What Would You Do? ROTA Fertility Idol

[Stencil]

Hello all,

A long time ago before I even found the RPF, I got a Stetler Creative Works gold leafed idol as one of my first props. It totally propelled me headfirst into world of replica prop collecting. It was fantastic.

However over the years, the gold leaf has started to flake and crack. It's disappointing, and I like the sculpt a lot, but I'm unsure what to do. Anyone have any opinions? I'd love to get it plated, but the removal of the gold leaf (particularly in the hair) would seem quite difficult. Maybe I'm wrong though. What does anyone think?



On a side note, thanks so much for what I've gotten from the forum over the years. It really has been amazing.

 

[a438980]

Well, I have no experience with this kinda thing, but I'd think either a brush with a hard enough bristle to take off the gold leaf without damaging the Idol or find a solvent to soak it in that'll dissolve the leaf adhesive but not the statue.
Hopefully someone knows enough about the Stetler idol to know what kind of brush or solvent would work best.

 

[Duncanator]

It's hard to tell from the photos if the cracking is the gold leaf adhesive or the resin itself.
The ole inter webs says that nail polish remover will loosen gold leaf adhesive, which tells me that acetone is the way to go (since that is what is in nail polish remover).

Clean the leafing off, then you can see if you need to fill the resin if it is cracked. Then you can re-leaf or send it out to be vacuum metalized.

Just a tip: If you are getting it vacuum metalized, spray you final coat with a primer/sealer rather than regular primer. It makes a difference in how well the metalizing comes out.

 

[Luke0312]

Like Duncanator said, acetone will take it off. I've used acetone to remove leaf from another idol and it worked fine, just took a bit of scrubbing in the crevices.

Maybe someone who is very familiar with vacuum metalizing can comment further, but I would not recommend it for the idol. My concern being you might get bubbling from some contaminants left over. I had my idol plated and it turned out great. Then I finished another idol for someone else, same exact way I had done mine and it turned to crap (though I think the plater made a mistake, then tried to replate over the mistake rather than fix it). Regardless, it has turned me off to it a bit, unless the plater can guarantee it.

 

[Stencil]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I don't mind getting my hands dirty so it looks like I may get into some acetone. Thanks. Now to find a player in the Maryland /east coast area.

 

[vintageslant]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I don't mind getting my hands dirty so it looks like I may get into some acetone. Thanks. Now to find a player in the Maryland /east coast area.

Ha I'm sure you will find one of those but I'm not sure they would help you with the idol :lol

 

[Stencil]

Lol that's awesome.

Yea should read a plater. Damn you auto correct!!!

 

[paulp]

A mild cleaner like Orange Clean with pumice will do the trick as well. Acetone will work, but it will dry out the resin even more, so use it sparingly. If it's already cracking it can leads to shattering.I use a aren scrubby pad and orange clean to remove flaking gold leaf from my pieces. Then it's a matter of washing it off and then reapplying.