Restoring a part of Tasmania's history is a labour of love for Rick Anderson.
The National Trust volunteer painstakingly restores historic horse-drawn carriages bit-by-bit at his Launceston home.
Mr Anderson says his skills as a sign writer come in handy for the important task.
"I still like to work with paint, I still like to create things and I always will," he said.
The carriages were rotting away until Mr Anderson got his hands on them and returned them to their former glory.
He's restored three historic carriages so far and has now started work on his fourth.
Mr Anderson said the carriages, which are all at least 100 years old and take hundreds of hours of work, were in a sorry state when he found them.
"They're shocking ... some of them are really bad," he said.
Matthew Smithies from the National Trust agrees.
"We had a dead possum on one seat, we had wheels that had entirely rotted through due to being on damp ground," he said.
'Clutter and junk'
The work is a test of Mr Anderson's skills.
"It's a boost, a real boost to the way you are and its good to get all my old tools out which has been laying around new for years," he said.
"Each day I just come out and do a bit more and then I do a bit more and then before I know it you've just got a carriage.
"It just gives me joy, a joy to do that."
Mr Smithies said the carriages helped tell the story of Tasmania.
"They represent the early colonial period in Tasmania which is obviously incredibly important — that's when a lot of agriculture got developed," he said.
"Probably 50 years ago they were just clutter and junk around farm sheds, so we're incredibly lucky to have them."
Preserving Tasmania's history
Mr Smith said Mr Anderson was playing an important role in preserving history.
"The conservation project that we've undertaken with these is critical," he said.
"If we don't keep that conservation happening on an ongoing basis we lose these really important pieces of cultural heritage."
Mr Anderson said he was happy to play a part.
"If I can do just a small part to preserve this then so it be," he said.
The restored carriages are taking pride of place at Clarendon House in the state's north.
