Lili Ledy Cardback Restoration...

Hi, I just wanted to share this in case it was useful to anyone wanting to restore any cardbacks at all.

I bought a Lili Ledy R2 cardback a while ago in the hope to restore it as much as I could...



I then had to try and track down a perfectly matched bubble which I did, eventually. I found that the Kenner ROTJ bubbles are an exact match, size wise, (whether they were used for it or not I have no idea as the Kenner bubble I have has a number on the bottom and I can not see clear enough photos to see if the original Lili Ledy ones have or have not, although I think I saw one without. But then again I've seen a Lili Ledy R2 on a cut card with a single stem bubble)

I then had to clean off the litho from the bubble seal with firstly lighter fluid and then after that could not help any further I then used 400 grit sandpaper, working up to 800 and eventually will be using 2000 to clear off the remaining litho. I then applied some Auto Glym to polish it up again (seems to work).



Then I worked on photoshop to digitally fix up the damaged areas, trying to colour match along the way as close as possible. I used Satin Photo printing paper (as gloss was too glossy).



After several attempts I realised that with the paper and printer I was using could not get the blue to match, the rest was fine. So I decided to print it white and use my experience in colour mixing with acrylic paints and paint the blue on the white background. I then cut the printed piece of paper along lines which would be hidden against the background of the card as much as possible and also cut the paper along the track lines on the outer edge to again hide the cut lines.







Here is the final piece (although I still need to sand with 2000 grit and polish)...



All that is left is to fill and seal it with a Lili Ledy Loose R2. I'll update when it's complete and hope you've enjoyed the post.

And by the way, there is no damage to the original card as the printed paper and bubble are held by the GW Acrylic tracks and a folded piece of paper at the rear to put slight pressure against the rear of the cardback. When completed I may attach an extremely small amount of white/blue tak to hold in place as I know this also can tear the cardback but only where it is not litho printed.

You've done a really excellent job there, Ham! Congratulations on a wonderful end result. I'm just as impressed that you've managed to remove the litho from an old bubble and yet still have it be usable! That's a technique I may have to try myself.

At the risk of teaching granny to suck eggs, I would caution against using blutack on any paper product, as the oils within it leach out over time and will permanently stain the cardback and your newly printed paper piece. Instead, I would suggest using something like a small piece of folded over (or two pieces glued back-to back to make double-sided tape) low-tack Frog Tape, or even pieces of Post-It notes (again, two pieces glued back to back) to temporarily attach the printed piece to the cardback. They will be easily removable and shouldn't cause any permanent damage.

Snaketibe said:

You've done a really excellent job there, Ham! Congratulations on a wonderful end result. I'm just as impressed that you've managed to remove the litho from an old bubble and yet still have it be usable! That's a technique I may have to try myself.

At the risk of teaching granny to suck eggs, I would caution against using blutack on any paper product, as the oils within it leach out over time and will permanently stain the cardback and your newly printed paper piece. Instead, I would suggest using something like a small piece of folded over (or two pieces glued back-to back to make double-sided tape) low-tack Frog Tape, or even pieces of Post-It notes (again, two pieces glued back to back) to temporarily attach the printed piece to the cardback. They will be easily removable and shouldn't cause any permanent damage.

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Thank you for the kind words Jeremy.

The removal of the litho from the bubble was a first for me. It was a bit of a risk as I had never sanded clear plastic before but did a little research on the web and noticed that sanding with a high grit (gradually increasing) sand paper can bring it back. The Auto Glym was just something I thought of on the spot but does add to the affect of clearing the bubble back.

Also thank you for the advice as I forgot about blue tak being oily. I'll try a few of your techniques and figure out which one works best. Thanks again my friend, really appreciate the help.

Thank you for sharing your techniques i had never thought about using acrylics and i'm very impressed with your end result. Most of the cardbacks i do are Jawas so i always keep an eye open for bits of yellow printed paper, once done i place them in a top loader and stick a replacement blister on the outside but i have to admit this looks a lot better.

Nicely done.

Great job Ham, really impressive.
I will look forward to seeing a nice R2 popped in there soon.

Thank you for your kind words.

Ham, this is fantastic work and a labour of love.

Super skills to put this together and to add such a special piece to your collection, congratulations

Really impressive work you've done and the last picture with it all put together really does look fantastic.

There are also some great idea there so thank you for sharing all the details as I can imagine that there are a fair few people here who will benefit from these tips in the future.

That card back is a rare thing and I love the fact that you haven't done anything permanent to it but made it so displayable.

Great work all round and I wish you all the best on getting the right sort of figure you're after.

Ian

Michael Sith said:

Ham, this is fantastic work and a labour of love.

Super skills to put this together and to add such a special piece to your collection, congratulations

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Thank you Mike, appreciated. It's definitely a great piece for my mini R2 focus and my first LIli Ledy Cardback of any kind so really pleased with it.

Palifan said:

Really impressive work you've done and the last picture with it all put together really does look fantastic.

There are also some great idea there so thank you for sharing all the details as I can imagine that there are a fair few people here who will benefit from these tips in the future.

That card back is a rare thing and I love the fact that you haven't done anything permanent to it but made it so displayable.

Great work all round and I wish you all the best on getting the right sort of figure you're after.

Ian

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Thank you Ian for the kind words and if it helps anyone then all the better.

Fantastic job, such dedication to detail.

Looks great, well done!

What a cracking job. A true labour of love. How long did it take more or less Ham?

chrisfnx said:

Looks great, well done!

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welshwookie said:

Fantastic job, such dedication to detail.

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Thanks you.

TheJabbaWookie said:

What a cracking job. A true labour of love. How long did it take more or less Ham?

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Thank you Jay. Not too long for the digital work and cutting as I used to do graphic design so about an evening and then about half an hour on the paint.

The sanding of the bubble took about half an hour but still need to 2000 grit the bubble.

So you could say 'all in a days work'. Lol. :wink:

Nice work! Great to see stuff like this. 8)