Restoring a Foam Tiki - USC. Am I Doing This Right?

Hello and Welcome to my little, sadly now, time sensitive project.

To get you all up to speed I present this rehash with pictures;

"Good Evening all!
It's been a while since I've posted anything, but I was gifted something and I think it's pretty cool, I hope you will too. Provenance wise we know it was purchased in 1978 by my friend's former boss for a luau party at a Swinge-uuhh.... "Adult Social Club" :wink:, where it stayed and presided over the hot tub area until the club closed for good in July of 2015. Sadly somehow during the last party it was knocked over and the top broke off (I've got the piece, don't worry) The act of fixing it will probably get a thread of it's own. Anyway, without further ado;

"

Okay, here is my situation. Our landlord has decided to sell our rental so we are frantically looking for a place to live and I would like to at least get this guy in one piece before we go, and fix the cracks and paint scrapes later once we're settled.

Has anyone repaired one of these before? My preliminary search didn't pick up any threads on this topic. And honestly I don't know if this is even the best place to put this but here goes;

I've worked with foam before doing Halloween stuff and I've been going back and forth between two options;

Option 1: Use Liquid Nails to do the gluing, a little plastic wood to rebuild the chipped areas, then some color matched Drylok paint for the touch ups.

Option 2: Brush on some Gorilla Glue and give it the faintest mist of some water to do the gluing, then a little plastic wood to rebuild the chipped areas, then some color matched Drylok paint for the touch ups.

Is there a third, better, option I don't know about?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for stopping by

[ Edited by: TravnerRavenweird 2016-08-02 19:26 ]

"Adult Social Club" , where it stayed and presided over the hot tub area"

So this is the god of hot bubbly sex.
Or maybe Hot tub grotto Otto god of love.

Man if that guy could talk.

Cool tiki! and history.

Oh yeah on the repair, I have tried to glue onto some foam type stuff and
the glue I used ate the foam up.
As in would not work.

Sooo do small test spots as some glues may not be good.
AND I would put a small Toothpick or bamboo skewer in the two parts to help
bind them together.
Glue the bamboo skewer on both ends before you insert into the tiki.

One more thing...
NO CAMERAS IN THE HOT TUB POOL OF LOVE AREA!

On 2016-08-03 08:08, tikiskip wrote:
"Adult Social Club" , where it stayed and presided over the hot tub area"

So this is the god of hot bubbly sex.
Or maybe Hot tub grotto Otto god of love.

Man if that guy could talk.

Yes and Yes! I was fortunate enough to help my friend with two theme parties a couple of years ago, believe me when I say Bacchus would have blushed.

On 2016-08-03 08:15, tikiskip wrote:
Oh yeah on the repair, I have tried to glue onto some foam type stuff and
the glue I used ate the foam up.
As in would not work.

Sooo do small test spots as some glues may not be good.
AND I would put a small Toothpick or bamboo skewer in the two parts to help
bind them together.
Glue the bamboo skewer on both ends before you insert into the tiki.

One more thing...
NO CAMERAS IN THE HOT TUB POOL OF LOVE AREA!

Well I've done quite a little bit of foam gluing in the past, mostly to make tombstones for Halloween, and Liquid Nails construction adhesive is typically my go to. As of recently I've done some foaming experiments with Gorilla Glue which made me wonder if it would marry the foam bits better?
I dunno, maybe I'm overthinking this, but I'm kind of looking at this as an art restoration project instead of a broken Halloween prop project. I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing.

And about the cameras, that's spot on! No cameras or cell phones past the reception desk!

Google turned up these responses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIHzxboVkIs
and the top 5 http://www.maydayrc.com/top-5-glues-for-building-with-foam/

On 2016-08-03 11:42, Jeff-Ro wrote:
Google turned up these responses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIHzxboVkIs
and the top 5 http://www.maydayrc.com/top-5-glues-for-building-with-foam/

Yep that's exactly what I was thinking. Thank you! It looks even better when I watch someone else do it!

But to clarify, and looking back I see I never ever brought it up. The searches I did on here were trying to see if anyone on here had run in to a similar situation and had to restore one of these.

Thankfully it looks like I'm the only one who's had to put one back together.

"Yes and Yes! I was fortunate enough to help my friend with two theme parties a couple of years ago, believe me when I say Bacchus would have blushed."

Ok so I got to ask, were the people at these events total ugos that you would not
want to see naked like me.
OR were they the hotties you see at Playboy mansion parties?

Well Skip, to answer your question, we're talking about people from literally All walks of life, (hence the confiscation of cameras and phones at the door), and the big parties could be 200 - 400 people from all walks of life strong. The one thing all of them had in common was they were all there to party and have a good time! If it happened that it lead to "sexy Funtime" then bully for them, but it wasn't a given. They suffered no fools there that's for sure.
I will also say the people we met were all super nice and fun and I would party with them anytime! Also no one we met was pushy or creepy and when we politely declined an offer the time we were propositioned, (since it's not exactly our scene) they were totally cool with it and wanted to go dance some more.
I will also say it's called a lifestyle for a reason, a lot of work goes in to partying that hard.

(since it's not exactly our scene)
Yeah, It's not my scene as well.

We did go to a bar that was a swinger joint but did not know.
It was weird, we left quick.
Here it was like the people at the bar wanted to shock you.

Good luck with your tiki.

We did go to a bar that was a swinger joint but did not know.
It was weird, we left quick.
Here it was like the people at the bar wanted to shock you.

Yeah, it helped to a certain extent being in the "den", no one felt the need to be more extreme than the other extreme person. But I do know that what you described can be a thing with some.

Good luck with your tiki.

Thanks! And speaking of that, I'm finally back to it! I never remember how much ADD I'm capable of until I have to pack up my life and move.

Okay, here's the broken piece, has a pretty good chip on the bottom I'm building out with putty while I have access to it.

First part of the build out. I want this to set up a bit before I continue.

Finished build out with an attempt at a little texturing. Like I said, this is the underside of the piece, so I'm just trying to not attract attention to the area one way or the other. Hopefully gluing later today, had to go look at a new place to live

FINALLY!! Gluing day is here! I've been doing so much stuff with the move I haven't had a chance to monitor the gluing process, which has been as interesting as I thought it would beso here we go:
Moisture: I knew a good deal of this would be controlling the foaming, so I used my spray bottle to mist all the sides, which I think I still over did, but oh well, too late now!

Now time for the Gorilla Glue

Next time to clamp it down, I figured this big guy would do the trick!

Just Kidding! It's foam silly, I used rubber bands instead.

Aaaaaand, here comes the foam, like we knew it would

So I've been on "foam wipe duty" for about half an hour now and it's finally starting to slow. Watch your water is the main advice I would give. There is going to be more paint touching up than I wanted now because of it. More later.

Well hell.
I went away from him for a bit and more foam continued to form after I left. And so it goes...

One place where the foaming was welcome was here in the front at the shoulder, there was a nasty little chip missing where the two pieces joined, filled it right up!

But the other areas turned out to be kind of a mess, which was the exact opposite of what I was going for. I'll have to contemplate it again once we get settled.

So here is where things stand; Headdress Reattachment a technical success

Love him! I think your repair is off to a great start, can't wait to see him painted. I'm jealous of your cool find.

This guy has the expression I would expect to see if this guy should see me at one of those events you talked about.

And the guy on top looks to be tied in and ready to spank.

Just scored one of these.. Does anyone know anything about them?
Looks Awesome in person :)

Nicely done!
I actually don't know too much yet, but I plan on learning. I know Universal Statuary did a lot of different things during that time period, like those portraits of conquistadors against a rough wood back, (like a conquistador trophy mount). I know I saw a picture from a USC catalog once with our tiki featured but I can't remember where, it was either on TC here or in one of the Books of Tiki. I plan on investigating further once our house move mess is over.
Searches on TC so far for me bring up a thread on an African inspired head lamp and some threads with missing pictures. Maybe we should devote this thread to all the info we can find on our little "Master Blaster" of a tiki friend.

I'm looking closely at your picture here and I have to ask, is there a "varnish" type finish on yours? Mine sat outside in a hot tub area for 30+ years and I'm wondering if mine had a similar look once upon a time...
Hmmmm, interesting...

Quick links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Statuary_Corp.

http://www.ebay.com/gds/A-SHORT-GUIDE-TO-THE-UNIVERSAL-STATUARY-CORPORATION-/10000000002845077/g.html

Previous TC posting:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=23983&forum=5

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1070&forum=5

Thanks for the reply! Not sure on the finish? It looks very old in person...
No cool story to go with mine, like yours.... I bought it from a picker who had it on
CL... Sure hope to find out some history on these..

Okay, House Move - Check.
Halloween - Check
Holiday Madness - Check
Getting back to work on this - Ehhhhh not yet, but he's safely in the bedroom since the move

But just to show I haven't been completely lazy, I noticed this piece in our local watering hole, and while not Tiki, it was made out of the same foam stuff so I thought I'd check them out.

It's from a company called Vanguard Studios Inc which from what I've been able to find out was an art factory in the 60's up through the 90's that created a lot of the mid century modern "sofa art" that hung in many homes and offices during the time period. Here's the most comprehensive article I can find on them

http://artillerymag.com/the-legend-of-lee-reynolds/

I'll be back to my swinging tiki dude as soon as I'm able to carve out a workspace in my overfilled garage

Okay, no new news on the restoration, but I found a nautical Universal Statuary piece recently at a little thrift store:

And someone named stevekh found a concrete version of the tiki that started this thread sunbather in Oklahoma, I'm going to ask and see if he will post a picture of it on this thread. Stay tuned!

here's the statue i bought at a statuary in Skiatook, OK - front and back - no maker mark on it at all

I just noticed this guy is sitting on a stool. Don't think I have ever seen a tiki sitting like that.

On 2017-03-09 15:55, 8FT Tiki wrote:
I just noticed this guy is sitting on a stool. Don't think I have ever seen a tiki sitting like that.

I haven't either, but I'd be tired too if I carried a little dude on my head all day!

On 2017-03-09 13:37, stevekh wrote:
here's the statue i bought at a statuary in Skiatook, OK - front and back - no maker mark on it at all

Hey Thanks!
Now it begs the question, did this person get an original mold or cast this off of an existing piece? We may never know...

To me,
It looks like a lot less detail
on the cement guy.
Probably cast from a mold made from the one
we've been looking at.
You need to put steel in a cement castings
& those legs look thin.
I'm sure he needed more support
to not break at the knees.
Looks like a good job to me.

i would say definitely made from a cast of the original - some of the deep cut lines (thigh, mouth, arm, eye and chest ) are in same location - too close to original to be coincidence - don't know how long they've made this one, but they've been in business over 50 years i think, and they've made tikis for a while

I just noticed the original one is on a stool too.
His legs were too thin to hold him up too.

Painting it with some Thompson's Water Seal might be a good idea as well, just to help protect it from the elements, unless you plan on painting it wood color. That would be a fun project.

I use latex house paint.
Brown,brick,tan, an earth tone.
Then give it the magic blackening treatment.

That looks fantastic Will! Is that some sort of rag technique?

Thanks man.
I discuss it here,
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=39705&forum=7&start=360

That Sir, is a handy technique! Kind of like dry brushing but in reverse. Thanks!