Community: bloggers@brooklynmuseum

Now that the repairs to the metal skin are complete, the team from UHP Projects. Inc. (Ultra High Pressure Projects) is back and have started to paint the statue. Discussions between the team at UHP Projects, Inc. and the conservator Mark Rabinowitz at Conservation Solutions, Inc. plan out the methods to be used in re-painting the sculpture. To prolong the life of this paint system, the surface of the metal needs to prepared to achieve a good, and strong bond with the paint. A very clean metal surface is needed, and to achieve this both the interior and the exterior were rinsed with a dilute phosphoric acid solution. Painting will be done both inside and outside, and consist of a white acrylic based primer, followed by a green acrylic enamel topcoat. The paint is manufactured to be used in outdoor applications. Normal household paint rollers are initially being used to apply the primer because the wind is fairly strong today in Brooklyn and it may be difficult to control a spray application of paint. These are just some of the conditions that conservators need to cope with in an outdoor environment. The painting should continue for the next few days, please stop by the museum and have a first hand look if you are able.

Many of the multiple layers of failing paint found on the statue contained heavy metals, such as lead, which was a common ingredient in paint products in the United States up until 1978. Due to the hazards of lead associated with public health, the paint on this statue needed to be removed and disposed of in a manner that was safe and in full accordance with existing laws and regulations, dealing with hazardous waste disposal. The large blue tank along side the statue was used to catch and contain the paint during removal. This inevitable necessity has added costs to the conservation project.

The installation of the Museum’s Statue of Liberty replica and the associated conservation project were made possible by the generosity of The Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust. Additional support was given by the New York State Assembly and its Brooklyn Delegation, and John and Diana Herzog.

Public support through both governmental agencies and individual donations is vital to support the collections in the Brooklyn Museum. Conservation projects such as this one will guarantee that the Museum remains a vibrant institution, serving its public’s needs. If you would like to lend your support to these collections, one way is to become a member of the Museum.

Lisa has been giving you a wonderful overview of the on going process. I will confine myself to details specific to the work.

Works of art are technical productions. Sculptures are usually made using industrial or building craft techniques which have been transferred from their original purposes to the making of art. In the case of this Statue of Liberty, much of the techniques that were used were transferred from boat- and auto manufacturing processes. The W H Mullins company, who likely made this work, developed their skills in forming metal skins in manufacturing metal boats. There are still groups involved in the collection and repair of these fascinating artifacts. You can find out more about them at http://www.mullinsboats.com/

The stiff galvanized steel sheets were formed using an “English Wheel”, a rolling device that was used in the making of automoble body parts. An operator would hold the flat sheets between the wheels and by pressing the sheet against it under pressure could form pockets and bend 3 dimensional shapes. http://www.irvansmith.com/catalog2/english_wheels.shtml

This process requires a great deal of hand work and was replaced in auto manufacturing by the use of presses with dies but in the early days an operator formed each sheet by hand with this method.

We are using a similar technology transfer in repairing the skin. Tools from auto body work, including MIG welding and, later, resinous body fillers, are used to repair the rusted sections. Later, like in auto body repairs, the sections will be sanded and painted to blend with the overall surface.

Mark Rabinowitz
Conservation Solutions, Inc.

The repairs to the skin are working. The newly galvanized steel patches are riveted, and then welded in place. It’s not raining today, enabling the repairs to proceed without interruption. When the statue was made in the late 19th c., the process of galvanizing sheet iron or steel was done by dipping the entire sheet into a molten bath of zinc. As the liquid zinc cools, crystals form, creating the characteristic look of galvanized metal. An electroplating process today forms most galvanized sheet steel. This results in a thinner, and likely more uniform deposit of zinc.

These new patches appear shiny because the zinc has not yet oxidized and darkened.

The red rectangle in this picture is a newly applied priming paint layer over a patch. The statue is scheduled to be re-painted at the end of the May, and it will likely rain again before the re-painting. The red paint is a protective layer to prevent corrosion of the new welds and patches, before the new paint is applied. This will help in getting a good bond of the new paint layers to the metal.

It is not fun working in the rain. The team from Conservation Solutions continue the work on the statue, despite the numerous, and often heavy showers we are having in Brooklyn.

Most people think conservation is glamorous, and it is a very interesting, challenging profession that has given me the opportunity to travel and see amazing things, but there are also many times and situations that are the complete opposite of glamorous. Working outdoors, in the pouring rain is one of those times.

A few of the team members are inside the statue with wire brushes scraping off the paint on the iron armature that supports the outer metal sheet. This image shows the interior, as looking up into the statue. The center element is a staircase. When the object was originally installed on the roof of the Liberty Warehouse, we were told that one could walk up the stairs and look down Broadway through Liberty’s eyes. As with most stories, there are only elements of truth. The stairs do access the top of the statue, but there is no evidence of openings in the eyes for viewing.

In-between breaks in the showers, the team works on developing the procedure to repair the holes in the metal skin. It is important for the preservation of the object to have the outer skin be as water tight as possible.

The new metal patches will be riveted in place, following the techniques of manufacture, but this will not give a completely water tight seal. The original sections of metal sheet were riveted and then soldered to one another to create a seal. Because the original metal has developed a corrosion surface or patina, new solder is no longer able to bond well to this corroded surface.

The team is now in the process of trying MIG welding, (Metal Inert Gas), also sometimes known as Gas Metal Arc Welding. A wire of metal is sent through the tip of the gun by the welding machine, which is why it is also called a semi-automatic process. There is nothing simple about it though when dealing with a surface of over 200 year old metal, while standing on a piece of lift equipment, 20 feet up from the ground, in the rain. I’ll keep you posted. If you are in NYC, please stop by the Brooklyn Museum and you can see the progress yourself.