Restoration I
"Archive" is the Magister brandname for products that can be used in restoration and copy work.
All of the archive products have been developed to the especially stringent criteria that apply to this dicipline.
Light fastness data are given in wool scale numbers. The wool scale runs from 1 through to 8.
Each step up in the scale corresponds to a doubling of the light fastness.
Light fastness 8 is only reached by mineral colours, carbon blacks and a few very select organic pigments.
For retouching we strive for a minimum light fastness of W.S. 6
Transparent Filler / Varnish Thickener - TF - Uncoloured "pigment" 120 ml container (25 grams)
Our transparent filler disappears completely in oil varnishes. It can be used to thicken up oil varnishes which will prevent heat induced running of thicker layers.
With this thickener the varnish consistency can even be changed into that of a modelling putty.
This can be useful for restorers and copyists. This filler is not meant to be used as the filler in classical grounds.
Transparent filler can be used in spirit varnish (retouching) but will cause a slight semi opacity.
The filler is however useful to improve the filling capacity and shrink stability of crack filler varnishes such as Deft.
It will not cause cutting back problems and will add a degree of useful semi opacity to the filler varnish.
Matting Agent - MA - Lightweight powder 120 ml container (15 grams)
Easy to incorporate highly effective dry matting agent. Additions between 0.5 and 3 % will give you all the levels of gloss reduction that you may need in spirit retouching.
The matting down of oil varnishes will require a higher dosage (2 - 8 %) to achieve the same level of gloss reduction.
Transparent Pigment - Emerald Green - PEG - Organic pigment - Light fastness W.S. 7 - 8
120 ml container (40 grams)
This is a highly transparent pigment for spirit retouching. Easily incorporated because of its ultra fine particle size.
Addition of green to tone reds down or mix browns is much more accurate than using blue for this purpose.
It is also very usefull for "dirtying down" yellows and oranges.
Transparent Pigment - Red Brown - PRB - Organic pigment - Light fastness W.S. 8
120 ml container (20 grams)
This is a very dark but transparent red brown. Easily incorporated into retouching varnish because of its fine particle size.
Emerald Green and Dark Brown mixed together will produce more transparent replacements for dark earth colours.
Used at higher pigment loading this combination of pigments will appear almost black and can be usefull as a replacement for lamp black. As such it will make the reproduction of browns easier, because it is free of the blue tone in carbon blacks. Its colour in oil is a dirty red. The colour strength and transparency are less good in oil varnish.
AA1 Balsam - Concentrated base for superior quality spirit varnish - Packaged in 250 ml bottle.
The suggested dilution ratio is between 1:1 and 1:2 (250 ml of Balsam will make 500 -750 ml of varnish)
The flexibility of AA1 varnish is similar to the flexibility of tone woods, this makes it particularly useful as a varnish for musical instruments. AA1 has very good wear and chemical resistances, making it an excellent protection varnish for edgework and wear/sweat exposed areas on violins.
See the Spirit Varnish page for more information.
Liquid retouching colours
Archive liquid retouching colours are very strong and standardised solutions of lightfast dyes in a special medium.
They have been formulated to facilitate more accurate brush strokes and longer working times.
In order to allow the restorer maximum flexibility in his choice of retouching medium, the formulation is resin free.
We suggest the use of 4 parts of a standard 10% shellac in ethyl alcohol solution to 1 part of liquid colour.
Archive liquid colours can be used together wih pigments.
For retouching purposes, Liquid colours have several advantages over pigments:
- There is less thickness to the brush stroke and to the finalised retouching.
- Liquid colours are completely transparent.
- Specific mixtures can be documented and matched drop by drop. Often used mixtures can be stocked.
- Liquid colours will mix fast and completely with any spirit based retouching medium.
The following Archive Liquid Colours are available in 50 ml re-closeable spout bottles:
LLY - Liquid Lemmon Yellow : very clean yellow Light fastness W.S. 7
LOY - Liquid Orange Yellow : orangy yellow, the most used colour Light fastness W.S. 7 - 8
LDO - Liquid Dutch Orange : strong neutral orange Light fastness W.S. 7 - 8
LWR - Liquid Warm Red : blue tone free red Light fastness W.S. 6 - 7
LDB - Liquid Dark Brown : pure chocolate brown Light fastness W.S. 6 - 7
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