THE STORY
Having been contacted by Harewood Moor Estates, asking me to bring a pair of coats of arms in Stockport town centre back to life, I jumped at the chance as I knew this would be a really enjoyable job to work on.
Preparation and choice of products were key as they had to withstand all elements and weather conditions, health and safety was also a priority as no doubt they wouldn't have been painted since the early 80's so a good face mask had to be worn during the preparation process.
First of all I had to clean them down with a moss and algae killing solution followed by a good scrape and sand down to remove all the loose and flaking paint, some minor repair work was needed before applying a stabilising solution, this binds and seals the friable surface ready for painting.
PROFESSIONAL FINISH
The next stage was to prime the surface with a stain blocker as most of the surface was badly stained.
Once the preparation had been done it was a case of painting the black background first but slightly onto the crests themselves as this gives the perception of depth, then it was a slow but enjoyable process of picking out each colour from the background to the foreground and finishing off with the gold tips.
