Help Painting Damascus Steel Pattern

[cadu1990]

Hello everyone.

I'm making a wooden replica of a sword, and the real sword is made of damascus steel
So, the sword is pretty much done, but I'm having a hard time trying to get that distinctive look of damascus steel

Does anyone knows a good technique, trick or tutorial about how to paint a fake damascus pattern? I already searched the forum and haven't found anything useful.

Thanks in advance

 

[Mr_Creepy]

Just off the top of my head, maybe try a "wood grain" tutorial but change the colors to silver, black & gray (or similar).

 

[ataris121]

Look up water transfer printing.ive seen some youtube vids with fingernail polish. silver and blue/black metallic?

 

[jasonw2112]

Maybe dip it, with marble paint. The type that floats on top of water, than dip your item. Follow up with a clear coat for protection.I cannot think
of the name right now, but there is some new stuff that floats on top of water, without using borax.

 

[blue2k]

Perhaps if you painted the blade (grey) and then coated it in a soft wax. You can then use a hair comb to scrape off lines of was and spray black? in the gaps. Then clean off the wax. IIRC a similar method was used to acid etch real blades with interesting patterns.

 

[cadu1990]

I've found a better picture of the blade, and the pattern is not exactly damascus. Any tips on how to paint it?

 

[Joy]

If you wanna have the relief aspect of it, maybe load up the wood with gesso and "stamp" it with crumpled up plastic wrap or a similar textured surface. Let that dry, then lightly sand it to make the raised bit have a flat upper limit and remove any points, then paint the whole think black and drybrush silver over the now raised texture.

 

[cadu1990]

If you wanna have the relief aspect of it, maybe load up the wood with gesso and "stamp" it with crumpled up plastic wrap or a similar textured surface. Let that dry, then lightly sand it to make the raised bit have a flat upper limit and remove any points, then paint the whole think black and drybrush silver over the now raised texture.

That's a good suggestions, however I think I'm gonna try something stronger than gesso.

 

[p00k1333]

I would paint the area black, get a cheap towel (something with that rough nap), wet the towel down with silver paint, lay the towel down and gently pat it down. That should transfer the rough silver texture to the black base. You might experiment on something to see how saturated the towel needs to be and how hard to press to transfer.

 

[Forge]

Ah Gimlis axe, great project, I was going to have a go at Dwalins axes in the future. Anyway, the effect reminds me of textured wallpaper.
Perhaps you could glue on the wallpaper, spray black and drybrush with whatever steel colour paint you are using.

 

[mistymills]

I haven't done this on wood, but I have had good experience in the past with fake-stamping for textures. Using fabric or crumpled up paper or foil or plastic in a slightly different shade to give something a textured look. It's not exactly the same since the actual metal you are going for isn't textured as much as blended, and you have to be careful not to load up too much paint on the stamp or it raises it up, but that may be a good way to go about it.

 

[Zlurpo]

Hm, I've never seen a situation in which you'd want a thick orange peel effect, but I bet that'd work great!

 

[cadu1990]

I'm probably gonna try every suggestion in this thread. As soon as I get a perfect result, I'll post here which one worked best.
Thanks everyone

 

[merkymerx]

Were you going for the rough textured part? If so, I have some suggestions

It seems to bear some resemblance to the texture of an ABS pinseal plastic sheet that's been sanded down.

Here are some references:

http://www.cut-tec.co.uk/uploaded/thumbnails/db_file_img_3248_1024xauto.jpg
http://www.plastock.co.uk//media_files/image/product/HIPS Sheet - Version 2 (1).jpg
http://www.primexplasticslimited.com/communities/1/004/012/450/751//images/4605508837.jpg
http://www.chamberlain-plastics.co.uk/images/Pinseal2.JPG

Perhaps you could use the sheet as a stamp, or use the sheet itself on the prop. Either way, good luck with your project!

 

[division 6]

Maybe dip it, with marble paint. The type that floats on top of water, than dip your item. Follow up with a clear coat for protection.I cannot think
of the name right now, but there is some new stuff that floats on top of water, without using borax.

This would be your best bet for the swirly pattern that Damascus steel normally has.
That axe has more of a sand cast look.

Something I tried in the past was crinkle up foil then semi flatten it out.
Use spray 77 glue on the item in question then burnish down the foil giving a folded metal look (since it is) then give it a wash of black.