Cels Forum

I started in on a fun little bit of experimentation with
stuck cels today. . . I picked up a reletively inexpensive
pair of stuck together cels of Clary to play with and as I
tried to separate them, I learned some interesting things I
thought I would pass on to the rest of you.

First, it DEFINITELY helps for the cels to be decently
cooler than room temputure. I also found a good way to
achieve this coolness without taking your work outside and
freezing your butt off. ^_^  I took the huge flat USPS
priority mail box the cel was shipped to me in and I filled
it up with some big pieces of ice. (Not too much to keep it
from still being mostly flat.) I then laid the cel on a
piece of paper on the box. Incredibly, the box did *not*
leak any moisture! (I had thought it would.) More than
that, it kept the cel cool/cold for the entire three and a
half hours I was working on the separation. No refills
needed.

Second, I found something interesting with the paints. Some
colors seemed to be more difficult to separate from the
bottom layer than others. The yellow of Clary's hair, in
particular, was nastily stubborn (and hence was where the
top cel took some heavy damage *pout*), while the white
gave me *no* trouble at all. Another thing to note is that
where there were a number of different colors used very
close together (the face, for example) it was much easier
to separate then where there were large patches of a solid
color. Also, the paint definitely pulled away from the top
cel much more easily where it had the black lines
underneath! (Learned the hard way.) Not something I had
thought would have any effect.

Happily, the separation did not damage any of the painted
lines on the *front* side of the bottom layer. (I thought
they would be destroyed.)

The way I separated the cels was to use a very thin almost
knife-shaped piece of metal (even thinner than an Exacto
blade). I slid this between the layers and rocked it back
and forth gently to loosen the stuck parts. This worked
like a CHARM for most of the cel (keeping in mind that this
was a "very stuck" cel, as I've seen some dealers note
*grin*). I also think it was probably the best thing I
could have done for the really glued together portions
too. . . I think I would have seen a lot more damage trying
other methods.

Anyhow, that's what I found. I've completed most of the
cleanup on the bottom layer which I've pictured below for
the entertainment of anyone interested. ^_^ (The top layer
is almost identical.) The damage to the top layer will now
allow me to try my hand at restoration, and I'm going to
use the below cel (the bottom layer) as a guenia pig for my
first attempt at framing something myself. ^_^  I feel
pretty decently secure about the framing part but if there
is anyone who wants to input ideas for restoration of the
top layer, I'd love to hear them.

Oh, yes. . . Lastly, I've learned I'm definitely not going
to try this with any extremely valuable cels. I am now
convinced that stuck cels are stuck for good. (*grin*) But
I'm happy with the way this bottom layer has come out so at
least it's still a win situation. Clary is so kawaii!! ^_^

Many Sharp Smiles,
--Drac