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I know some of you will be going to the Sign Show in Atlantic City in Dec. so when you're there take a look at the Taj Mahal Casino and let me know what they used for the gold on the outside. It looked really bright when I saw it a couple of years ago but it can't be real leaf - there's tons of it. But I have never seen a paint that bright.
-------------------- Jean Shimp Shimp Sign & Design Co. Jacksonville Beach, Fl Posts: 1287 | From: Jacksonville Beach, Fl. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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They used an industrial series of Dupont Imron that since has been folded into Imron 5000 and a couple of other Imron offshoots they've come up with since the new VOC laws etc. It's my understanding that some parts have been redone with other brands and some with the Luminore and Fantachrome i mentioned the other day since they found out that they used it on the Bellagio dome in Las Vegas and a couple of churches etc. Only reason i can remember this useless bit of information is that for years afterward in Paint industry mags and trade shows Dupont milked it for all it was worth by running ads like "they thought more of our paint than real gold" and "we painted the Taj Mahal" and stuff like that. It's not the same Imron you can buy today b4 everyone runs out and decides the key to a real gold look is using imron....and in actuality it prob wasn't the best stuff to use at the time b/c of the cost,but like many things,they won the bid . I don't know how factual it is/was but the story was that they didn't want to spend the money on real gold at the time and figured paint would be cheaper.....and promptly found out that they couldn't just slap the paint on and be done,using the complete system,enviromental compliance and redo's etc etc they spent almost the same $$$$,some say more b/c the paint will fail b4 they gold etc,same debates you read on this BB about it.
-------------------- Gavin Chachere Plotter in the garage,New Orleans La.
"Sgts Shugart and Gordon again request permission to rope down to crash site two" Posts: 1223 | From: new orleans.la. | Registered: Mar 2000
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Jean, I won't dispute Gavin's story, as I'm sure it is correct, but most of the domes and roofs that you see in gold, are just that. I have always been amazed that they would go to that degree. The Denver State Capitol, along with many other and large churches have been using real gold leaf for a long time. Jack
-------------------- "Don't change horses in midstream, unless you spot one with longer legs" bronzeo oti Jack Davis 1410 Main St Joplin, MO 64801 www.imagemakerart.com jack@imagemakerart.com Posts: 1549 | From: Joplin, MO | Registered: Mar 2000
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I have to add my $0.02 here to refute something I feel is false. I was taught that the cost of the gold used in gold leaf has nothing to do with the value of the labor. If you buy leaf by the pack and or half pack often as not for signage use it isn't all that expensive compared to the price increase many add to a gilding job.If you buy it this way a leaf of gold is often as not less than $1 ea. It does not take any great skill to gild the gold and as for the reason gold is used in these situations it will hold up a very long time and retain its beauty whereas other coverings may fail in that time period thus needing more maintinance over the longer time frame .Many of these domes have been gilded for well over a quarter of a century without any further maintenance. How many times have you seen a coat of paint last that long?
-------------------- fly low...timi/NC is, Tim Barrow Barrow Art Signs Winston-Salem,NC Posts: 2224 | From: Winston-Salem,NC,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Guys...don't shoot the messenger here...all i'm doing is telling how the deal went at the time...wasn't trying to start a paint vs gold debate. Both are right, most of those domes and equivalent projects are real gold,and paint compared to gold is a poor choice,esp since they used Imron. But,ya gotta remember that these things are bid and the people that review the bids are contractors,office managers,bankers,engineers and architects....most of which can't find their a** end with mapquest and a GPS as most here well know.....and they don't give one damn about the value of labor,craftmanship or anything else,nor do they particularly want to be educated about it...they only want it to come in with some minimal guarantee and under XXX amt of $$$. So having been on the losing end of a couple of these bids,trust me,the best product doesn't win out...if they priced the gold at 3million,and the paint at 2.995 million,the paint wins and the contract gets signed...then,once it goes over the signed amt,welll that gets swept under the rug and they stick with the original story and play the blame game till each side agrees not to mention how much extra they spent. For what it's worth,when the World's Fair was here a few years back we sat there in a meeting and watched a house paint company convince a contracting firm to paint some statues with gold paint b/c "look how thin a sheet of gold is in comparison to the same area covered in paint...this way is better".
-------------------- Gavin Chachere Plotter in the garage,New Orleans La.
"Sgts Shugart and Gordon again request permission to rope down to crash site two" Posts: 1223 | From: new orleans.la. | Registered: Mar 2000
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In the casino circuit, the bean counters have been trying to find coatings that will look the same as gold. We have redone a number of projects in Vegas with gold when the paint "solutions" did not last or look as good as proposed. Much of this false economy is rampant in casino construction and then they spend the money over again fixing what went wrong. Keeps us all in business but I wish they would look further out when they plan such projects.
-------------------- Kent Smith Smith Sign Studio P.O.Box 2385, Estes Park, CO 80517-2385 kent@smithsignstudio.com Posts: 1025 | From: Estes Park, CO | Registered: Nov 1998
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. I don't know how factual it is/was but the story was that they didn't want to spend the money on real gold at the time and figured paint would be cheaper.....and promptly found out that they couldn't just slap the paint on and be done,using the complete system,enviromental compliance and redo's etc etc they spent almost the same $$$$,some say more b/c the paint will fail b4 they gold etc,same debates you read on this BB about it.
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