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Finishes and Patinas

 Patinas. Rough cast bronze has a soft gold appearance. Patinas are the chemicals applied to each rough cast Timber Bronze® piece to create the finish. With rare exceptions that are clearly noted, we do not use paint on our products. Because patinas are applied by hand under a variety of temperature and humidity conditions, the exact tones may vary somewhat from piece to piece, and any bronze piece will tend to darken a bit with age. Patina interacts with the rough cast bronze, sometimes with heat applied, to produce one of three finishes:

•  Basic patina finish consists of one coat of patina applied to the rough cast bronze and buffed. A light coat of sealant is then applied to protect the finish. Recessed areas such as the interior of a cone or the low spots on a bark mounting base will be anywhere from slightly to significantly darker than the tips of petals or high spots on bark, depending on whether and how well they can be reached with the buffing pad. Because of this, some customers refer to this finish as having "brassy highlights." If you would like the entire piece left dark with only a minimum of buffing, let us know that when you order.
•    Traditional patina finish initially looks exactly like Basic; however, a second application of patina and a light coat of sealant results in a soft coppery appearance, much like a new penny if you diluted the copper color a bit with gold. As with the Basic finish, recessed areas such as the interior of a cone or the low spots on a bark mounting base will be anywhere from slightly to significantly darker than the tips of petals or high spots on bark, depending on whether and how well they can be reached with the buffing pad. We do not recommend leaving the initial coat of patina extra dark on these pieces, as it does not work well with the second patina.
•   Call for Availability Full patina finish also initially looks exactly like Basic; however, we then apply a combination of blues, greens, grays, whites, browns and blacks appropriate to the scene. Again, these are not paints, but rather chemicals applied to the bronze and heated to produce subtle wilderness colors. A light coat of sealant is then applied to protect the finish. Except for our leaves and snow cones in the Forest Impressions© line, the Full patina finish is only available on Wildlife line products.