plasterercaster

If you compare those early pics to recent blacklight images of the Messiah all of the chips are still there - perhaps with a bit more dirt in them but not signs of proper retouch

Considering that the bridge is still on this instrument your template is well off the centre line/long arch. Do you have an equivalent picture of the back?

Your suggestion that Enrico Rocca was more connected to old Cremona ways than most of his contemporaries is questionable

very nice, but I think you are using the "wrong" holes to glue the c bout ribs. What do you use the holes above and below the corner blocks for?

I know, there are holes for the dowels on classical molds

On a more practical note, you don't seem to have any holes for clamping the c ribs, and the holes you have for clamping at the top and bottom blocks need to be joined up/more central.

Don't forget to apply for settled status!

The ballasts from the tube light fittings produce a lot of heat, it’s best to wire the lights so that the ballasts are outside of the box.

I'm not sure if the violin in the photo from the link above is the violin in question. The violin in question is pictured in an article on this sorry tale in the Strad, and the front looks like it needs a lot of work. A top restorer should be charging at least 100Euro an hour - 50,000 looks like a very reasonable guestimate to me.

lol....busted

no Cynthia here cowboy

When I'm layering patina and polish I will use a drying oil in the lower layers - I find it fills better, makes the dirt appear softer and gives a more natural look. I also find it means I have to polish much less

a lot will depend on the recipe of the polish you are using - different resins, gums and waxes etc can be mixed in varying proportions to achieve different finishes of polish. The type of oil you use on the pad will make a difference too. Obviously, you have to get all the stuff under the polish right first True - nothing worse than a worn edge with a thick coat of polish on it

J.B. Vuillaume came from a violin making family in Mirecourt which can be traced back to the early c17th - the violins they made were far removed from what we would consider to be modern and no one uses those models today. J.B. Vuillaume broke from that tradition when he moved to Paris. I'm not sure he would take too kindly to being considered less educated than someone trained in Newark

What is this observation based on?