This is an eagle I carved in 2003 and it has hung on the front of my house ever since. I just had my house painted so I figured this old eagle should get a new finish also. After 17 years it still looks pretty good. Sun, rain, snow–normal New England weather–aged it some, but most of the finish is still there. The body is 24K gold leaf and the paint is “one shot” sign paint. Both hold up extremely well. Click the image to see a close up.
Following are some more photos, front and back.
And here is what is looks like after new gold and paint.
The back has a couple of coats of black “one shot” paint.
Back on my house where it’s been the past 17 years.
Another view. My freshly painted 240 year old house.
Beautiful work as always, John!
Best regards,
Bill
hello John , thanks for posting refinishing eagle. could you tell what the process of prepping prior to goldleafing? also do you put any coating on top of the goldleaf ? thanks , ed
Hi Edward, about the only prep work I do is using the burnishing sealer. A couple of coats, sanding in between with 400 grit paper, and then burnishing it with a fine cloth to make it nice and smooth. I put nothing over the gold. The gold will outlast any finish you can put over it. Artificial gold will definitely need a finish to prevent it from tarnishing.