You did EXACTLY WHAT I DREAM ABOUT FOR YEARS in the exact process. You eliminated the experimental process I would have done by doing it for me. I SUBBED BASED ON THE VERY DETAILED AND VERY CONDENSED VIDEO THANKS!!
How to make this look a bit more dated? I want to make gold frames for paining but looking for older antique look. Do I just paint black over this one and wipe it out asap?
@@cubertmiso sorry, I just now saw your question. That's a good question. A black paint or possibly muddy brown-red might work, depending on your tastes. Whenever I buy pre-made antique gold frames, they seem to have tint of warm red in them. Practice on the cheap plastic spoons first whenever you try out a technique or mixture.
On the colors of primers; so take car paint for instance, when you paint a vehicle with a black primer, you will get a darker shade on the base coat, a lighter on the grey and even lighter on the white primer. This is why when good bodyshops should always do a spray out test on a primer paper or stick to find out what the right color is to match when matching panels to existing colors. Which is essentially what you are talking about when painting the primer for this model.
Thanks very much for sharing your secrets and taking time to clearly describe each step and product used. Fantastic video that I will use in my endless quest for the perfect gold finish.
Looks fantastic. And I fully agree with your comment that ones for purchase are to shiny and do not look authentic like yours. Will try this technique on one of my next projects. Thanks for sharing.
Definitely do not sweat the imperfections. Your results are much more like the screen used idol. It is indeed more organic looking. I've seen a lot of screen used props over the years in person and none of them have that perfect factory look to them.
As someone that airbrushes all the time the only thing I want to mention is that varnishes are fine to run through an airbrush. Just run some isopropyl alcohol through afterwords and your airbrush will be fine. Otherwise great video!
Yeah, admittedly, I'm not an experienced airbrusher. I recently found out about an airbrush thinning medium that's made by Liquitex that may allow me to apply the tinted varnish with the airgun. However, adding any kind of diluting agent to the varnish risks dulling its high gloss finish. I'll find out how much when I experiment soon on a new gold video I'm working on.
Wow, thank you for the great tutorial! Gold spray paint just doesn't cut it if you want a realistic looking gold color. For small objects, I like to use Winsor & Newton's calligraphy ink in gold for a beautiful gold finish. That's the only thing I've found that closely mimics the look of real gold. But you've created the go-to tutorial for larger objects. Layering colors really make a difference and add depth and dimension instead of a one-note look. Thanks for sharing your expertise!
Thanks for the tip. I know it's an old comment but do you mean you use the calligraphy ink on top of the enamel and instead of the chrome air brushing? Do you still use an airbrush?
That may be. But is that expensive? And do you need a large air gun and compressor to apply it? Or would my mini cordless airbrush gun be able to spray that? For this video I wanted to find the cheapest solutions that produce the best results.
I have the plastic kits for the Millennium Puzzle and sarcophagus from Yu-Gi-Oh, and they're definitely lacking, so learning how to make them shine like the gold they are supposed to be is awesome.
I liked. I am a furniture restorator and I always struggled to find the right choice for Gold paint. I will try the solutions you showed in this video. Thanks.
Okay, so I loved the food color idea!😊💛👍 I wanted to airbrush instead, so I added the color to Createx UVLS clear and sprayed directly over a few preexisting chrome pieces. After a few days of drying, the Createx can be topcoated with 2K clearcoat for increased durability for outdoor/extended use.
Oh wow, I was considering to attempt to make that same Indy figure myself. But a simple test with some gold paint made me realize, it's not that straight forwards. After seeing your video I now understand why and how much more work it is than I thought. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Court for sharing this technique. Besides a good technique, you are a great instructor. Clear instruction, great visuals, and straight to the point.
I’m just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your lovely video to all of us and yes sir this is what I’m been searching for for so long. God bless and please stay safe.
This video is informative and easy to follow with a clean format! Well done, I've been trying to paint my clay projects recently and this is beyond helpful!
I believe I waited about an hour each time, just to be safe. I think it should dry quicker than that, like maybe 20 or 30 minutes. But your local climate or humidity level might affect drying time.
Wow! Adding this to my favorites! I am looking to paint a 3D printed Grammy award I had made. Not sure what colors to use though?! Might just use exactly what you did! Thanks!!!
All I can say is WOW!.... I have a current project that requires this exact finish and I cannot thank you enough for this clear detailed video. Your delivery and style are easy to watch and listen to without being over the top or drawn out like so many other content creators. Got a sub and a like from me good sir. Keep up the good work and that Idol looks INCREDIBLE! 👍👍
Thanks so much. I'm glad you found it helpful. I agree that so many RUclips how-to videos can be hard to watch or filled with too much time-wasting stuff.
@@CourtJones I have seen all of his chroming videos. Also, I tried your method and it is indeed fantastic! Since then, I have taken a risk and ordered some new chroming paint that is not mentioned anywhere on the rpf for example so it's unknown to the prop community. If you're interested in it, let me know! It's just as reflective and chrome if not more so than spaz stix or alclad and it's as durable as modern finished automotive finish
I am painting 2 of these exact same resin castings. THANK YOU so much, for posting this!! Found two, unpainted, for the price of one, on EBay, as they both had slight imperfections. The seller usually sells they completed. But as you pointed out, they just don’t like very realistic. They look brass & like plastic. Thanks to YOU, I bought, mostly, the same materials; & I’m going for the same result that you’ve ended up with. I’m sure I’ll end up giving one of them away as a gift, but the reason I was acquiring one to begin with, is that I am a Scout leader, (among other things) & I am putting together an Indiana Jones-themed Spring Camporee, a few months from now. Just wish you also had a video on how to turn a 6 foot beach ball, into a boulder! That’s my next project, after my idols are finished. Unfortunately, this site doesn’t allow pictures to be posted in the comments, or I’d show you my progress, thus far. I almost went with the black, instead of white, as the first layer, (instead of the grey, then white as you’ve done), until I stumbled upon your video. After watching other videos, reading what others have done, on other sites, I love your results & want mine to look more like yours, rather how other’s have been done. Not one of them used the food coloring & varnish, I should point out. How interesting & unique! Haven’t quite gotten there yet. Hopefully I’ll have another update, so I can share my (almost) duplicated results. Was JUST about to ask the question about sanding, when I heard your remarks near the end, after I started typing this comment. Missed that, the first time, as I was more interested in finding the correct paints, & materials! Again, thank you so much for your tutelage. “Hokana matuso!” (-in Hovitos)
Thanks for sharing your experiences so far. I'm glad it will help. A quick note about wet-sanding the white gloss layer. It's very dangerous to the enamel. It can accidentally make the glossy areas matte, which is the opposite of what you want. Also, I found that it's really easy to accidentally sand off too much of the white enamel when I did test applications and sanding. And when even a little comes off, it tears and pulls the enamel from surrounding areas. So you must use very very fine sandpaper and light pressure and you must not do it very long. If you accidentally remove some gloss white enamel, the hole it creates cannot easily be painted over because the hole will have a raised ridge around its edge. You'll have to sand the whole thing to remove all the white and start again, which would be a bummer. Since I made this video, I determined that the best approach is to make sure the gloss white enamel gets applied as smoothly as possible - which means it should be airbrushed on rather than spray-painted on, as I did in this video with the Testors white gloss can. Spray cans are prone to making larger droplets and spatters that remain on the surface as tiny bumps - which are what give the finish that orange peel texture. So it's best to use a white gloss airbrush enamel instead of the Testors spray can. The best one I've found so far is the Spaz Stix Sandable White Primer. It goes on super smooth. However, it's not glossy. It's matte. And this layer needs to be glossy for the chrome to look good. So you would need to apply a glossy airbrush varnish on top of that and then move to the chrome stage. I have yet to find and test out a glossy airbrush varnish. I plan to put together a new demo video when I do. (BTW, if you want to share photos, you could put the pics on a site like Dropbox and copy/paste the URL in the comments. Even though it wont' be a hot link, it's a good workaround.)
Unfortunately no. Rustoleum does not acheive a true metallic chrome look. However, the brand of chrome paint I use for the air gun, Spaz Stix Metallic Chrome, does produce a spray can version. I have not tested that. But I would try it.
Thanks for sharing how you achieved the finish you wanted. The item I'd like the same look is much bigger and it's made of steel & wood. I'm not sure I'd get the same results, and it would be to expensive for my project.
Yeah, for much larger items, I think it would be more difficult to coat the surface with gold tint evenly because the acrylic varnish starts to dry as you are working.
Check out Gordon Tarpley's videos on painting his C-3PO costume pieces with gold. He ended up using a technique that requires specific paint treatments and a bigger, more serious airbrush. But it's good for larger pieces.
great instructive video. I'm melting lead and dripping into sand to create a natural nugget effect. I tried in dirt and it does work. I'm wondering if just the varnish procedure would work as the lead is shiny and smooth already.I'm setting up a gold panning station in my western town in my yard and wanted as close to the look of real gold. This will be fun. Thank you
Thanks! It's an inexpensive airbrush, with a built-in compressor. And it is rechargeable. It's not a professional artist's model. There are only two airflow settings. But it's perfect for applying the chrome. It's listed in the video description. Although I think it's not currently available on Amazon. However, there are many just like this one: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P57VJDJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I found your video because I wanted to paint the Ark of the Covenant box I have to look like real gold in the movie. I followed your tutorial and everything went great (thank you)) except I used Folk Art treasure gold paint instead of the food coloring varnish mixture, and I should have used the food coloring varnish mixture. Lol, presently, it looks more like a bright copper than gold. I want to polyurethane over it, I’m wondering if I should add yellow food coloring to the poly to brighten it up. It won’t be opaque so the copper looking finish will still shine through, but the yellow tint might make it look more gold.
That sounds like a great project to use this on. As for fixing the copper color, I have a suggestion that may or may not work. From what I know about color theory, complementary colors cancel each other out. So if the ark is currently more copper colored (orange/pink), you may be able to neutralize it by tinting it with a blue or blue-green dye. Of course, I would try it first in an incospicuous place before applying it to the whole thing. Or maybe paint a smaller test object that same copper tint and experiment on it. One of my worries about doing this is you may make the surface darker with the blue tint. So you should proceed slowly with weak tints so you could stop if it looks too dark or if the neutralization effect doesn't work.
That's awesome. I hope it works out well for your project. I'd love to see a pic when you finish it and hear any feedback on your experience with the process.
That's great, Shaun. Thanks for the donation. I hope it works out. Yes, that's right. If the frames are large, you may want to double those mixing amounts across the board so that you have enough. Remember you will probably need to do 3 or 4 coats of the tinted varnish. Of course if you run out while tinting, you could always just mix more as needed.
Just wanted to come here and let you know my experience with this process. I attempted it twice with a very ridged/angled 3D print. Unfortunately, because of how thin the acrylic is and the very odd angles, it would always froth when I was brushing it on, and even though I made sure to brush it evenly and go back over it, the acrylic would always pool in very angled spots. I think this process works very well with something thats round or smooth, but with any object that has angles (especially negative/upward angles), I would avoid trying to brush this stuff on. The color was nice though with the mix. It just did not work very well for something that had lots of angles and nooks for the acrylic to pool in. It unfortunately made everything look gold, but in those spots, the acrylic thickened and shown as orange. I wonder if using some type of thickening agent may work to help control the amount of acrylic that would pool, but I'm not familiar enough with the coating to know what to use.
Thanks so much for sharing that experience. That will be really helpful for people to know. I'm going to experiment soon with airbrushing the tinted varnish (with a thinning agent added). It would be great to have a process that worked for everybody on every type of project.
I don't know if you are able to print another sculpt and try again, but I think you might be able to have more success with it if you do a couple things: make sure your work area is very brightly lit from every angle and you can either spin it around or move around it 360 degrees while applying the varnish so that you can see every bit of it as your are painting and it's dripping. And then work really quickly in the thinnest, lightest coats you can manage. It's possible that you applied a little too much varnish and didn't get to those pooled up spots fast enough. And you have to be sure to dab and poke any air bubbles with the brush. It may not be clear from my video, but 5% of the time that I'm working on a coat is actually applying the varnish, the remaining 95% of the time is spent dabbing and soaking up any excess so that the orange spots don't have time to dry. I often have to use a paper towel to dry off my brush while doing this. And you have to repeat that process 4 or 5 times to get it to actually look gold. It's definitely a stressful part of the process.
There actually is a one-step-paint that will give you a really shiny, reflective gold finish: Montana Chrome Gold. Problem is you cannot touch it afterwards, it will leave fingerprints. And if you try to clear coat it, the shine will disappear, like most chrome paints.
@@ohwhatworld5851 It has something to do with the metallic pigments in the paint and how they behave on the surface. But I'm neither a scientist nor a chemist and can't tell you exactly what the reason is, sorry. But it's hard if not impossible to clear coat chrome paint, unfortunately. Same with graphite powder. You can achieve incredibly real looking metal surfaces with graphite powder but it will wash off when it rains. And when you try to clear coat it, the shine disappears. The only thing I've managed to successfully clear coat was Rub'n Buff but it's not nearly as reflective as chrome paint.
It has a very brown tone that leans more towards copper-like rather than yellowish gold. I tried Pledge Floor Gloss to topcoat it and it does a great job of keeping the goldchrome shiny and mirror-like finish. It is pretty hard to find Pledge’s Floor Gloss depending on your area because SC Johnson has stopped making them, which is a bummer since they’re great for metallic paints and can be conveniently glazed by brush or qtip as it is a self-leveling liquid.
I think it may be very difficult for the varnish to adhere to bare metal. It definitely wouldn't adhere evenly at first. But several coats might accomplish it. If you can find a similar type of steel that you can test it on, that would be a good idea. I'd hate for you to ruin your chair base if it doesn't work. What would probably work best for you is a glossy 2K automotive clear coat, which you can tint gold. But an airbrush or spray gun would be necessary. And I think 2K clear coat is a little expensive.
Thanks! But about your question, I'm afraid I don't know. Are you planning to create a gold statue that you keep in the garden or patio? If it's exposed to constant sunlight and other weather, my guess is that after a few months you would probably notice some fading of the gold color or some other type of unforseen damage to the finish. UV light is VERY hard on things, especially any kind of dye-based pigment, like what I used here. If it's protected from direct sunlight (and ideally moisture) I would say you could probably keep it outside and enjoy it for many years.
@@CourtJones Thank you very much for your quick and helpful reply. Yes I have a ball that will be sitting on top of the dome of the building and will be exposed to all the elements. So I was wondering if this process would hold up! Do you think a top coat of varnish would help? Thanks again.
@@ossamanasr85 A couple more clear coats might help a little. But ultimately, it's transparent varnish over a dye and that darn sun could be very hard on it. Actual metal leaf gilding would probably be the best option for outdoor use. Like on all those gold statues you see outdoors in Europe. I'm not sure what exact process they use. Probably traditional water gilding with real 23K gold leaf. It requires specialized tools, training and the leaf itself is pretty expensive. But it looks absolutely amazing when done right.
@@CourtJones You are right, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I have benefited a lot from this wonderful video. I wish you the best of luck.
Yeah, I'm not sure. It would take some trial and error. A quick guess on my part might be to add maybe one or two drops of blue, and maybe a drop or two less of yellow to make the mixture more pink. That might appear more like new, untarnished bronze.
@@emoinuyasha3556 perhaps, yes. I don't know if they make brown food coloring. At least not in the simple kits I've seen in the grocery store. But a dye-based craft paint, watercolor paint or ink might be a good option. They will come in many colors.
Hello. I am a mma/wrestling/boxing belt collector interested in plate restoration. I am impressed with your chrome gold technique. I am also planning to invest in a airbrush for brass and zinc plates. Any suggestions? I have used Rustoleum with lack of shine. Thank you for this outlet.
Thanks! Well, if you want to keep to a budget, I would highly recommend the type of airbrush I used in the video. The link in the description to the one I bought on Amazon is outdated now. But just do a search there for rechargeable, portable airbrushes. They are limited in their functionality, but I think work great and have just the right amount of light pressure for this gold application technique.
this was so informative. I had been searching for a gold finish ms steel furniture spray paints. but the products were not so satisfactory. Electro plating or pvd coating was so out of our reach.
Amazing!! detailed and step by step instructions ❤ can you please tell me how to make shiniest gold paint to use on Canvas? How can I use metallic chrome on canvas ? Or only mixture of gloss varnish and good colors will work?
Thanks! And that's a good question. I would probably need to experiment to find the best method for gold on canvas. One time, I used metallic gold leaf on a canvas in a small area to create a shiny gold look (it's on the forehead of my David Bowie caricature painting on this page: www.courtjones.com/illustration-caricature). However, any natural canvas weave texture will disrupt the shiny quality of the gold because the little peaks and valleys break up the reflective quality. So use a smooth surface, like gessoed hard board to paint on rather than a real canvas. Or you could apply a thick gesso base onto the areas of the canvas you would like to apply gold leaf to. Apply it thickly and maybe sand it down smooth to cover up the texture of the canvas before applying the leaf.
Thank you so much for detailed reply. you are correct I tried multiple gold paints on canvas but they were not very reflective. I will try gold leaf. Thank you again for taking time and replying to me 🤗❤️❤️
Great video, I am doing a 3d printing project and this is very informative material. One thing to add is I noticed at 0:16 and also at the end when you were wearing the respirator, I think I am using the same model that you had and there's supposed to be two plastic caps containing two filters in each of the side net area but they were were missing on your respirator so I guess the filtering capability could be compromised. Thank you and stay safe.
I'm glad you liked the video. Actually, I looked into it after the fact when someone else made a similar comment. The respirator I was wearing in this vid was a disposable model with filters that can't be swapped out. So there were no plastic covers that came with it. Later on I got a new respirator with changeable filter cartridges, and snap on covers that hold them in place.
Would you recommend this technique for making golden cosplay weapons? Can it be handled a lot without messing up the color/finish? I love how this looks and I have some cosplay projects in mind that would look great using this technique.
Yes, one of the main benefits of this technique is that the finish should be really resilient. The gold tint is encased in very hard clear varnish which is a hardened acyrlic polymer. I haven't stress-tested it myself as my idol just sits on my shelf. But in theory, it should be able to take a lot of handling and abuse and still look good.
@@CourtJones Thank you so much! I cannot wait to try this technique! I really appreciate you taking the time to reach back out! I just discovered your channel and I love your filming style. Super enjoyable!
Thanks for sharing your gold experience. I'm surprised you used food dye when liquitex makes a line of artist inks. I use them in combination with paints and even metallics for tints.
Well as mentioned in the video, I followed a lot of Gordon Tarpley's process I saw in his videos and he figured out the food coloring application. And that cut out a lot of trial and error for me, saving me time.
I think you made the right choice on technique. Yours looks more like a golden relic rather than a cheesy chrome prop.
Not only is this a fantastic tutorial for creating a realistic gold look from paint, but also a how-to guide on designing a tutorial video.
Thanks, Shaun!
Can’t even explain how grateful and inspired I am from you making and sharing this video!
I appreciate every second of it!
You did EXACTLY WHAT I DREAM ABOUT FOR YEARS in the exact process.
You eliminated the experimental process I would have done by doing it for me. I SUBBED BASED ON THE VERY DETAILED AND VERY CONDENSED VIDEO THANKS!!
How to make this look a bit more dated? I want to make gold frames for paining but looking for older antique look. Do I just paint black over this one and wipe it out asap?
@@cubertmiso sorry, I just now saw your question. That's a good question. A black paint or possibly muddy brown-red might work, depending on your tastes. Whenever I buy pre-made antique gold frames, they seem to have tint of warm red in them. Practice on the cheap plastic spoons first whenever you try out a technique or mixture.
@@CourtJones Thanks a lot! I try brown-red first to get the older tarnished look.
instablaster...
On the colors of primers; so take car paint for instance, when you paint a vehicle with a black primer, you will get a darker shade on the base coat, a lighter on the grey and even lighter on the white primer. This is why when good bodyshops should always do a spray out test on a primer paper or stick to find out what the right color is to match when matching panels to existing colors. Which is essentially what you are talking about when painting the primer for this model.
Excellent result. You should try a 2 to 1 ratio of Tamiya yellow and orange clear gloss. It leaves a beautiful gold finish over a chrome base.
Thanks! It's good to hear tips on alternate materials.
Good idea. Going to try putting varnish on top of graphite.
Thanks very much for sharing your secrets and taking time to clearly describe each step and product used. Fantastic video that I will use in my endless quest for the perfect gold finish.
Looks fantastic. And I fully agree with your comment that ones for purchase are to shiny and do not look authentic like yours. Will try this technique on one of my next projects. Thanks for sharing.
Definitely do not sweat the imperfections. Your results are much more like the screen used idol. It is indeed more organic looking. I've seen a lot of screen used props over the years in person and none of them have that perfect factory look to them.
Thanks!
Absolutely agree
If you use metalic silver as a base and amber or orange on tap also you get gold finish the best combination that you can get
As someone that airbrushes all the time the only thing I want to mention is that varnishes are fine to run through an airbrush. Just run some isopropyl alcohol through afterwords and your airbrush will be fine. Otherwise great video!
Yeah, admittedly, I'm not an experienced airbrusher. I recently found out about an airbrush thinning medium that's made by Liquitex that may allow me to apply the tinted varnish with the airgun. However, adding any kind of diluting agent to the varnish risks dulling its high gloss finish. I'll find out how much when I experiment soon on a new gold video I'm working on.
Wow, thank you for the great tutorial! Gold spray paint just doesn't cut it if you want a realistic looking gold color. For small objects, I like to use Winsor & Newton's calligraphy ink in gold for a beautiful gold finish. That's the only thing I've found that closely mimics the look of real gold. But you've created the go-to tutorial for larger objects. Layering colors really make a difference and add depth and dimension instead of a one-note look. Thanks for sharing your expertise!
Thanks for the tip. I know it's an old comment but do you mean you use the calligraphy ink on top of the enamel and instead of the chrome air brushing? Do you still use an airbrush?
Love that you provide the steps in detail as to how to do it and the items needed to achieve the look. Thanks it really looks good.
You can spray varnish through an airbrush using a .5 needle.I did it.just clean the air brush out good afterwards
That's good to hear. Hopefully you can still use a really glossy varnish and it maintains that slick look without appearing milky or speckled.
The best gold paint is car paint, especially rim spray paint.
That may be. But is that expensive? And do you need a large air gun and compressor to apply it? Or would my mini cordless airbrush gun be able to spray that? For this video I wanted to find the cheapest solutions that produce the best results.
@@CourtJonescheaper is the way sometimes better results😅
Damn lil can of testers costs more than compressor anymore..lol
@@CourtJonesyou can get it in aerosol cans from autozone
This is what I was looking for. I knew there would be a way! Did not expect it to be orange and red dye! Thank you!
yellow and red makes orange
That was great. Educational & enjoyable.
Being searching for something like this for ages, thanks
I have the plastic kits for the Millennium Puzzle and sarcophagus from Yu-Gi-Oh, and they're definitely lacking, so learning how to make them shine like the gold they are supposed to be is awesome.
I liked. I am a furniture restorator and I always struggled to find the right choice for Gold paint. I will try the solutions you showed in this video. Thanks.
I hope it works out well. Would love to see pics if it does!
I was looking for some ideas to paint my miniature as gold as possible, your video are really helpful.
Great video. You can use also candy gold paints over the chrome. Comes out amazing.
You can use an acrylic yellow glaze instead, and molotow’s liquid chrome works very well for me.
Okay, so I loved the food color idea!😊💛👍 I wanted to airbrush instead, so I added the color to Createx UVLS clear and sprayed directly over a few preexisting chrome pieces. After a few days of drying, the Createx can be topcoated with 2K clearcoat for increased durability for outdoor/extended use.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing alternative materials.
This video is officially my favorite.
Oh wow, I was considering to attempt to make that same Indy figure myself. But a simple test with some gold paint made me realize, it's not that straight forwards. After seeing your video I now understand why and how much more work it is than I thought. Thank you for sharing.
I could listen to you talk all day, loved the video!
Appreciate your explanation and appreciate that you don't have loud music.
I love when I find an exact explanation for something I'm trying to figure out. Thanks man!! Great video.
Thanks Court for sharing this technique. Besides a good technique, you are a great instructor. Clear instruction, great visuals, and straight to the point.
magnificent project and research and presentation.
this is great science and artistic creativity and skill. awesome video !
I’m just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your lovely video to all of us and yes sir this is what I’m been searching for for so long. God bless and please stay safe.
This was SOOO helpful! I thank you so much for the in depth tutorial, trial and error, and even the links to the products. You're such a help!! :)
NO clue how anyone could dislike this; dude you're a gold magician!!!
Haha! Thanks.
Currently building a Palpatine Lightsaber hilt using 3D printed parts. This seems like an excellent way to get the look I'm wanting.
Best finish I’ve seen! Thanks for the excellent video- Look forward to doing one of these
This video is informative and easy to follow with a clean format! Well done, I've been trying to paint my clay projects recently and this is beyond helpful!
Thanks for the great video!! How long do you wait to apply additional coats of the varnish?
I believe I waited about an hour each time, just to be safe. I think it should dry quicker than that, like maybe 20 or 30 minutes. But your local climate or humidity level might affect drying time.
Whoa!!!! Your vid just popped up in my feed. Thanks for the shout out! Awesome work!!!!
I learned so much from your videos. So thank you!
Great, just what I wanted. The last step is cheaper than the solutions I was trying and I didn't like the result. thank you!!!
Yours definitely look better than the ones they sell. Will try this Technic
Thanks so much for sharing. I'll try this on my project but it's on steel...
C3po figure repainting is how I found you video, then saw you mentioned that character.
Thanks my guy, I want to fix and re-spray my mothers medal and this looks amazing. I wouldn’t have known where to start!
Wow! Adding this to my favorites! I am looking to paint a 3D printed Grammy award I had made. Not sure what colors to use though?! Might just use exactly what you did! Thanks!!!
I never realized how, uh, striking the idol was
If you dont mind paying a little more, mix citadel imperial fist contrast paint with your chrome, It's a single piguement paint and use your airbrush
Cool! Thanks so much for the tip! I always wondered if the chrome could be tinted gold before going into the airbrush.
Absolutely perfect tutorial. Thank you so much!
I can't thank you enough for this tutorial. I am gonna try it out tomorrow.
Do you think, it will work on a metallic gun ?
All I can say is WOW!.... I have a current project that requires this exact finish and I cannot thank you enough for this clear detailed video. Your delivery and style are easy to watch and listen to without being over the top or drawn out like so many other content creators. Got a sub and a like from me good sir. Keep up the good work and that Idol looks INCREDIBLE! 👍👍
Thanks so much. I'm glad you found it helpful. I agree that so many RUclips how-to videos can be hard to watch or filled with too much time-wasting stuff.
@@CourtJones how did you figure out the food coloring trick? Can't say I've ever seen that before and I've been doing props a long time
@@PropGuru702 I saw Gordon Tarpley use that in his C-3PO gold tinting videos. Check out his channel. Good stuff!
@@CourtJones I have seen all of his chroming videos. Also, I tried your method and it is indeed fantastic! Since then, I have taken a risk and ordered some new chroming paint that is not mentioned anywhere on the rpf for example so it's unknown to the prop community. If you're interested in it, let me know! It's just as reflective and chrome if not more so than spaz stix or alclad and it's as durable as modern finished automotive finish
@@PropGuru702 I'd love to know what that is. You can share it here or email me over my website.
Nice job, man. That looks sick
You might be able to put that stuff people put in airbrushes, forget what its called, to make the paint dry slower.
Wow great video I use an airbrush, this helped a lot, thank you
This has been very informative for my project, thank you SO much Mr. Jones.
I am painting 2 of these exact same resin castings. THANK YOU so much, for posting this!! Found two, unpainted, for the price of one, on EBay, as they both had slight imperfections. The seller usually sells they completed. But as you pointed out, they just don’t like very realistic. They look brass & like plastic. Thanks to YOU, I bought, mostly, the same materials; & I’m going for the same result that you’ve ended up with. I’m sure I’ll end up giving one of them away as a gift, but the reason I was acquiring one to begin with, is that I am a Scout leader, (among other things) & I am putting together an Indiana Jones-themed Spring Camporee, a few months from now. Just wish you also had a video on how to turn a 6 foot beach ball, into a boulder! That’s my next project, after my idols are finished. Unfortunately, this site doesn’t allow pictures to be posted in the comments, or I’d show you my progress, thus far. I almost went with the black, instead of white, as the first layer, (instead of the grey, then white as you’ve done), until I stumbled upon your video. After watching other videos, reading what others have done, on other sites, I love your results & want mine to look more like yours, rather how other’s have been done. Not one of them used the food coloring & varnish, I should point out. How interesting & unique! Haven’t quite gotten there yet. Hopefully I’ll have another update, so I can share my (almost) duplicated results. Was JUST about to ask the question about sanding, when I heard your remarks near the end, after I started typing this comment. Missed that, the first time, as I was more interested in finding the correct paints, & materials! Again, thank you so much for your tutelage.
“Hokana matuso!” (-in Hovitos)
Thanks for sharing your experiences so far. I'm glad it will help. A quick note about wet-sanding the white gloss layer. It's very dangerous to the enamel. It can accidentally make the glossy areas matte, which is the opposite of what you want. Also, I found that it's really easy to accidentally sand off too much of the white enamel when I did test applications and sanding. And when even a little comes off, it tears and pulls the enamel from surrounding areas. So you must use very very fine sandpaper and light pressure and you must not do it very long. If you accidentally remove some gloss white enamel, the hole it creates cannot easily be painted over because the hole will have a raised ridge around its edge. You'll have to sand the whole thing to remove all the white and start again, which would be a bummer. Since I made this video, I determined that the best approach is to make sure the gloss white enamel gets applied as smoothly as possible - which means it should be airbrushed on rather than spray-painted on, as I did in this video with the Testors white gloss can. Spray cans are prone to making larger droplets and spatters that remain on the surface as tiny bumps - which are what give the finish that orange peel texture. So it's best to use a white gloss airbrush enamel instead of the Testors spray can. The best one I've found so far is the Spaz Stix Sandable White Primer. It goes on super smooth. However, it's not glossy. It's matte. And this layer needs to be glossy for the chrome to look good. So you would need to apply a glossy airbrush varnish on top of that and then move to the chrome stage. I have yet to find and test out a glossy airbrush varnish. I plan to put together a new demo video when I do. (BTW, if you want to share photos, you could put the pics on a site like Dropbox and copy/paste the URL in the comments. Even though it wont' be a hot link, it's a good workaround.)
Loved your video! Any alternative for the air brush spray? Can I use Rust-Oleum metallic spray paint? Or any spray paint with silver/chrome finish?
Unfortunately no. Rustoleum does not acheive a true metallic chrome look. However, the brand of chrome paint I use for the air gun, Spaz Stix Metallic Chrome, does produce a spray can version. I have not tested that. But I would try it.
Now it belongs in a museum! 😉 Good job!👏
If you hit it with a wet look (gloss) clear coat.. it might bring up the shine..
Thanks for sharing how you achieved the finish you wanted. The item I'd like the same look is much bigger and it's made of steel & wood. I'm not sure I'd get the same results, and it would be to expensive for my project.
Yeah, for much larger items, I think it would be more difficult to coat the surface with gold tint evenly because the acrylic varnish starts to dry as you are working.
Check out Gordon Tarpley's videos on painting his C-3PO costume pieces with gold. He ended up using a technique that requires specific paint treatments and a bigger, more serious airbrush. But it's good for larger pieces.
thank you for this technique. I will definitely try it in a suit.
Excellent result .. Magnificent technique ..
great instructive video. I'm melting lead and dripping into sand to create a natural nugget effect. I tried in dirt and it does work. I'm wondering if just the varnish procedure would work as the lead is shiny and smooth already.I'm setting up a gold panning station in my western town in my yard and wanted as close to the look of real gold. This will be fun. Thank you
Thanks! I hope it works out for you. If it does, please feel free to share a link to photo or video of the results!
Love the chrome stage 👍
Finally a technic that actually works !!
Absolutely brilliant
Thank you so much very well done. What kind of airbrush system do you use thank you
Thanks! It's an inexpensive airbrush, with a built-in compressor. And it is rechargeable. It's not a professional artist's model. There are only two airflow settings. But it's perfect for applying the chrome. It's listed in the video description. Although I think it's not currently available on Amazon. However, there are many just like this one: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P57VJDJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Plumbus!!!
Very cool, thanks for uploading! :-)
Just in time for my wedding... thank u
I found your video because I wanted to paint the Ark of the Covenant box I have to look like real gold in the movie. I followed your tutorial and everything went great (thank you)) except I used Folk Art treasure gold paint instead of the food coloring varnish mixture, and I should have used the food coloring varnish mixture. Lol, presently, it looks more like a bright copper than gold. I want to polyurethane over it, I’m wondering if I should add yellow food coloring to the poly to brighten it up. It won’t be opaque so the copper looking finish will still shine through, but the yellow tint might make it look more gold.
That sounds like a great project to use this on. As for fixing the copper color, I have a suggestion that may or may not work. From what I know about color theory, complementary colors cancel each other out. So if the ark is currently more copper colored (orange/pink), you may be able to neutralize it by tinting it with a blue or blue-green dye. Of course, I would try it first in an incospicuous place before applying it to the whole thing. Or maybe paint a smaller test object that same copper tint and experiment on it. One of my worries about doing this is you may make the surface darker with the blue tint. So you should proceed slowly with weak tints so you could stop if it looks too dark or if the neutralization effect doesn't work.
Thank you! Your video was just what I was looking for, and it was the only one. 👍
Ha! I'm ready to paint my Headpiece to the Staff of Ra from Raiders and I was researching gold spray paint when your video came up. Thanks!
That's awesome. I hope it works out well for your project. I'd love to see a pic when you finish it and hear any feedback on your experience with the process.
Using your technique to paint some cheap art frames. btw, 8 drops of yellow, 4 drops of red and 2 ounces of varnish?
That's great, Shaun. Thanks for the donation. I hope it works out. Yes, that's right. If the frames are large, you may want to double those mixing amounts across the board so that you have enough. Remember you will probably need to do 3 or 4 coats of the tinted varnish. Of course if you run out while tinting, you could always just mix more as needed.
Just wanted to come here and let you know my experience with this process. I attempted it twice with a very ridged/angled 3D print. Unfortunately, because of how thin the acrylic is and the very odd angles, it would always froth when I was brushing it on, and even though I made sure to brush it evenly and go back over it, the acrylic would always pool in very angled spots. I think this process works very well with something thats round or smooth, but with any object that has angles (especially negative/upward angles), I would avoid trying to brush this stuff on. The color was nice though with the mix. It just did not work very well for something that had lots of angles and nooks for the acrylic to pool in. It unfortunately made everything look gold, but in those spots, the acrylic thickened and shown as orange. I wonder if using some type of thickening agent may work to help control the amount of acrylic that would pool, but I'm not familiar enough with the coating to know what to use.
Thanks so much for sharing that experience. That will be really helpful for people to know. I'm going to experiment soon with airbrushing the tinted varnish (with a thinning agent added). It would be great to have a process that worked for everybody on every type of project.
I don't know if you are able to print another sculpt and try again, but I think you might be able to have more success with it if you do a couple things: make sure your work area is very brightly lit from every angle and you can either spin it around or move around it 360 degrees while applying the varnish so that you can see every bit of it as your are painting and it's dripping. And then work really quickly in the thinnest, lightest coats you can manage. It's possible that you applied a little too much varnish and didn't get to those pooled up spots fast enough. And you have to be sure to dab and poke any air bubbles with the brush. It may not be clear from my video, but 5% of the time that I'm working on a coat is actually applying the varnish, the remaining 95% of the time is spent dabbing and soaking up any excess so that the orange spots don't have time to dry. I often have to use a paper towel to dry off my brush while doing this. And you have to repeat that process 4 or 5 times to get it to actually look gold. It's definitely a stressful part of the process.
There actually is a one-step-paint that will give you a really shiny, reflective gold finish: Montana Chrome Gold.
Problem is you cannot touch it afterwards, it will leave fingerprints. And if you try to clear coat it, the shine will disappear, like most chrome paints.
Why does the shine disappear if you clear coat it?
@@ohwhatworld5851
It has something to do with the metallic pigments in the paint and how they behave on the surface. But I'm neither a scientist nor a chemist and can't tell you exactly what the reason is, sorry. But it's hard if not impossible to clear coat chrome paint, unfortunately.
Same with graphite powder. You can achieve incredibly real looking metal surfaces with graphite powder but it will wash off when it rains. And when you try to clear coat it, the shine disappears.
The only thing I've managed to successfully clear coat was Rub'n Buff but it's not nearly as reflective as chrome paint.
It has a very brown tone that leans more towards copper-like rather than yellowish gold. I tried Pledge Floor Gloss to topcoat it and it does a great job of keeping the goldchrome shiny and mirror-like finish.
It is pretty hard to find Pledge’s Floor Gloss depending on your area because SC Johnson has stopped making them, which is a bummer since they’re great for metallic paints and can be conveniently glazed by brush or qtip as it is a self-leveling liquid.
@@MrOiram46
I've ben told there's a German product that has the same abilities but I haven't tried it yet. It's called "Erdal Glänzer".
This is amazing, thanks so much 4 posting this. Gonna help alot with my gold spear for one of my cosplays
The chrome nail polish dust would probably bump this up to an even cwispier chrome
Cool. Thanks for that tip!
Excellent, I'm hoping this will work for my dragon hoard costume!
If you do use this technique, I'd love to see a pic of how it comes out!
I am painting a chair, and the base is like a silver steel, could I use the Liquitex Acrylic Varnish and tint it gold without the other steps?
I think it may be very difficult for the varnish to adhere to bare metal. It definitely wouldn't adhere evenly at first. But several coats might accomplish it. If you can find a similar type of steel that you can test it on, that would be a good idea. I'd hate for you to ruin your chair base if it doesn't work.
What would probably work best for you is a glossy 2K automotive clear coat, which you can tint gold. But an airbrush or spray gun would be necessary. And I think 2K clear coat is a little expensive.
Amazing!! Thanks for sharing your experience. A Question please: are these materials strong enouph for outdoor use?
Thanks! But about your question, I'm afraid I don't know. Are you planning to create a gold statue that you keep in the garden or patio? If it's exposed to constant sunlight and other weather, my guess is that after a few months you would probably notice some fading of the gold color or some other type of unforseen damage to the finish. UV light is VERY hard on things, especially any kind of dye-based pigment, like what I used here. If it's protected from direct sunlight (and ideally moisture) I would say you could probably keep it outside and enjoy it for many years.
@@CourtJones Thank you very much for your quick and helpful reply. Yes I have a ball that will be sitting on top of the dome of the building and will be exposed to all the elements. So I was wondering if this process would hold up! Do you think a top coat of varnish would help?
Thanks again.
@@ossamanasr85 A couple more clear coats might help a little. But ultimately, it's transparent varnish over a dye and that darn sun could be very hard on it. Actual metal leaf gilding would probably be the best option for outdoor use. Like on all those gold statues you see outdoors in Europe. I'm not sure what exact process they use. Probably traditional water gilding with real 23K gold leaf. It requires specialized tools, training and the leaf itself is pretty expensive. But it looks absolutely amazing when done right.
@@CourtJones You are right, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I have benefited a lot from this wonderful video. I wish you the best of luck.
Very inspiring, thanks for the video
Great presentation ⚜️❗️
Now I wish I could figure out what’s the right food coloring and drops for the bronze color.
Yeah, I'm not sure. It would take some trial and error. A quick guess on my part might be to add maybe one or two drops of blue, and maybe a drop or two less of yellow to make the mixture more pink. That might appear more like new, untarnished bronze.
I was thinking, since bronze is more brown I’d need a brown food coloring with a bit of pinkish. Maybe????
@@emoinuyasha3556 perhaps, yes. I don't know if they make brown food coloring. At least not in the simple kits I've seen in the grocery store. But a dye-based craft paint, watercolor paint or ink might be a good option. They will come in many colors.
I love it great job
This video is perfection!!! Thank you!!!!
thanks for sharing. great job.
Hello. I am a mma/wrestling/boxing belt collector interested in plate restoration. I am impressed with your chrome gold technique. I am also planning to invest in a airbrush for brass and zinc plates. Any suggestions? I have used Rustoleum with lack of shine. Thank you for this outlet.
Thanks! Well, if you want to keep to a budget, I would highly recommend the type of airbrush I used in the video. The link in the description to the one I bought on Amazon is outdated now. But just do a search there for rechargeable, portable airbrushes. They are limited in their functionality, but I think work great and have just the right amount of light pressure for this gold application technique.
this was so informative. I had been searching for a gold finish ms steel furniture spray paints. but the products were not so satisfactory. Electro plating or pvd coating was so out of our reach.
Amazing!! detailed and step by step instructions ❤ can you please tell me how to make shiniest gold paint to use on Canvas? How can I use metallic chrome on canvas ? Or only mixture of gloss varnish and good colors will work?
Thanks! And that's a good question. I would probably need to experiment to find the best method for gold on canvas. One time, I used metallic gold leaf on a canvas in a small area to create a shiny gold look (it's on the forehead of my David Bowie caricature painting on this page: www.courtjones.com/illustration-caricature). However, any natural canvas weave texture will disrupt the shiny quality of the gold because the little peaks and valleys break up the reflective quality. So use a smooth surface, like gessoed hard board to paint on rather than a real canvas. Or you could apply a thick gesso base onto the areas of the canvas you would like to apply gold leaf to. Apply it thickly and maybe sand it down smooth to cover up the texture of the canvas before applying the leaf.
Thank you so much for detailed reply. you are correct I tried multiple gold paints on canvas but they were not very reflective. I will try gold leaf. Thank you again for taking time and replying to me 🤗❤️❤️
great guide!
Great video, I am doing a 3d printing project and this is very informative material.
One thing to add is I noticed at 0:16 and also at the end when you were wearing the respirator, I think I am using the same model that you had and there's supposed to be two plastic caps containing two filters in each of the side net area but they were were missing on your respirator so I guess the filtering capability could be compromised. Thank you and stay safe.
I'm glad you liked the video. Actually, I looked into it after the fact when someone else made a similar comment. The respirator I was wearing in this vid was a disposable model with filters that can't be swapped out. So there were no plastic covers that came with it. Later on I got a new respirator with changeable filter cartridges, and snap on covers that hold them in place.
Very interesting, the golden idol looks great.
Fantastic work, sir.
Hi, your video are very interesting! Can the entire coat last for outdoor art piece? ❤️
Thank you for this, you solved
so many of the questions I had regarding this technique. You rock!
Your work was amazing bro thanks for sharing this Idea! I'll try this method in repainting my Thanos infinity gauntlet.
I would love to see a picture of the finished result. Please post a link if you end up doing that.
Would you recommend this technique for making golden cosplay weapons? Can it be handled a lot without messing up the color/finish? I love how this looks and I have some cosplay projects in mind that would look great using this technique.
Yes, one of the main benefits of this technique is that the finish should be really resilient. The gold tint is encased in very hard clear varnish which is a hardened acyrlic polymer. I haven't stress-tested it myself as my idol just sits on my shelf. But in theory, it should be able to take a lot of handling and abuse and still look good.
@@CourtJones Thank you so much! I cannot wait to try this technique! I really appreciate you taking the time to reach back out!
I just discovered your channel and I love your filming style. Super enjoyable!
Thanks for sharing your gold experience. I'm surprised you used food dye when liquitex makes a line of artist inks. I use them in combination with paints and even metallics for tints.
Well as mentioned in the video, I followed a lot of Gordon Tarpley's process I saw in his videos and he figured out the food coloring application. And that cut out a lot of trial and error for me, saving me time.
For the food coloring, did the 8 drops yellow and 4 red sufficiently tint the entire 2 oz bottle of varnish?
Yes it did. Dye is pretty potent stuff.
Hey, is that Plumbus used?😅
Great instructional video! 😊👍
Of course. There are hundreds of uses for plumbus around the house. But many safety warnings for its misuse.
@@CourtJones ☺️👍
your video is gold ! thank you for taking me into yyour adventure ;)