I got these two vintage brushes because I liked the handles on them. Also one was made in Czechoslavakia, which I didn't even know brushes were made there. The one from West Germany I liked because it has a short Barbershop type handle. As you can see from the first two pics, the one from Czechoslavakia had a lot of dings and areas that needed work on.......... This third pic is after both knots were removed. The West German brush also had it's metal cap from the bottom of the knot removed, yeah, it was a pain. I just wanted it that way. This is after I filled in a few spots, sanded down and painted around the logo decal on the top with Black paint. Then I re-painted the bottom area with Pearl White paint to match the original. There was an area, on the back, that had a really dark yellow stains that might have been there because of it being close to a heat source. As you can see, the Czech handle needed a lot of putty to fill in those gouged and dinged up areas. This is the back, where it was most needed.......... This final pic shows them with their knots installed. The West German with an 18mm boar, and the Czech with a 20mm boar, both from Virginiasheng. I really wanted to keep the logo decal on the Czech brush because it was unique. So I filled in the areas lost on the decal with paint, even tho my hands are not as steady as they used to be. You can compare it to the first pic to see where I did it. Not perfect, but it works. Both bushes after a few light coats of clear enamel spray paint and their first lather..........