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This is silver leaf available from our local hobby store in
Watford. It comes in Gold or Silver as well as some weird alternatives if you
want to get really silly :) Cost was just £4.75 for 14 sheets and I
ended up using just 2 - now what else can I use it on..... |
| Now this is what you do - firstly clean the parts thoroughly
using firstly a degreaser (Gunk or similar) and then washing up liquid, hot
water and a stiff brush. When dry you need to paint a very thin layer of 'Size'
onto the parts that you want the silver leaf to stick to. Now I didn't pay much
attention to this and spent a long time afterwards cleaning it off where it
shouldn't have been. I later found something called 'Liquid Masking
Tape' from Halfords which was a paint on rubber solution which I could have used
to protect the areas where I didn't want the leaf to stick. |
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Once the Size has dried you very carefully open up your pack
of leaf and (making sure it's the right way up before you open the pack!) remove
a sheet from it's protective paper. It is very delicate so make sure your Wife
doesn't open the door when it's balanced on the end of your paintbrush (THANKS
JAN!!). Lay it carefully onto the areas that were sized - be careful as
it attracts the leaf like a magnet and it's too easy to get it all wrinkled. If
it does get a wrinkle or too then it can be smoothed out a bit and it's not
overtly noticeable when you have finished.
On reflection I might have done one letter at a time to make it easier. |
| Using a stiffish paint brush start to gently brush the leaf
so that it covers every part of the letter. You should leave it for about an
hour before cleaning it off which I did with the aid of a vacuum cleaner and
rapid stroking with the paintbrush. The leaf just breaks away at the join
leaving a nice neat finish. |
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To finish it off I sprayed the retaining nuts with a metallic
gold paint - I know it's a bit OTT but it finishes the whole job off quite
nicely - well I think so anyway! Again this paint was from Halfords and
it really does give a bright shiny finish - I was most impressed with it.
I noticed that Andrew Skeltons Scorpio has
a home painted grille in Silver - I'm tempted to get a spare grill from the
breakers and try painting it with the silver version of this paint and just
seeing what effect it has on the styling.
I can hear the groans already LOL |
| The finished article - not 100% perfect but far better than
it was and no longer an embarrassment when I show off the engine bay. |
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