About Lacquer Paints

Thank you all for your overwhelming reaction to the Sword of Seals project! I've received many questions about the paint on this one. I felt it's easiest to respond with a post about it.

The final gold and silver used here are Alclad 2 lacquers. Theses lacquers are some of the best looking non-automotive metallics I've seen so far. Lacquer is a thin paint and has very low viscosity when compared to enamels and acrylics.

Due to its low viscosity a proper base under the lacquer top coat is essential to achieve the results you see on this finish. Lacquers are unforgiving and do not cover flaws like the heavier enamels and acrylics do.

This isn't magic paint. Sure the quality and sheen are impressive but it would not look that way without hours or prep in the form of prime, sand, fill repeat. Sound familiar?

I wet sanded the wooden blade on this sword up to 1000 grit. That means starting with 80 grit for shaping, I moved to 120 then 220, started wet sanding at 320 continued with 400, 600, 800 and finally 1000. Between each sanding I also spot filled voids and added a new coat of primer.  After all that it's base coated with glossy enamel (left photo) before applying the final lacquer (right photo). If that sounds like a lot of work; it was.

I hope this is informative to you and helps you understand the amount of time needed to achieve similar results.

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From 3D Print to Final Cast - Sword of Seals Hilt Progression

WIP: From raw 3D print (Starting top left circling clockwise) to final cast (center). What this doesn't convey is the endless hours and sanding required to make a 3D print not look like a 3D print. 

  1. Initial 3D print by Rawrbomb
  2. Lots of filler (red) and some additional hand sculpted changes in Apoxie Sculpt (white). 
  3. Initial coat or primer, sanding, filling and repeat. 
  4. Final primer after 320 and 400 grit wetsanding. 
  5. Jewel mount (gold ring) added back. I removed it from the print to make cleaning the center section easier. 
  6. Hand-sculpted details added with Monster Clay. 
  7. One-part mold box
  8. Silicone mold made with Smooth-On Mold Max 14NV
  9. (Center) Final cast made with Smooth-On Smooth Cast 300

Sif Sword Demold

The birth of a new sword straight from the mold!

This is the demolding of a resin sword that I created. I originally created the master sword from wood. This is a mold and cast from that sword.