Seems like restoration is a lot of work. What are your thoughts Charlie is it cheaper to do it yourself or easier to just send it off and have someone else do it??
I would say that the only cost savings is in backing those posters that you wouldn't send off - way on down the line after you've absorbed the costs. Else, I've probably spent close to 4K at this point. The learning curve is terribly expensive... I've probably spent $1000 alone on touching up alone - air brush equipment (lucky I had a compressor - got a new little one for Christmas to replace the one for my nail guns), paints (before my break, I bought five different shades of purple to work on the Blood Simple ea @ $7 - $10), water color sets (on my fourth one - should have listen to Dario and Steve), brushes, frisket, acetate, tape (low adhesion tape is expensive), art knifes, etc... Probably another $1500 so far in masa (I picked up two types a bright white and off white), canvas, Japanese mending, holytex, and mylar. Then you've got the frames - I probably have made 15-20 frames of various sizes. Then you need a device to staple/nail and stretch the canvas (lucky I had a finish nailer) - the manual stapler took too long, I burnt up the electric stapler and finally went with a pneumatic finish nailer with staples at a lower PSI as not to destroy the canvas... Nails ain't cheap though $20 -$30 a box... Then you have all the adhesives and chems and experimental stuff. Wheat Paste, methyl, CMC, acetic, Calhydrox, alchohol, bleach, spot bleach, CT, on and on... Now lets not forget the tables and baths... Tools to finish, burnishers, picks, q-tips, syringes, rollers (which I am to abandon thanks to a tip from Dario!) sand paper, fill, wash table. My mylar drying setup... Then you need a place to put all the goodies bought a $300 tool cabinet to keep the place clean...
I guess what I am trying to say is that it was never about saving the money after I got started. I may have had some predetermined ideas about saving money at the beginning, but the challenge is where it is at for me!
So cheaper to do it yourself? Maybe if you open a shop, hire someone, and slip yours in during slow times. Else, IMO, it's a big commitment for less than at least 100 posters or so...
Hope I didn't burst any bubbles.
