So, I got my big ES green Garamon today.

This was such a surprise- at this time last week I still wasn't even certain if I was locked in for one or not- but my guy came thru, and with lightning quick shipping from Osaka, no less!

As soon as I got home from work today, I began to prepare the Detolf for him. Moved out all the Woodring toys (tho I've yet to figure out where I'll move them to- they got boxed, for now), took out/cleaned all the other Garas, dusted/polished the glass, removed the top shelf and used it to double up the middle shelf (to take the weight of the new ES Gara).

Finally, it was time to take him out of the box. The long and short of it is that he’s friggin’ beautiful. From having their first (red) version, I already knew it was a great piece overall. This one’s based on the original watercolor design for the creature, and the colors are fantastic- very autumnal and pleasing.

I was givin’ him the twice-over eyeballing when I noticed something disturbing: the surface of his right eye was clouded. It wasn’t extreme, but definitely noticeable even at a casual glance- looked like the beginning of a cataract, compared to the crystal-clear left eye.

Thinking (hoping) it might just be some easily removable gunk, I broke out the rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip. No luck at all. At this point, I came to the gloomy realization of what must have happened: at some point in the manufacturing process, some solvent mist must have hit the acrylic eye, burning into it and causing this haze. This is the kind of issue you really hope not to have with a toy that sets you back such a wicked amount of $cratch. Aargh.

I ran off to my modeling supplies, and broke out my bottle of Future floor wax. Future is a clear acrylic floor wax, and I’ve been using it for a few years now to gloss the eyes on resin model kits. Shit is great: non-solvent-based and self-leveling, so you don’t get globbing and brushmarks in it, unlike >shudder< Testor's, which I had used (and cursed) for years.

Held my breath and carefully painted some Future onto Gary’s cataract. Within a minute, I could tell it was doing the trick: it filled in all those micro-chem-pockmarks and brought Gary’s eye back up to full clearness and shine- looks perfect now. Whew!

So, yeah, Future floor wax- good stuff to have in your arsenal!

Hey Michael,

Let's see some pics.

Coming soon, John, I promise- double ES Garys in the snow!

Oh, and a package is leaving VT for you and the missus tomorrow morning (at long last)!

I can't wait to see the pics!!! Be sure they won't get swallowed up in snow drift.

I will let you know when the package arrives. (you didn't have to do that, by the way)

Future is awesome stuff, I use it on custom painted 1/6th scale heads, as a final coat for the eyes. It really brings them to life.

Glad it worked so well on your problem! That's not the kind of item you can just send back for an exchange, and for the money it should be perfect.

Now let's see some pics of those 2 freaks side by side!

Some of these fixes you guys come up with are astounding! That would never, ever occur to me (then again, I've never been much of a modeler).

lets see pics!

Just to add, in case the haze returns, and I can't reccomend it ENOUGH, is Novus plastic polish #2.(It's what we use to buff up, remove scratches, ect, from old and new doll eyes and other toys.)

It's better than coating.It revives the original surface.

Oooh, thank you much, Paul!
Doll eyes are exactly what these Garys have.
Hhmm, maybe some time soon I'll strip off the Future with some alcohol and (re)do it up right w/ the Novus.

ooh ooh! thanks as well!
i've been using some solid surface polish that works well, but i'm sure this product will work even better