Post #182790 by TIKIBOSKO on Mon, Aug 29, 2005 2:00 PM

Hello,

The piece is indeed a boat, it is titled “sailing ship”.

First off it’s most important to keep in mind you are dealing with a fairly old piece of art, they were not made with the most long lasting of materials and you just have to accept them for what they are.

As far as re-finishing; although many Witco pieces were treated with wax, the large majority were finished with a varnish of some sort. Recoating over any kind of varnish can be difficult, but when you’re not sure what the original decades old material was buffing out or spraying over a scratch (on those) is inviting disaster.
To do a decent job you would have to remove the pieces of wood from the board they are mounted on and that particular material is very fragile after 40 years, again another problem.
Then you could scrub the finish off with a soft bristled scrubbing wheel; hope you don’t discolor some previously burned areas. If all goes well re spray with a new varnish, or apply a new coat of wax (we use Howard’s), then remount the wood to its original place on the board.
Personally I’d just leave it alone there are a lot worse things than minor scratches, all of the Witco’s we own have never been treated, I think it gives them a wonderful aged look.

My very best alohas

Bosko