I’m considering restoring this 70’s G&S double wing swallow. Apparently it has a two tone green tint. Any suggestions on how to get the tint and bottom patch would be appreciated.
Pics attached
Vern, I don’t believe that’s two-tone green, just that both top and bottom lams are green and where they overlap, the double thickness makes a darker green. Pretty common back in the day.
It’s gonna be tough matching the green tint, because even if you have the right bottle of tint, the depth or darkness of the result will depend on the thickness of the resin you use. It will be close for little shatters, but if there are any dings which require foam work, a color match will be tough.
As for how much color to add to resin, start with just a little bit in uncatalyzed resin (or work out of the sun if you’re using UV cure). Mix well and hold up the mixing stick; when the resin dribbling off is about the thickness it will be on the ding, the color of the dribble is pretty much what you’ll get. Alternatively, lay a thumbnail sized scrap of glass on a bit of white paper and wet it through with a couple drops of resin, or just throw some drops of tinted resin on the paper.
HTH
I recently restored a similar 70’s model (Weber Swish), but it had an dark blue opaque resin bottom which allowed me to hide all the repairs. The deck however was a medium green tint. I always put a layer of 4 oz (clear or opaqued) on both sides of most restorations over the repairs. The trick with doing repairs on tints is to make the filler translucent and very lightly tinted. The deeper the fill, the darker the color so you need to pre-fill the deep ones with clear or white filler. I use sil-cell (fumed silica, a white powder) to control how opaque. Too much will turn the filler white. Cabosil is almost clear and I use that to control the filler consistency. Mix the two, add tint and test on some scrap foam until you get it right. Even white filler under some light tints will appear dark. Opaque or paint over white filler appear “floating” when glassed over with clear. If the repairs are extensive, I just 4 oz. lam over the whole board using an opaque. If all of the damage is glass only (not foam), you can grind out the cracked glass until you see the weave, apply some styrene, and immediately clear hotcoat. This method leaves some of the “character” of the old board which is sometimes looks better.
Vern,
The above advice from Pete and Charlie is as good as it gets. Follow thier directions and you will do fine.