Hi,

Perhaps a little carried away carving this tree has exposed wire left behind from its youth.... I have seen hollow trees painted inside to preserve and exaggerate effect. That would cover metal - any suggestions on type / colour of paint..?

Red leaf maple? Make it red. I like red.

Or see how you ca get the wire out? I doubt it will look natural

leatherback wrote: Red leaf maple? Make it red. I like red.

Usually it is black paint
Check here:

bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATUro.htm

Lol - deshojo I think - starts red but turns a myriad of shades over summer. I think risk is potentially so much wire and so little tree, that removing wire will cut tree in half with a pretty straight line...

Thanks for that link. Going from that info and the page on wood hardening it linked to, mixing colour with lime sulphur and then hardener over top is the way to go. I’ll use acrylic paint in the mix rather than coffee or ink - then I have the option of blending in a small ‘blob’ over the metal. Will have a go this weekend and post pic. Or perhaps not if goes badly wrong....

I have been using a Chinese traditional ink-set, mixing browns with dark greens and black.
It looks very natural, blends in and disappears with the time.