Purple Claw Project – Prologue


The somewhat infamous cleaning of the Purple Claw (#153) has been on-hold for almost exactly two years. A central cleaning techniques resource within the University of M.U.S.C.L.E. has also been missing.

The good news is that both projects are underway. Before attempting to clean the Purple Claw I wanted to have one more, semi-scientific, beta test with two cleaning products. This would allow me to uncover the better cleaning solution, in addition to completing a “cleaning test.” More information about the cleaning will be forthcoming in another post.

The last hurdle is organizing the projects. “Cleaning Figures” could be filed under Archeology, but it doesn’t feel like the best fit.

Another option could be Environmental Sciences. It’s a little closer as a course, because many Environmental courses are about how humans impact the world (in this case M.U.S.C.L.E.) and even about the clean-up and restoration of Earth (again, in this case – M.U.S.C.L.E.).

The organization could look something like this:
ENVS 100 – Basic Cleaning Techniques
ENVS 200 – The Purple Claw Project

Or ENVS 200 could be “Advanced Cleaning Techniques” where more intrusive/harsh methods are used and the Purple Claw project would be a part of ENVS 200.

Feel free to vote and leave comments below. Thank you all in advance for your feedback!

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  1. #1 by vette88 on October 29, 2010 - 3:18 pm

    Cool stuff. This will be another useful piece of information for collectors.

  2. #2 by Brandon on October 29, 2010 - 3:20 pm

    To the first point of cleaning: based on the LRG thread, it doesn’t seem like a good cleaning method has been found for getting rid of the boat paint. If you are down to your last silver figs, I suggest painting up some other extras for more test subjects. Mainly because I think the pot and boil method is worth exploring. Spend maybe $5 on a used pot from a thrift store so you don’t have to worry about ruining it. I think slowing turning up the heat would be good. It also might be good/a lot more work to find out the chemical properties of the paint and then see what other chemicals would counteract that? I’m no chemist.
    As for classification, I think ENVS works. But I would include the Purple Claw project under the main heading of ENVS 300 Extreme Cleaning Techniques. And then 200 would be Advanced Cleaning Techniques. I think enamel boat paint is not something most collectors will ever have to deal with. An alternative might be something within Art and involve Art Restoration or Curator or something along that lines…..
    Interesting stuff as always man.

  3. #3 by Chad Perry on October 29, 2010 - 3:35 pm

    Mainly because I think the pot and boil method is worth exploring. Spend maybe $5 on a used pot from a thrift store so you don’t have to worry about ruining it. I think slowing turning up the heat would be good. It also might be good/a lot more work to find out the chemical properties of the paint and then see what other chemicals would counteract that? I’m no chemist.

    As for classification, I think ENVS works. But I would include the Purple Claw project under the main heading of ENVS 300 Extreme Cleaning Techniques. And then 200 would be Advanced Cleaning Techniques. I think enamel boat paint is not something most collectors will ever have to deal with. An alternative might be something within Art and involve Art Restoration or Curator or something along that lines…..
    Interesting stuff as always man.

    I had forgotten about the boiling. I did a quick Google search and I like the boiling water and baking soda idea even more.

    And I’m down to one final test figure (yikes!), plus the 1st 409 figure which still has some paint on it. I’d probably try it on one of those. Even with one last figure, I wouldn’t want to buy any boat paint. The guy I got it from said it was expensive. He used it because he worked at a boat shop.

    I like your ENVS ideas too!

  4. #4 by Brandon on October 29, 2010 - 8:06 pm

    Right on, that baking soda idea seems like a solid way to go. Try that for sure.
    I had no idea boat stuff was that expensive. I guess I’ll cancel my yacht order…

  5. #5 by Eric on November 3, 2010 - 10:11 pm

    Quite exciting, i will be following this thoroughly… and yeah boat paint is very expensive.

  6. #6 by stoneyface on November 11, 2010 - 10:30 pm

    i can’t wait to see that purple claw come back to it’s full glory! great article and an awesome addition to UoM! glad to have you back bud. 🙂

    peace,
    satan cross err… i mean stoneyface 😉

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