It has weathered storms and been battered by gales for 235 years.

So it was about time this magnificent weathervane, a fully-rigged 18th century warship, was taken down from its position at the top of Rochester’s Guildhall Museum and given a well-earned makeover.

For the past six weeks, the meticulously designed frigate has been in the expert hands of craftsman Mick Pollard at his Rochester workshop.

Mr Pollard, known as Mick the Brush for his signwriting skills, has stripped the ship down, steam cleaned it and applied several layers of gold leaf .

Contractors were brought in to lower the model, which is gilded in copper and alloy lead to protect it as much as possible against the elements.

It will be on display in the main chamber of the High Street museum and it will be reinstated to its rightful position on the roof on Saturday, February 20.

For Mr Pollard, a traditional signwriter, who has worked on projects at Buckingham Palace and other royal residences, the project was one of the most intricate he has ever undertaken.

He said: “When I got it, it was in a terrible state, caked in years and years of birds’ muck.

“I first of all had to use a power steamer to clean it and then remove the yards of copper rigging, which had snapped in places.”

He then applied a thick undercoat and several layers of gold leaf to the decks, cannons, sail posts and striking Neptune figurehead.

The £20,000 project, part of the overall renovation of the Grade I-listed building has been mostly funded by the City of Rochester Society and the Rochester Bridge Wardens trust.

Mr Pollard, who has left his creative mark on numerous signs in Rochester High Street, received a prestigious award from the City Of Rochester Society last year.

He was singled out for his painstaking restoration of a Victorian pillar box outside the museum.

He has also regilded the civic crest outside the museum.