Magicman is the UK’s premier damage repair and restoration service and approved supplier to a large number of national companies, particularly in the construction, facilities management, insurance, and cruise ship repairs sectors. Magicman was the key supplier of specialized repair services to the London 2012 Olympic Park and Village as well as many notable London landmarks including the O2 Arena, the Shard and St Pancras International.
Operating internationally and across the UK, Magicman has developed a range of innovative techniques for repairing damage such as scratches, dents, chips, burns, and stains to all types of external and internal hard surfaces.
After a particularly interesting project, Magicman’s CEO Mark Henderson shares a new cruises ship repairs case study with us.
Two Cows and a Piano
One of the joys of working for repair and restoration experts Magicman is that you can never be sure what each day will bring. After 25 years in the business, we like to think we have seen just about every kind of damaged surface imaginable and subsequently restored most of them beyond expectations. “Wow, we didn’t know you could do that” is a response we are all too familiar with but once in a while, a new challenge arrives that truly can be classified as ‘a first’, even for us. Earlier this year, we were offered such a project which when described to us, sounded like the opening line of a joke. Could we repair ‘two cows and a piano onboard a cruise ship’, oh and could we make the piano gold? It was the very definition of a golden opportunity, so how could we say no?
One USP of a particular cruise operator is to theme its ships with statues of birds and animals; one ship has penguins, for example. We were asked by a third party to attend to two life-size models of cows that were damaged in transit. Repairing in situ, whether in dry dock or even when the ship is at sea, is normal practice for us so this was a perfect fit despite the unusual subject matter. Not only that, we were then asked to paint the cows hot pink and bright yellow, the signature colours of the vessel they called home. Magicman Technicians are trained to mix RAL colours or unspecified colours by eye and are able to match existing finishes, colours and patterns. They are also able to re-colour items with a completely new scheme if desired.
We were also tasked with restoring a grand piano that was in a very poor condition and had suffered years of cover-ups with ‘rattle-can’ spray paints. Jakub and Phil, the two Magicman Technicians assigned, had to carry out over 200 repairs to the bodywork before the colour-change could begin. Using an electric paint gun in situ is very tricky and requires a high level of skill because of airborne particles in the environment that you would be able to control if you were operating in a dedicated spray booth. The specifications for this piano was gold with a ‘mirror finish’. This could only be achieved through a repeat process of lacquering and polishing until the desired outcome was visible. The result was a very grand piano indeed.