Storing an enormous panoramic cel

[noildoof]

I just won an auction for a multi-layer pan cel, but I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to store it. I don't know the exact dimensions yet, but this thing is enormous. I had to splice together 2 of the seller images to show the full length. It also has hand-inked lines and airbrushing, not sure if that would affect how I should store it?

I'm almost wondering if I should just get it custom framed by a cel specialist. It's definitely not going to fit in any of my cel books, and I'm kind of wary of just laying it flat somewhere... I'm not even sure where I could get cel bags for something this big.

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[sensei]

I have a panoramic cel (with matching gengas) from the Nakamura anime film A Tree of Palme. It's just a very detailed view of a "kooloop" tree, one of the strange alien species that the director created for the surreal world in which the adventure takes place

The complete set-up measures eighteen inches tall and 26 3/4 inches wide. (The gengas are the same height but 2 1/2 inches wider.) Much of it, however, is not actually paint-on-acetate, but consists of strips of watercolor that have been attached to big cel sheets so that as it went under the camera, the layers could be slid horizontally to create a three-dimensional effect.

I have a special archival box for this background and its related sketches, which was originally made for posters or blueprints. The layers, stabilized by sheets of poster board, are interleaved with MicroChamber paper and were in fine shape when inspected last year.

[noildoof]

I searched for archival boxes, do you think something like this would be good? https://www.gaylord.com/Preservation/Do ... p/HYB02323

[sensei]

I'd think that if it were rated archival that it would be fine. You don't want to use a plastic "keepsakes" box (Michael's etc.)

[cutiebunny]

Itoya does make larger portfolios . I believe their largest is 19x24. Obviously it's hard to say if that'll fit your cel until you get the dimensions. But I've used that for larger cels.

I recently bought some larger mylar bags on Bagsunlimited for this huge sketch that I own that won't fit into any of my porfolios. It's about 3 feet tall. I found it cheaper to buy a 10 pack bag whose width was about half of the sketch and then piece it together when it arrives. It might be worth it to consider buying larger poly bags to piece together to fit your cel and then putting it in a flat archival box.

Sometimes the conservation effort that goes into protecting it makes you think twice about buying the big or odd shaped items. I'm dealing with this right now as I try to get the smoke smell out of paper sketches that are 50 years old.

[noildoof]

Thanks guys! This is really helpful. I'll have to wait until the cel arrives to get the exact dimension, but I'll probably go with the Gaylord archival box since I strongly suspect the cel is more than 24" long. I'll also be sure to check out Bagsunlimited!

[oxypetalus]

Hi congrats on the lovely cel. I actually saw that up for auction for a while and thought it was gorgeous. They really went all out making that cel.

I haven't ordered from them yet but I'm about to once I figure out which boxes I want but there's a site where you can buy boxes made of microchamber board : https://www.conservationresources.com/ ... lders.html If I recall I think they're the original makers of microchamber paper so you can't get more legit than that. They also seem to have an option to order custom products by e-mail.

[noildoof]

Hi congrats on the lovely cel. I actually saw that up for auction for a while and thought it was gorgeous. They really went all out making that cel.

Thanks!! It's from episode 3 of Lemon Angel, "Urban Angel." It's basically a 3-minute music video, and it has a lot of really pretty cel work. I don't think I can link to it here - it's definitely in the "ecchi" category - but you can find it on Youtube if you search Lemon Angel I Urban Angel 1-A-3.

I haven't ordered from them yet but I'm about to once I figure out which boxes I want but there's a site where you can buy boxes made of microchamber board :https://www.conservationresources.com/ ... lders.html If I recall I think they're the original makers of microchamber paper so you can't get more legit than that. They also seem to have an option to order custom products by e-mail.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind! I would just order something already if I knew what the dimensions of the cel were. ^_^;

[noildoof]

Well, I got it in the mail, and it's just as beautiful as the pictures showed. Each layer is between 27 and 28 inches long, but the top layer's placement is a few inches to the right of the bottom one. So the whole thing is a staggering 31.5 inches long.

I'm going to go with one of the oversized flat boxes from Conservation Resources International, they come in a 31" size. The layers won't line up perfectly, but since it's not on display it doesn't really matter. I like that they have the option of boxes made of microchamber paper.

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[sensei]

Congratulations! I'm glad it's going to a home where it will be conserved with proper care.

[noildoof]

Thank you!! It really is the Holy Grail of my collection, I waited well over a month for it to be relisted on Yahoo Auctions. @_@ I don't think there are many cels from this music video, it's only 3 minutes long and has a lot of still shots/pans so that the animators didn't have to make as many airbrushed/hand-inked cels. I've only ever seen one other cel of Angel Miki.

Even my mom, who doesn't really "get" my hobbies, was impressed by this cel.