23.5K GOLD Infinity Gauntlet Build!

Soulinertia

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
So I purchased this amazing infinity gauntlet prop replica kit from rpf member Shotzy a little while back and immediately got to work on it. Here is where I'm at so far:


This is GENUINE 23.5k Gold leaf. I used a multi-step process ancient water gilding technique to apply the gold. Nothing quite captures the light like gold . . . :cool


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Below are the build pics:

Here is how the raw cast kit arrived to me

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After some initial clean-up

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All the pieces arranged into gauntlet form

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Now, I knew I wanted to do something special for the finish. At first I thought I might try a molotow pen and then tint it gold, but the results weren't quite what I was looking for. I also tried chrome gold vinyl wrap, but the details were just too much for it, even with stretching it to the max with a heat gun. I finally decided on gold leaf since I had some previous experience with it, but more on that later.

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I also wanted to use real metal rivets to add an additional layer of quality and variety in materials. So I drilled holes where each rivet would go. At this point I also drilled the holes for the removable infinity stones I have planned.

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I also found a pair of suede welder's gloves to use as a base that worked perfectly!

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All together now

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Here is a test fit for the lights that I'll be using for the gems. As I said before, each of these will be removable. I'm going to cast some smaller faceted cabochons for the knuckles, but the light up stones that I've already made fit perfect for the larger centerpiece.

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More on my light up infinity stones here: https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=226188


Now, on to the gold leafing! Here is a sheet of 23.5k gilders gold leaf. Genuine gold leaf usually comes in 3 1/8" or 3 3/8" sheets. The fake metal leaf is usually larger.

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At first I tried just using water sizing to cut some corners. It turned out pretty good, but it still wasn't giving me that ultra reflective shine I was going for.

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With traditional water gilding, there are no shortcuts. It's a pretty intensive multi-step process, but the results are worth it!

The first step is to prepare your surface. I sanded and sprayed each piece with a clear coat. This actually turned out to be a mistake really. I should have sanded and gessoed the surface to give it more tooth. I discovered this fault much later on in the process after it was too late.

Second I needed to create some rabbit skin glue. The rabbit skin comes in dried granules, much like raw sugar. It must be melted in a double boiler at the proper temp after soaking in water overnight. Too low it won't melt, too high and it looses it's adhesive properties. Her in this pic you can see my RSG in the center and some special gilder's burnishing clay on the left. The two must be mixed together to create a bole.

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The mixture must remain warm to stay thin enough for applying. I constantly had to keep reheating it to stay at the proper temp. Multiple coats of bole must be applied with sanding in between coats.

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All in all, 5-6 coats should be applied, but I only did 4 because I was eager to get to the gold leafing!

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I also should have spent more time sanding, but I'm a bit impatient. Here is what one of the finger pieces looks like after a few coats.

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Gold leafing requires some special tools as well. Here is a squirrel hair gilder's tip brush for picking up and applying the gold sheets and an agate burnishing tool to burnish the clay after the gold has been applied.

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True gold leaf is soo thin that you can literally see through it. It has been beaten to four millionths of an inch in thickness! And it will practically dissolve between your fingers if you touch it with your bare hands.

Here is a really cool vid to show how gold leaf is made for those interested:



It is also extremely difficult to handle as it floats like a feather in the air. If there is any kind of draft at all, forget about it!

That is where the squirrel hair brush comes in. I have a vintage one made in W Germany.

I use a very small amount of chapstick on my wrist that I drag the fibers across to give it very little tack. Static electricity can work too.

I almost forgot to mention another step. Once all the bole has been applied then a special mixture of thinned down RSG with distilled water and alcohol is used to re-wet the surface and reactivate the adhesive properties of the RSG in the clay. This is called 'gilder's liquor'. You can use isopropyl alcohol, but that's no fun, so I used a platinum top shelf tequila :D

Once you get close to the wet surface, maybe about 1/4 of an inch away the gold will 'suck' to the surface, almost like it's magnetically attracted.

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After an initial coat of the the pieces.

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As you can see there are quite a few cracks in the finish. These happen as part of the process where folds in the gold occur, or in places where the gilder's liquor has set into the clay too quickly. They will be filled in later with smaller pieces of gold leaf scrap. Here you can also see some issues where all the layers have delaminated from the surface down to the white resin on the cuff in the background. I had to completely re-do these areas.

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After letting the pieces dry for a bit I got to burnishing. This is where the magic happens if you've done everything correctly the agate stone will burnish the bole underneath the gold to give it a nice reflective surface.

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I didn't get it to a full mirror finish since I didn't spend enough time sanding and applying the multiple layers of bole, but I figured this gauntlet was going to be some kind of ancient relic, hundreds of thousands of years old. So the surface had developed some imperfections over the years ;)

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Before filling in all the gaps and nooks I had to do a quick test fit

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After running around the house for about an hour with it on and teasing my wife with the absolute power I was about to wield once I had collected all the stones from across the Cosmic Universe . . . I got back to business and filled in the areas that were still lacking gold. For the very fine cracks and super small areas that I wasn't able to work the gold into I used a gold mica powder. Here are the results in low light:

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And with a single light source shining down on it to really show off the glow of it all:

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And that's where I'm at so far. I might end up using this for a full Thanos cosplay or at least to wear to the premier of Avengers Infinity War. I still need to add all the metal rivets, attach the pieces to the glove permanently and weather the whole thing with a casein. Then of course, add the INFINITY STONES! At which point there will be no stopping my Absolute and Unlimited Powers!

Subscribe to this thread and stay tuned for more if your interested to see how it all turns out. :cheers
 

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Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My Infinity Gauntlet build thread - Covered in REAL Gold!

holy cow ! this is absolutely AMAZING ! the shine really is cool. how much did you invested in this ?

Sent from my SM-J7108 using Tapatalk
 
Re: My Infinity Gauntlet build thread - Covered in REAL Gold!

holy cow ! this is absolutely AMAZING ! the shine really is cool. how much did you invested in this ?

Sent from my SM-J7108 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the kind words guys.

The goldleaf itself isn't too bad. Less than $2/sheet and I used about 50 sheets for the gauntlet. It's all the other materials and tools that really add to the cost.

Also wanted to say hooray for imgur! :thumbsup

This is my first build hosted through imgur since photosuckit took a huge dump on all it's users.
 
Last edited:
Re: My Infinity Gauntlet build thread - Covered in REAL Gold!

Cool just sent you a PM. The guanlet is coming along great and talk about a detailed process in applying gold leaf. I like the video lots work and application and changes here and the there. You can count me onboard without a doubt. Love how the gold bounces the light on the guanlet. Keep it up look forward to seeing the finished Infiniy Gauntlet! Oh let me not forget Shotzy for his work in bringing too life for us.
 
Re: My Infinity Gauntlet build thread - Covered in REAL Gold!

I used these small gold tack nails as pseudo rivets. My fear being that real ones would destroy the gold finish and/or crack the resin. After drilling a hole for each one I placed the nail and placed a crimp bead around it.

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Then I clamped down with pliers to crimp it and cut it off with a pair of wire cutters. Then I double secured it with a bit of E6000

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After that I added the removable center stone. The whole thing lights up real nice. I think I'll go back in and add a tinge of orange to it

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I also added the other lights, but I still need to make the oval stone tops for them

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You can see them from the underside here. All will be removable. I have an idea for a case mod.

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Maybe something like this:

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So bright!

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This is at a really low exposure to show off the gold

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Just need to attach the finger armor and then I can start the weathering process!

Until next time . . .
 
After all that I've been through with the real gold, I decided to try some composition metal leaf for the inside of the thumb armor. It's far easier to apply and only 2 steps instead of 12.

Check out the shine on that! :cool


I think I'm going to try a full gauntlet in the faux gold for my next one.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In light of the new gauntlet pics from D23 I'm going to make a few changes.

For starters, rearranging the position of the stones . . .

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I'll also be updating some details around the forearm and eliminating some of the finger armor.
 
How durable is a leaf finish? I was considering some minor detailing an armor kit. It has typical accessories like leather and nylon straps and a cape occasionally rubbing the plates.
 
How durable is a leaf finish? I was considering some minor detailing an armor kit. It has typical accessories like leather and nylon straps and a cape occasionally rubbing the plates.

The finish on the real gold is durable once a seal coat is added. Usually an amber shellac. I'm going to use the faux gold composition leaf for the next build which is more durable to start with and can hold on it's own, but if you really want to protect it, a clear coat is still recommended.
 
I posted this pic on instagram a couple weeks back and got over 3500 likes! Pretty cool.


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Follow me on instagram by clicking the icon below my profile pic on the left if you want to see more progress pics and other projects I'm working on.

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A few more progress pics:

Started the weathering process

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I used a brown leather dye and thinned black acrylic in the cracks and crevices

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Full Gauntlet

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Lights temporarily installed

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I still need to make the gemstone diffusers. I'm undecided if I should do a more finished faceted cabochon or a broken rock type of look as featured on the latest SDCC gauntlet.

Which type would you like to see?

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I'll be starting an interest thread soon. :cheers
 
How flexible is the faux gold film? In other words, does it wrinkle up over a curved surface? Last question, can you see through it? I want to tint a NASA helmet visor.

Congrats on this epic build!
 
How flexible is the faux gold film? In other words, does it wrinkle up over a curved surface? Last question, can you see through it? I want to tint a NASA helmet visor.

Congrats on this epic build!

It's pretty much pure gold. (You can get straight 24k gold leaf, but it's even more difficult to handle), so it will fold over on a convex curve, but it's so thin that you wont be able to tell the difference to the naked eye. It is also so thin that yes, you can see through it. Not sure how well it would work to tint a visor. If you end up doing it though, let me know your results!
 
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