djed wrote I’ve read some articles where shooting clear on top of gold leaf causes the leaf to bubble up.
I am not a gold leaf expert but I have learned a few things.
If clear coat has an adverse reaction with the gold leaf it is because it has reacted with the size (adhesive) that was used to put the gold on. Traditional size is a varnish based adhesive and can be attacked by the solvents in the clear coat. Adding a hardener to the size can prevent this but it will also alter the “open window” that the gold can be applied. Sometimes misting the gold leaf first with the clear coat and allowing set up time can also prevent the issue.
In this case, I used a single stage catalyzed acrylic enamel so no clear coat was used. I did not want the super high gloss on these safes to help retain the vintage look. The gold is also not clear coated as gold will never loose it’s brilliance. Because these safe are for show vs. utility, I wasn’t concerned about protection from daily use.
I did clear the gold on the double door Mosler where it has lettering on top of the gold. This way, if an issue with the lettering occurred it could be addressed without damaging the gold. Trying to repair a mistake on exposed gold would create a disaster.
While some old safes had the gold leaf exposed, many safes were coated in a varnish to give gloss to the poor paints that they had back in the day and to give a coat of protection. It is the crazed varnish that gives many old safes the rough textured patina.
This is why matching the color on old grey/silver Moslers is so difficult. The varnish coating gives a different hue to the paint and with age it yellows and darkens. A solid paint looks blah on them, and most metallics look to modern. After a long search I found an old formula that uses the finest metallic available and has a touch of other colors in the silver to give a vintage look. It was as close as I could get to an original paint sample. The sample was to small to be read by the paint formula computer.
On an upcoming safe I think I will go the clear coat route and bury the artwork and gold under high gloss clear. While originalists will cringe, safes done this way do look fantastic.
[unknown]
