I bought the Imperial Eagle Crest and gilders paste from King Architectural Metals. It was the first time I have worked with gilder paste. Gilder paste seems to work best on a surface that has been sand blasted. On smooth surfaces, the gilder paste does not coat the surface very well. Even on surfaces that have been sand blasted, some colors go on like shoe polish where other colors you need to spread on like frosting for coverage. The gilder paste does give a different look compared to paint. For the Eagle Crest I like the overall appearance compared to paint. The gilder paste gives Eagle Crest an old look.
The cream, violet, yellow and rust gilder pastes are some of the colors that you need to spread like frosting for coverage. It does give the eagle an old look.
My overall impression of gilder paste:
- The surface need to be sand blasted. Disk sanding or grinding does not provide a rough enough surface.
- The coverage is not the same for all gilder paste colors. Some colors go on like shoe polish and covers the surface very well. Other colors need to be spread on thick if you want to cover the surface.
- It is possible to blend multiple colors to change the overall appearance.
- If you make a mistake, you can remove the gilder paste with a rag and mineral spirits.
- Unlike used cans of paint, gilder paste will last forever. You can rejuvenate the gilder paste using mineral spirits.
- Concerning the durability of gilder paste, I cannot tell since this is my first project.
On the Imperial Eagle Crest, I welded additional supports so the Crest would standout approximately three inches from the wall. This was so I could add blue LED backlight. The LED only use approximate 5 Watts so you could use it as a night light
