Paint: Raleigh Bronze Green Touch-Up

 

 I have written before about how Raleigh/TI used a color called "bronze green" on numerous bicycles produced in the 1960s and 70s, and about how bronze green was not necessarily one color, but several shades of similar colors.

In summary, after dealing with many Raleighs over the years, I found that 1960s era bronze green tends to be more bronze, shinier, and brighter. 1970s era bronze green, particularly on Sports and Superbe models tends to be more olive green, less metallic/shiny, and maybe a little darker overall. 

So what about all those 1960s and 70s bikes that need touch-up paint?

Raleigh anticipated that, and manufactured small bottles of touch-up paint. Whether the bottles also evolved to match the ever-changing shades of bronze green, I do not know. 

But I am happy to say that you can make a competent form of bronze green using common Testors brand model paints (the ones in the little glass jars). 

The original mixture, or at least the starting place comes from YouTube user "Willy Dahm". He recommends the following:

• 12 drops of Testors Gloss Bright Lime
• 1 drop or 2 drops of Testors Gloss Black 

This is a good starting point. As I mentioned earlier, bronze green seems to have been a family of similar colors, and not necessarily just one single color. Then there is the fading that comes with years of use and exposure to the sun, so some bikes are naturally a little different in color.

What I found is that Mr. Dahm's mixture, at least on very bright and good-condition 1960s bronze green, should be modified just a bit as follows:

• 14 drops Testors Gloss Bright Lime (has a metallic component)
  
• 1 drop Testors Gloss Black
• 1 drop Testors Flat Brass (adds little light brown to the mix, with the metal element)
  

The reason for this modification is that on a very good, very original Raleigh Sprite from 1967, the 12-to-1 mixture was a little to green and dark. A couple extra drops of the lime, and a single extra drop of flat brass brought me to a very good approximation of original, 1960s era Raleigh Bronze green.

 

The lesson here is that when mixing touch-up paint you should start with a base recipe, and then modify slightly as fits your particular bicycle. If you try a recipe like this, don't give up right away, but instead play with the mixture a little until you see what you want. These Testors paints are oil-based, easy to mix, and reasonably good at keeping away rust if you properly prepare the area for paint.