Labyrinth Jareth Chrome Pendant--In PEWTER new Gold plating

**chuckyAPP** · Sep 30, 2012

HI everyone. I recently did the bronze version of this in cold cast bronze. I wanted to do the chrome version. I resculpted it in wax, finished it in resin and was intending to do these in chrome paint. Unfortunately the paint was a no go as these will be handled and the paint tends to rub and its difficult to get a really nice finish. I decided Pewter would be the way to go. I made a mold from high temp rubber and it works OK but not as well as Id like. This first test piece was done with that mold and the center detail isnt quite up to par. Ive ordered materials to do it sand casted and I think the results will be far superior. Here is the resin master:
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And here is the chrome Pewter attempt after initial polishing:

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**RPF Support**

**chuckyAPP** · Sep 30, 2012

Now I have a question for those in the know.....What is the best way to get that cent area Gold? Would gold leaf work or should I shoot it with gold paint? Any help would be greatly apreciated. Thankyou

**chuckyAPP** · Sep 30, 2012

No help on the gold center?

**Too Much Garlic** · Sep 30, 2012

You could try a gold candy - basically a transparent color you spray on top of a chrome coat. Could potentially also work on your polished pewter casting?

**chuckyAPP** · Sep 30, 2012

Thanks TMG i was waiting for you to show here

**Too Much Garlic** · Sep 30, 2012

Actually, I've been looking around today and unless you buy the really expensive stuff... candy coating may not look all that convincing.

Must admit I haven't been successful in finding something that would look good and be easily applicable.

The Krylon gold paint from this page looks pretty decent though: http://interioriented.blogspot.dk/20...-in-fumes.html

There's another page that used the Rustoleum spray paint with decent result: http://www.chicaandjo.com/2008/01/14...isplaying-tip/

To keep some of the polished look... maybe don't spray on a covering layer, but rather spray it on like you spray on chrome paint?

Or, you could go with gold-leafing: http://dizzymaiden.tumblr.com/post/3...-vase-tutorial - it just looks... well... like a damaged finish.

Though, that pewter amulet sure do look awesome. Whatever you do... test the paint or whatever on a separate test pewter piece.

**chuckyAPP** · Sep 30, 2012

Iwas thinking to do gold leaf and maybe it would smooth out after burnishing? Never tried it. I wonder how enameling would work?

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 1, 2012

I tried the gold leaf but its not smooth, and doesn't burnish smooth either. Anyone know of something like enamel that can be melted on to look like gold?

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 11, 2012

Ok, so I figured out the gold. I gold plated the entire upper portion of the pendant then buffed off the areas I did not want gold. I then sealed the gold areas in laquer to protect the finish. This is as close to movie accurate as I could get.
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**Moviefreak** · Oct 11, 2012

Very cool. I'll need one of these for my display

**Too Much Garlic** · Oct 11, 2012

You say gold plating... what exactly do you mean? It's looking superb, and if gold plating like that can be done in segments - not on the whole piece - I'd love to hear more about it.

**The Schlitzie** · Oct 11, 2012

Gorgeous!

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 11, 2012

Thanks for the comments guys, I really apreciate it

I bought a gold plating kit and it comes with gold plate solution and a plating wand, The kit says to dip the gauze coated wand in solution and electro plate it on. This did not work for me so I put the pendant in the solution bath, connected the electrode and place the wand directly in the solution. It gave the entire piece a beautiful gold plate but full gold isnt what i needed for this piece so I didnt plate it that thick, only about five minutes in solution so I could take the plate off with a buffing wheel. Took a little trial and error as well as spilling the entire bottle of solution which cost me about 70$ for 4 ounces :/ Ive made about 4 so far, they are a TON of work but we all know how much fun it is. I may redo the bronze one I did a while back in pewter as well and plate it in bronze. Also thinking about doing a run in the JY too if there is interest.

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 11, 2012

Too Much Garlic said:

You say gold plating... what exactly do you mean? It's looking superb, and if gold plating like that can be done in segments - not on the whole piece - I'd love to hear more about it.

There is also a product that can be applied to the metal that will block the plating process but it was expensive so I went with the buffing off of the extra gold instead.

**Too Much Garlic** · Oct 12, 2012

Ah, thanks for the reply. I've heard about those kits. They only work on metal pieces, right?

**The Schlitzie** · Oct 12, 2012

I've done a little bit of electroplating before. But I didn't know there were kits,I'll have to look into that. Let us know when or if you open a JY thread with these

**Ein** · Oct 12, 2012

I have to say, actually gold-plating the thing produces one heck of a finish. Very impressive. I can't tell if you've antiqued the gold bit, or if that's just the lighting.

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 12, 2012

Too Much Garlic said:

Ah, thanks for the reply. I've heard about those kits. They only work on metal pieces, right?

Yes, only on metals. I looked into having chrome plating done on resin casts but the castings need to be flawless and glass smooth for the chrome to look good, then the gold center would need to be painted. In pewter the castings come out rough and need an incredible amount of file work, sanding and buffing.

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 12, 2012

The Schlitzie said:

I've done a little bit of electroplating before. But I didn't know there were kits,I'll have to look into that. Let us know when or if you open a JY thread with these

Caswell.com

They sell everything relating to plating of all kinds. The gold solution is about 70$ for 4oz bottle. It's enough for small pieces but i already need another bottle to be able to submerge the entire piece.

The schlitzie.....should be ready to do a jy thread soon. Thanks again guys

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 24, 2012

OK,,,so I finally got these done. Took too many hours to polish this thing. I re gold plated it many times as well because polishing takes off the gold plate if you rub on it with polish and sand paper.

**Beechy McFly** · Oct 25, 2012

That's sweet.. Finished it nicely mate.. Damn, forgot about these..

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 25, 2012

Thanks, it was a very informative project.

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 25, 2012

For sale thread created in the JY.

http://www.therpf.com/f13/labyrinth-...plated-164536/

**Amish Trooper** · Oct 26, 2012

Wow talk about stepping it up. Looks great! Is there a way to get a darker pewter? Just curious. I still need to pick one of these up.

**chuckyAPP** · Oct 26, 2012

There are oxidizers that will tarnish the pewter..thanks Amish...I'm redoing the bronze one too with a shiny gold finish. I think the last one i did was how it looked years later with patina on it.in the movie it almost looks gold but it's polished bronze. It's cool because it also hangs upside down. I guess that's why he wears put in the Escher scene.

Labyrinth Jareth Chrome Pendant--In PEWTER new Gold plating

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