Will the bronze Gaston fountain eventually turn green?

[CndleontheWater]

So I was watching the new video about the Gaston fountain in New Fantasyland and the section where the imagineers talk about the different patina choices got me wondering. Most bronze statues/fountains will eventually develop a greenish patina over time from being exposed to the elements (think Statue of liberty). This happens when the copper in the bronze begins to oxidize. Do you think that the Gaston statue will eventually develop a greenish color- or do the imagineers have some plan to stop the oxidation process. I think a greenish Gaston and Le Fou will look a little funny, but maybe that is the plan.

 

[Rob562]

I would think that it would be more like the Partners statue of Walt and Mickey, where it eventually darkens to be more of a single tone. (And then a decade from now when they decide to clean it and reveal the original colors, people will wonder why they changed the statue's colors...)

(BTW, I believe the Statue of Liberty' skin is pure copper, not a bronze mixture, hence why it turned green, as Bartholdi knew it would once installed)

-Rob

 

[Mike730]

Rob is right. The Statue of Liberty is completely copper, not bronze (copper plus another metal), and therefore tarnishes differently. Bronze can tarnish in various colors, most of which wind up looking brownish anyway. This can also be prevented or easily cleaned with minor maintenance. I'd expect them to keep it clean.

 

[Tip Top Club]

There are some pretty effective bronze sealants out there now, hopefully it's been thought of and addressed....

 

[Patricia Melton]

In one of those videos talking about the construction of FLE, it shows them talking about the Gaston statue. They used three different colors of bronze patinas for the statue, meaning that they wanted to have three different colors of bronze for the various features in Gaston (hair, clothes, skin, etc.). Highly doubtful they would do this if it would all age to the same color.

The Partners statue of Uncle Walt was not made with different color patinas. It was always single color. But notice how it's not green. Only copper turns green. Bronze statues from the Renaissance are still bronze color.
50 years from now, the Gaston statue will look just like it does the day they unveil it.

 

[flynnibus]

They can also clear it...

 

[RonAnnArbor]

Um, when you clean it, it doesn't "age"...

 

[Kevin_W]

Rob is right. The Statue of Liberty is completely copper, not bronze (copper plus another metal), and therefore tarnishes differently. Bronze can tarnish in various colors, most of which wind up looking brownish anyway. This can also be prevented or easily cleaned with minor maintenance. I'd expect them to keep it clean.

Thanks for the metallurgy lesson!

 

[Lucky]

No one rusts like Gaston...