Thomas Stelling, owner of Historical Markers Restorations, restores bronze markers, including NGC memorial markers. He travels to the marker to do the restoration. Contact Stelling for prices and when he will be in your area at 386-299-7841 or http://www.historicalmarkersrestorations.com.
While the easy way to restore a memorial marker is to have Stelling do the work, it is possible for a ‘do-it- yourselfer’ to make the marker look bright and shiny again. If you wish to restore a marker yourself, or with the help of a contractor, you will need to know what paint colors to use. The marker must be repainted with colors that match the original ones the best. Stelling does not disclose the colors he uses.
In a retail paint store, you pick the color you want from color swatches. The color will have a name associated with it. From that information, the store can mix the color for you using the correct base paint and correct amounts of each pigment. In general, each paint manufacturer has its own paint mixing system and its own color palette.
You can also bring in a sample of the colors you want to match. The paint store will scan them and tell you the closest color they have in the color palette for each of the paint brands they carry. That can vary from a nearly exact match to nothing close. The results will vary with each brand of paint. Bringing in a memorial marker to be scanned is no easy task. It has been done with byway markers on a few occasions, but it is usually too difficult.
To date, the best paint choices to restore a Blue Star Memorial Marker are Behr’s Aqua Fresco for the blue and Sherwin-Williams Andiron for the bronze.
Karen Bowen, Blog Manager
This Blue Star Memorial By-way Marker is in good condition with bright colors on the star and engraving.
This Blue Star Memorial By-way Marker needs restoring.
