My father, Laszlo Bezur, works at the Technical University of Budapest. He
was recently approached by a person who is in charge of re-coating some
outdoor cast zinc statues in Budapest. The statues are coated with a
material that is slightly rough and has the appearance of "stone".
Microscopic examination and elemental analysis of the samples suggest that
the zinc statues were coated with red lead in several layers (possibly to
impart corrosion resistance). The red lead oxide layers are followed by
several
coats of an off white substance that contains lead oxide and probably
calcium carbonate. This coating has apparently been on the statues for
more than 50 years and was probably applied repeatedly as there seems to
be some accumulation of dust, etc. between the off white layers.
Has anyone come across similar coatings? Could anyone suggest a reference
that discusses the application of such "fake stone" coatings on outdoor
metal sculpture? I would be interested in looking into the type of binders
that could be used to apply such coatings, keeping in mind the
requirements of an outdoor environment (UV resistance, effects of
atmospheric polutants, etc.) and the economics of coating and maintaining
a dozen or so large statues.
Aniko Bezur
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Aniko Bezur Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering
Graduate Assistant Program on Science, Culture, Technology and Society
520-621-2106 (phone) Mines 135
520-621-8059 (fax) The University of Arizona
[log in to unmask] Tucson, AZ 86721
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