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Golden Boys

It's not paint it's gold leaf!

Compare the gold on Prince Albert in London



To the top of this basilica in Lyon, France!



And then back to Boulton, Watt & Murdoch.

 
Anyway Guys,
Jokenly put aside regardless of the cost i think it was a great idea to paint them gold it certainly lifts the place up
and just looking at lynns old pic of the boys in the fifty sixtys they was well worn out and drabby
And may i add i was in broad street a couple of weeks back and i seen these guys and they most certainly look good
regardless of the money and to make our city number one we have to fork out money
as they say success does not come cheap i am sure we will be number one city sooner than you think guys
with our new tramms arond the city in full capicidy it will be a great place
and not forgetting our huge sky scrapers we will be getting
So lets hope these guys in council do not forget to bring our boys back out from deep storage
as it as been said many times over the years we have got alot of historic icons in store aready from our history
so i hope they do not let us down, best wishes Astonian,,,, Alan ,,
 
I wish you guys would get it right, IT'S NOT PAINT, it's real gold leaf, will last a lifetime and more, any gold paint will go black within 6 months.
 
It is a quality piece of sculpture of famous men and, as Paul says, should be in public view (less the gold leaf) , and put some of the so called modern Art in storage (permanently), my view of course, others may have a different opinion. Eric
 
Is using real gold leaf called gilding? If so, and it lasts a "lifetime", why has it had to be done again when it was originally gilded? I think the real problem is that it now looks so bright compared with how we knew it before. I preferred the darker aged look as, it would appear, did others.
 
Gilding is usually an electroplating method immersing the object in a bath of chemicals. Gold leaf is applied by hand using very thin sheets of almost pure gold
 
Why dont they gold the Queen Vic statue while they are at it. By the way I did Gold leafing with Mr Bloye
 
Well it's certainly got our attention ! Hoping it's a temporary move as per Horsencart's post #54.

Personally I can't see them being in storage for long. People know them and - love it or hate the gold leaf - they represent an important part of Birmingham history. If it hadn't been for these boys, Birmingham wouldn't have become a hub of inventiveness and industry. Viv.
 
The first time I saw our three Golden Boys I had to swallow hard, but I think I am getting used to them now. They were so much the very core of the city, I think they would be happy with their brush up. (Sorry John, just teasing)
 
This was the Centenary Square view from the Library last weekend. They are already behind the Arena Central hoardings now.

 
Gold leaf, is sheets of gold, the real stuff, applied on shellack then pressed on. Its a very time consuming process and takes a lot of patience and practice to apply I know I did a lot of this working for Mr Bloye. But will last a life time. The Colorado USA State capital dome in Denver Colorado, is done with this and does have to be touched up once in awhile
 
Gold leaf is applied to gold size. you can get varying degrees of times, so for instance you can get 1, hour,, 3 hou1, or 24 hour, which are the times it takes to go tacky, ie: the time it is right to apply the gold, the longer it takes the better the result.
 
I remember with Bill Bloye we did a lot of renovation of old stately homes, that had bomb damage to the corniches on the ceilings, We had to model in clay the damaged area and then cast in plaster of Paris. Had a lot on gold leaf applied. Took a long time to rework and then apply. Seems to me we used shellack ? but this was a long time ago and my little grey sells are getting weak. We also used gold leaf on letters that we carved on wood panels.
 
John,

In the 1960s for a short period, I applied gold leaf to the bevelled edge of acrylic cut out letters that we made for shop fascias. I can remember using gold size, but I can't remember it being available in different drying times. Maybe our local stockist carried just one, I don't know, and I wouldn't disagree with John Knight as he has done far more of this stuff than me!

Maurice
 
Morning everyone, gold size was ,and still is available in 1 hour,3 hour, and 24 hour drying times if you had the time 24 hr was the best, and you left it until it was nearly dry, then you had the best finish on the gold.
 
Just one more question John, I have seen on TV sheets of gold being applied to small areas, being very carefully brushed on. Do the sheets have the same effect, and if so do they last as long as the gold size?
 
Boulton, Watt & Murdoch as they are today. Arena Central hoardings are now in front of the statue.



 
In Colorado USA the State building has a gold domed top, This is re done at times. great costs to the the tax payers. Bill Bloye, who did the so called GOLDEN???? boys, had then casts in BRONZE He could have had them gold leafed, if that was what he wanted. So why,in MY mind a complete waste of the tax payers money have them done in gold? Queen Vic is bronze looks like she was meant to look
 

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Hello Di, just seen your question, the gold size is only the adhesive in liquid form for the gold to adhere to, gold leaf comes in 2 different sheets, (1) is loose leaf which are sheets loosely held in a book,and applied with a gilders tip, a small flat brush about 3" wide and holding the gold sheet by static or slightly brushing against your cheek to get a small amount of grease off, the other leaf is fixed in the book by a small amount adhesive and has to be applied by pressing or rubbing with your thumb to the sized object.
Gold will last longer than any paint coating providing you leave it alone, it needs no attention once applied, not like the elderly lady cleaner who once polished it with Brasso and wore all the gold away, this was in my apprentice days.
 
Yes thanks for that John, it confirms what a slow process it is. I had to smile when I read your comment on the lady who painstakingly brasso'd them. It's such a daft thing to do, she must have been worn out by the time she was done!!

What wonderful photos ellbrown, and gold or bronze the sculpture is truly amazing.
 
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oldbrit, post #83, I entirely agree with you, that's how they were meant to be and that's how I remember them, bronze has a lovely patina with age, gone forever. Eric
 
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