I completed this restoration project today. It's a vintage Tonka rescue ambulance complete with figures and a stretcher!
The two Tonka 6 inch figures and the 6.25 inch long stretcher (6.25”X3”X2” LxWxH) I believe are original to this Tonka rescue ambulance set. I also have another old damaged ambulance van that needs restoration too, and it would have been neat to put them together, but both are pretty big projects, so I'll do the ambulance van in the near future and show them together then.
One of the biggest challenges of this project was the cleaning of the little figures clothing.
These were hard working little guys, they'd been through a lot, definitely needed laundry and a shower!!
I had to wash them carefully four times in all to get a satisfactory result. The ordinary Tide detergent used for the first time didn't clean them at all, so next I washed the clothes with the stronger detergent OxiClean for a second try. They were finally clean, but the stains on the clothes were not removed.
I decided to try a little Clorox bleach detergent for the third time washing, and the stains disappeared, but as I was worried about, some of the color was washed off the clothes. Finally, I added a vinegar dip and the colors recovered a little. It's not perfect, but still looks pretty good. I had a plan to use some dye to restore the colors, but I was worried that the color wouldn't remain exactly the same, so I decided to just leave it alone. If some of you are paramedics, I'm open to advice on cleaning the stains out of your uniforms for future reference. :0)
I'm so happy that my daughter Emily got more involved in this project. She has strong hands-on skills and likes to make some things by herself. Once I walked into the garage last summer and saw her clamp a wooden board in the vise, and start sawing the board by herself!! It really scared me, but I was happy to see her so excited and courageous to start a project on her own!! My son Eric was actually involved in this project too, the last few seconds of the thank you clip in the video were edited by him. I'm really happy and proud that they both enjoy getting involved in my projects and want to give me a helping hand!
I hope you enjoy the results. Thanks so much for watching, and feel free to tell me what you think in the comments below.
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#Restoration#TonkaFigures#DIY
Негізгі бет Vintage Tonka Rescue Ambulance Figures and Stretcher Restoration
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