Gold Leafing help
- Thread starter Imahomer
- Start date
What is it that you need done?
Jaded Monk
Well-Known Member
I would advise against that. Gold leaf is extremely delicate. You will not be able to handle the idol without signs of deterioration in little time at all. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, it will still look like gold leaf. That is to say it will look like many fine layers of gold on top of one another. I suspect that is not the finish you have in mind. You would be better off with vacuum metalizing at best or at least and Allclad finish.
I wish I could be of more help.
JM
I wish I could be of more help.
JM
Jaded Monk
Well-Known Member
You can seal gold leaf, but as with many other finishes it tends to detract from the finish in favor of preserving it. If you can find a way to have a small sample done for you, say a 2" sphere, it will give you a better idea what the finish will look like.
cheers,
JM
cheers,
JM
cheech9898
Sr Member
Not really. The problem is you'll get overlay/seam lines, and you can't buff the seam lines out since the leafing is so delicate..... There's just not going to be a way around it with all the curves and crevases of the Indy Idol. To get a decent finish your looking at some sort of Alclad silver base with a yellow candy over it or using Alclad II Pale gold & then a clearcoat if you go the paint route. Otherwise your looking at vacuum metalizing and probably a decent chunk of change to do that..... unless you want to spring for some gold powder and go the cold cast route at $900/oz current market value :eek
There's a thread on the board somewhere where someone applied a gold buffing powder on one of the bluefive idols, and it looked amazing.
Here's a link to the product: http://www.hawkeyeshobbies.com/catalog/powders.htm
I haven't tried it myself yet, but the process is practically identical to the one I use with graphite powder to give painted resin guns a blued steel look. If you're not comfortable tackling the idol yourself, I'd be happy to apply the gold finish for you. PM if interested and we can discuss details.
Here's a link to the product: http://www.hawkeyeshobbies.com/catalog/powders.htm
I haven't tried it myself yet, but the process is practically identical to the one I use with graphite powder to give painted resin guns a blued steel look. If you're not comfortable tackling the idol yourself, I'd be happy to apply the gold finish for you. PM if interested and we can discuss details.
Imahomer
Well-Known Member
That link isn't working. I like the sound of this option. If you've done similar work, perhaps we can work something out. In the mean time I'm going to try to find that thread.
Mike
Well like said before it all depends on what look your going for. Myself I like the final result of the gold foil as it looks like it was in a booby trapped temple for 1000's of years and not polished on a regular basis like the one in the movie appears to be.
I'll take a couple shots of my and post them later.
-Ash
I'll take a couple shots of my and post them later.
-Ash
Odd. Works for me. Just try http://www.hawkeyeshobbies.com/ and scoll down to the polishing powders section.
and here's the thread: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=43498&highlight=idol
and here's the thread: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=43498&highlight=idol
Jaruemalak
Well-Known Member
I agree... I've done a lot of gold leafing in my time, and while it IS a nice finish, on close inspection it looks like, well, little tiny flakes of Gold, not a casting of solid gold. I thought for a bit of leafing my bank as well, but changed my mind, as I am REALLY using it as a bank! (I tend to have a lot of change lying around and used to put it in jars, glasses, whatever) I figure I can get 40 bucks worth of change in that sucker before I have to empty it!
Vacuum metalizing WOULD look really cool, but you will pay for it!
Vacuum metalizing WOULD look really cool, but you will pay for it!
