jwrass Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 Greeting to All, I have some alternatives as per Topic Title. I have used these products on 1:1 Custom Painting for years. The last few days I spent some time with these products on styrene and have found that they work GREAT!!! they are as follows: ALCLAD: House of Kolor makes a product called Kosmic Krome. It comes in five flavors (no you can't drink it lol) Aluminum Effect, Bronze Effect, Copper Effect, Gold Effect & Mirror Reflective Effect. All of these colors can be intermixed or toned to make your own custom mix or just used as they are. You can also burnish these products with Scuff pads, Velvet, Steel Wool what ever you want to use, the only limits you have with these products is your imagination. As with Alclad to get a Mirror effect you need a gloss black undercoat. Want Polished Aluminum, Bronze, Copper, Gold, Chrome? You have it here!!! Spray the color of the polished effect you want over gloss black, done deal!!!! I find the light refraction of the colors much brighter than Alclad. Recently I did a bike helmet with paneled out designs, on one part of the helmet I but Kandy blue over a mirror copper base and the effect was off the hook. It's more expensive than Alclad but I think it's worth it as is so versatile. 2oz $25 HOK vs 1oz $9 Alclad. For my money it's HOK...... great product!!!! BARE METAL FOIL: Try Composition Leaf, there are many colors to choose from. Gold, Aluminum, Multiple Variegated Colors. I think people shy away from leaf because they think it is to hard to apply, not so!!!!! let's apply some now! First you need some size, think of size as glue. You can get size in water base, oil base, and urethane based. You can brush or spray size. lets just say we are going to do a moulding around a windscreen with silver leaf to simulate chrome. (1:1 molding are typically polished stainless not chrome) You can mask the area around the windscreen and brush the size where the moulding is or you can freehand this area. Leaf comes in booklets and rolls. booklets 5.5" x 5.5" 25 leafs $7. 1/2" rolls 22 yards $15. 3/4" rolls 22 yards $19. Let the size get tacky almost dry, now take your leaf as it's placed on the tissue like paper and gently roll the leaf into the size, you will find that as the leaf gets near the size it almost gets sucked into the size. Gently burnish the leaf into the size with a Qtip. Now you are going to have this thing that looks like hot a mess, not to worry!!!!! take a cotton ball and gently burnish the area, the leaf will only stick to the sized area and the excess will just flake away. It's literally that easy and when applied right It's seamless. Now you can burnish it with a cotton ball to whatever sheen you want. It won't polish it to a high luster chrome but you can get close. The last step is to put some clear over the leaf, you can just brush the area where the leaf is or spray clear the whole body or part. Personally I think BMF most times looks phony, just like parts on a chrome tree. There is always more than one way or process to do something, give it a shot All and any questions are welcome!!!! Respectfully Submitted.... jwrass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnwildpunk Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Sounds interesting do you have picture examples of both processes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Yes, a tutorial without photos is just an opinion. Please expound further. What is "size" for instance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 What is "size" for instance? Size is a brush on adhesive for the leaf. Like foil adhesive only thinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwrass Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 Dave - I do have pictures that I will post, However I am on Vacation until the 15th, I will post sometime the week I get home as I don't have them with me. Rob - FYY one of the definitions of tutorial in Websters " A paper, book, film or computer program that provides practical information about a specific subject" No mention of pictures or opinion I deal in fact not fiction here as I have been using these materials for 35+ years, it is not a opinion!!! As I said to Dave I will post I will give you the sizes I use, in my post I did mention "think of size as glue" I guess sometimes I assume people know the definition of things I use on a weekly basis and for that I apologize. Size is a material (usually clear) used in the application of Gold Leaf and Composition Leaf. It is the vehicle that adheres the leaf to a substrate (think of it as glue) It's use and application is many centuries old, many Roman Chariots were decorated with it. Michelangelo used hundreds of pounds of 23 carrot gold in the painting of the Sistine Chapel (1502-1512) it is most commonly seen on the glass doors of Doctors Offices or high end businesses as this is real gold. Composition leaf is not real gold is a faux facsimile. Custom Painters started using this medium in the 1950s with stunning results and has made a renascence with the advent of Nostalgia Drag Racing, Gassers, Funnies, Top Fuel. The sizes I most use are as follows: One Shot #4008 (oil based) Rolco Quick Dry (oil based) HOK # UC03 (urethane) Sepp Wunda Size (waterbased) The application of leaf depends on the substrate, Window Gilding is much different than Gilding on a race car (gilding = application) Respectfully submitted, jwrass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 My apologies. I was a bit rude. However we get this sort of thing a lot around here, where someone gives us some info on their latest discovery, with no data beyond "This works great! Try it!" After a while it gets bloody tiresome. Again, I apologize. Where can the leafing materials be purchased? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwrass Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 Rob, Not a problem, I understand, I know how that go's, I personally would never post something that I have no experience with. Giving out bad information just drags the whole system down. I buy my products from many suppliers. Coast Airbrush is a great source, I know the owner Dave Monning. Most of his staff are Airbrush Artists of different types media and know their product lines well. If you want to experiment before you dive in you can get some leafing supplies at Michaels or Hobby Lobby for under $20 it's not great stuff but to experiment with it's fine. I bought some size at one of the two stores (just to check it out) the name is Gold Leaf Adhesive Size by Houston Art & Frame. They also sell the Composition Leaf but I don't know of the quality of the leaf. I thought the afore mentioned size to be fine but not as good as the others I listed in my post. I would not use the Houston Brand on 1:1 but for modeling it should be fine. jwrass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
window Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I love gold leaf. haven't used it for modelling, but have for theatre sets. there are so many different uses for leaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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