Gold Leaf & Paint

Complied by Mike Graff

See also: here and here
shosket wrote:
Can anyone advise as to use of gold leaf with carvings or castings for ship models - or a "teach-you website
{Stuart}
What follows is a collection of SSL messages about gold leaf I've accumulated over the last 2-3 years. They include how-to and resource information.

You might also check with an arts-n-crafts store for books/booklets about applying gold leaf, the local community center/college for a continuing education class on gold leaf application, and/or do an on-line search -- entering the term "gold leaf"~apply (including the quotation marks) at Yahoo yields links to several how-to sites.
{Mike Graff}

I do a lot of gold leaf work on the period ship models I construct.

I use Rolco Burnish Sealer and Rolco Gold Size as adhesive (slow set) purchased from www.pearl\paint.com/ They have a $20.00 min order on line.

They also sell the gold leaf and they also sell Luco bronze powder that I use on cannons when they are not iron. Use the gold size, only apply the bronze power in stead of the gold.

I use a one inch artist sable paint brush to burnish.
{Ross Connolly}

Constantine's: web address and Email address.

Enter the term 'gold leaf' into the search window at their web site to get to everything related to gold in their catalog, including a book entitled "Gilding" and gold leaf at $5.50 for 25 leaves, or $95 for 500 leaves, plus gold tape and a variety of gilded frames and moldings.

Enter the term gild into the search window at their web site to get to the book entitled "Gilding" and two kinds of gilding kits for $21 and $36.

Note that they also have wood, paints, tools, etc., some of which can be useful to model builders.
{Mike Graff}

Years ago when I was in the bookbinding trade doing mainly hand bound work the gold leaf came in books of 25 sheets about 3.5'' square, the real stuff is so thin it will curl and pile up in a little heap if you so much as breath on it, we had to use a Martingale masks to stop this happening too often.

To lift the leaf we had what was called a gilders tip, this was just a piece of card with long fine hairs along one side like a very skimpy paint brush about 3'' wide and only two or three bristles thick, you rubbed the tip over your hair to allow it to pick up a little oil and then the tips of the bristles touched to the edge of the leaf which would cling to the slightly oily bristle tips, you could then lift the gold leaf and lift it onto your pad.

We all had a flat pad with a 6'' square piece of leather glued to it suede side up like velvet, you lifted the sheet of leaf onto this then used a blunt edged knife to dissect the sheet by pressing the knife edge on the leaf and just moving the knife blade slightly as though trying to cut the leaf, this was enough to split the sheet of gold leaf as it was only about 2 micron thick, you then picked up the bits on another smaller gilders tip kept for the job to apply it to the work.

For a bright brassy gold colour we used yellow ochre under the gold or if we wanted a red gold finish we used red bole which is like ochre in that it is an earth pigment, as we only used heated tools for putting the gold down we used whipped egg white as an adhesive, this was just the white separated from the yolk then whipped up to a froth, this was applied to the leather and while still wet a piece of gold leaf applied over the top, the heated tool or lettering tool was then impressed onto the gold.

This 'fried' the egg white gluing the gold leaf to the leather, you then used a 'gold rubber' which was a lump of pure latex to rub over the lettering to remove any waste or excess leaf, over a period of time the latex would absorb a lot of gold and from time to time it was collected by the boss and sent away for processing to reclaim the gold contained in it, nothing went to waste, hand bound books are now history but it was a trade that had a lot in common with model making in a way, we had pride in what we did and like model ship building we were always searching for perfection,
{Terry Lynock}

Here's some info I found on gilding. I didn't post the URL, because it had a bunch of slow loading pics and SPAM. It's an antique store in Nu Awlins, LA.
There are basically two kinds of gilding: oil and water. Both types use very thin leaves of 22 carat gold or metal alloy. The amount of metals other than gold determine the color of the finished product.

First gesso is applied to fill the imperfections in the wood grain, allowed to dry and then sanded smooth. The next step is a colored bole that shows through when the gold is polished through or worn off. This color is generally red, green, or yellow. On occasion, the white gesso is allowed to show through. Powdered gold is added to shellac and painted on as a base coat to fill the deep crevasses in highly carved pieces, and then covered with gold leaf. When you are looking at a gilded object like a mirror frame, the duller area is the oil gilding and the polished, shinny area is the water gilded area.

Oil gilding is a technique where gold leaf is applied to a slow drying linseed oil and turpentine mixture called size. The slower the size drying time the shiner the finished product will be. Oil gilding is more durable than water gilding but can not be burnished to a high brilliance.

Water Gilding is different from oil gilding because the gold leaf is floated over a thin layer of rabbit hide glue. This glue is very thin and allows the gold leaf to spread out smoothly. When the gold is set it is burnished with a smooth hard stone called an agate.

Glazing is the technique used to highlight the definition of the carvings. A color pigment is mixed into a linseed oil mixture then applied over the gilded area. The excess is wiped off leaving only what has settled in the cracks and crevasses. The two pigments used most in my experience are burnt sienna and burnt umber, although green is used often to resemble tarnishing. Glazing can be removed by the touch when it is dry, therefore it is usually coated with a clear water white lacquer."

Many years ago, I used to do some gold leafing and found it to be fun. I think the main secret I found was, to use Rabbit Hide Glue. It is quite available at most art supply stores. Also many years ago, there was a model company in the Quad Cities area over on the river in Eastern Iowa, called Strombecker. I have some of their wooden train kits, inside the kits are packs of rabbit hide glue, to use for the adhesive to put kits together. I wonder of any of the older shipmodeling kits came with rabbit hide glue?


{Cody Hart}
Contact Pulsar at 727 524-8822. They supply material that will enable you to copy your computer image and transfer it to their gold colored foil which can be applied directly to the wood. Additionally, they supply material for making decals from computer data.

I used a version of their material to etch some tiny parts in brass. Very helpful support.
{Kelley Hannan}

There is a process I used for making raised letters. Select size and font style and have a rubber stamp made in reverse containing the letters you want (without the wood handle, cheaper $6). Then make a mold from silicone rubber for the letters and cast in resin. Then with 220 grit abrasive, sand the back of each cast letter until you have reached desired height. Then apply gold leaf. Then very carefully epoxy the letters in place.
{Phil Krol}
Alternatively, you could carve them out of Boxwood and apply a coat of tung oil to achieve a beautiful golden colour. Makes very authentic looking letters.
{Bill}
We can supply "Custom" Self Adhesive Vinyl Lettering in any available colour (including Satin Metallic Gold) and in any font (subject to certain size limitations on the fancy thin fonts). All fully weeded, prespaced (in words) and taped, ready for application.

Full details, prices and photo example available on request from ModelFlags (Email), and check out our Website.

["ModelFlags" is an independent authorized distributor of Miniature Cotton Flags, Signal Sets, Self Adhesive Vinyl Flags, Vinyl Lettering, Ships Markings, Custom Decals and RNLI Bow Emblems manufactured by BECC Model Accessories]
{ModelFlags}

I have been looking far and wide for a source of gold paint made with real gold powders, but have not had any luck so far.
{borg1212}
There is one other product that contains 23 kt gold. It is a small tablet containing gold and gum arabic. All you have to do is apply with a wet brush. The product is used for illuminating scroll work in books and to accentuate design work and watercolor paintings. A small tablet should cost somewhere in the $30-35 range. A large one can run as high as $100. The product also comes in sterling silver. You should be able to find these tablets at a high end art store or at Jerry's Artarama. Look for catalog # 33976, 33977, and 51580.

Prep your item to be gilded with a white primer and then apply a flat venetian red or yellow ochre base coat. The red will help produce a warm gold while the yellow will help produce a brighter gold. At this point you can apply the 23kt gold with a wet brush. Practice first to get the right consistency of gold slurry on your brush.

Try it; you will like it.
{Bob Friedman}

You can get a real gold covering at an artist store. You need a bonding agent to apply it which they can supply. Surprisingly it is not expensive and looks great.
{Paul Toscano}
I think your wish for real gold paint is just that - wishful thinking. If it were a practical proposition, it would have been done years ago. Gilding is not that difficult once you get the hang of it. There are two varieties, 'oil' gilding and 'water' gilding. Each method gives different finishes; you can get a really shiny finish with water gilding. Check your local library or the 'net for details on these two processes, and then have the courage to try them!
{David Antscherl}
The best I've found is the INK from a "Pilot Gold Marker" pen (used for calligraphy, etc.) Carvings painted with it 15 years ago are still as brilliant as the neighboring carvings on the same model that were gold-leafed. Just squeeze a drop out onto a piece of glass (your palette), and apply with a fine brush.

As with real gold leaf, the UNDERPAINTING of the carving is critical: red (e.g., Floquil boxcar red) produces a brilliant gold; paint over blue or black and it's much less intense I learned this the hard way.
{John O. Kopf}

You have already read good advice from John, Phil, Bob, etc. To those, I add that the new Metalizer paints from Testors are quite good. I have seen some eye-catching golds on plastic models which have been done with their buffing and non-buffing paints. I cannot give you any information on longevity, however.

If you are still looking for powders, try Sepp Leaf Products, Inc. They have a full range of mica powders in all sorts of metal colors. Seven are golds, from an Aztec gold, which is almost bronze, to a sparkle gold that is bright pale yellow. One drawback of these powders is that they cannot give you a shiny surface, so they will never look like real gold leaf.

Sepp also sells a complete range of gilding supplies and tools. You would be surprised at how inexpensive true gold is.

You can get real gold powder (edible too!) at The Gold Leaf Company Purity ranges from 22 to 23 3/4 kt, and is priced from $40 to $50 per gram.
{Dan Pariser}

I use gold paint from Michael's Craft stores (artists gold paint) such as you often see on outside signs particularly in the New England area. Works great for me on scroll work and gold lettering and filigree. I use a brand: called GOLDEN Acrylics (Iridescent Bright Gold - fine), GOLDEN Acrylics (Iridescent Gold - fine); GOLDEN Acrylics (Iridescent Silver - fine); and DecoArt, Dazzling Metallics (Gold/Bronze/Silver). No sign of fade with any of them, but of course the longest period of use is only about three years to date. I've seen outside signs stay as bright without touchup for many years in the harsh weather of northern New England.
{Bob Hill}
Steve, I do not have the answer to the real gold paint but want to say that I have used Testors Gloss Enamel Gold for years on my models and have encountered no problems. However, after it has dried properly, I give it a light spray coating of clear polyurethane. That seals the surface and prevents air (gases) from reacting with the paint. It also will reduce the effect of UV rays.
{Harry Belflower}
There's a product available called Precious Metal Clay (PMC) which is pulverized gold with a slight bit of clay. You can sculpt it and when fired the clay burns out and it's something like 99.9% gold. My wife uses the Silver PMC to do small scale sculpting for jewelry. Shrinks about 5% I'd guess.

A good source is www.dickblick.com but one that is less expensive is www.wholelottawhimsey.com

There's also a "slurry" available where you can sculpt the figure, paint on the gold, then fire the kiln. It's a lot less expensive.

Precious Metal Clay. Manufactured and invented in Japan by Mitsubishi, this revolutionary new material is changing the jewelry world. It looks like clay, acts like but is instead a versatile clay-like material that you can work, roll, cut, shape and fire like clay. Firing, either by torch, Hot Pot or Kiln, the organic binders burn out and the result is 999 fine gold.
{Bruce Bollenbach}

What you are looking for bookbinders call "shell gold". It is made up of pulverized gold leaf with an adhesive - traditionally honey. It was usually kept in an empty snail shell, hence the name. You can get it from talasonline.com (look for shell gold under gilding and finishing materials).

Don't be surprised about the price. You are not actually buying the gold, but, instead, the time and expertise of a hand gold beater. Initially, the ingot can be thinned by machines, but the final beating can be only done by hand, wielding a 20 to 40 lbs. hammer for hours at a time. No machine has been developed yet that can bring down the gold leaf's thickness to 120 thousands of an inch as well as can an experienced gold beater. What they do is truly amazing.

Before you spring for shell gold, you might want to look into acrylic or oil paints. The modern ones don't usually tarnish with age - some don't even have any metal in them but they look like the real thing!
{ Frank Lehmann -Lehmann Bindery}

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