Restoration of a Pinxy Ventriloquist Figure

By Steve Hurst


I was contacted by a Lynn Hoskins to do a restoration on a ventriloquist figure.  When he sent pictures of the figure, at the time I couldn't decide who the maker was.  It kind of had a Marshallesque look to it, but the leather upper lip and lower jaw kind of threw me.

I asked my partner Dan Willinger of VentriloquistCentral.com ( http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com ), if he has any ideas.  He said it did have a Marshallesque look to it, but he thought it might be a Pinxy because he also copied Marshall in some of his techniques.

When Lynn first contacted me, he said one of the eyes was busted and there was a small tear in the leather on the chin.  I told him I would be happy to restore it for him.

I asked him what he planned on doing with the figure and he stated that it had been his Dad's figure.  His Dad had performed in the service with "Archie".  Lynn stated he wanted to use "Archie" in his business by doing some training and performing.

When I received Archie, I started taking him apart to see if I could figure out who the maker was.  I knew that Pinxy usually put his name on the bottom of the neck.

However, when I took the head out of the body and check the bottom of the neck....no Pinxy.  At this point, I started to get excited thinking this may be a Marshall and preceded to take the head apart.

Once I had the head apart, I was surprised to see "Pinxy" carved in the back of the head (see photos below).  Dan was right....so I called him immediately to tell him the news and ask if he had every seen or heard of Pinxy carving his name in the back of the head, to which he said no.

After I started going through Archie seeing the condition he was in, I contacted Lynn and told him that if he really wanted to perform with Archie, he was in dire need of a paint job.  The paint had faded to a very pale looking face over the years.  Lynn agreed.

So below are pics....the before and after.

 

Follow Up

I've been receiving emails from friends and others asking me about how I was able to paint this Pinxy figure, especially when I'm colorblind.

So I thought I should do this follow up to explain.  First off, since I was trained and mentored in figure/dummy building by Ray Guyll, I used the painting method that he describes in his, “How To Make Your Own Ventriloquist Figure” (click here to see more about this information guide).

I would mix the paint exactly as he instructed, step by step, then I would have to get my wife to tell me if the colors were correct.  I won't lie to you, at times this was tedious because what I thought looked right and what really WAS right, were sometimes way off.

But with my wife's help, I was able to come up with the correct color combinations, then I would follow Ray's painting techniques to actually paint the figure.

 

 

   

 

 
   

 

 
   

 

 
   

 

 
   

 

 
   

 

 
 

 

   
 

 

   
   

 

 
 

 

   
   

 

 
   

 

 
   

 

 
   

 

 
If you need repair or restoration work for your ventriloquist figure, contact me:
   

Steve Hurst
210 Oak Street #122
Poteau, OK  74953

(918) 409-2117

steve@ventriloquistcentral.com

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 


 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

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