Firstly
what is a patina. It is the colour of the surface of metal when
it has been exposed to the weather for a considerable period
or has had an application of chemicals to simulate this effect.
In this technique tip we will be adding a patina to faux metals
of two types. The first you have already read about in the tip
on how to do cold metal casting. Briefly this involves loading
polyester or epoxy resin up with equal volumes of metal powder
and then pouring into moulds to give a metal appearance after
burnishing with steel wool.
The second method of giving virtually any object a metallic
appearance is to use one of our CraftMetal metallised acrylic
coatings. They come in brass, copper, iron and aluminium finishes.
They can be painted over wood, plaster, ceramic and metals to
give the appearance of the metal finish you have chosen.
One use is to use change the finish of one metal to another.
For instance coating CraftMetal Copper over a steel object.
Another is to coat CraftMetal Iron over iron or steel. This
allows you to completely rust the surface metal coating without
compromising the base metal. The method of achieving these effects
will be dealt with in a separate
Tech Tip article.
Patina
Techniques for Resin/Cold Casting
The most important thing to do before commencing applying a
patina is to make sure the metal powder is exposed by rubbing
back with 000 and 0000 steel wool. When casting the polyester
or epoxy resins they typically coat the metal powder spheres.
Another method of preparing the resin for the patina process
is to sandblast with a fine material. Heating the casting with
a hair dryer or placing in sunlight will further help the patina
process.
Dark
Brown to Black Patinas:
The following products are recommended.
Sculpt Nouveau- Darkening Patina
Sculpt Nouveau- Antiquing Patina
Sculpt Nouveau- Deep Brown Patina
Liver of Sulphur
Ferric Nitrate (Rust Brown Colour)
You first prepare the surface exposing the metal. Heat the casting
with a hair dryer. Spray or apply the patina with a sponge or
brush. The colour will form and be complete in minutes. |
