Sanding back flaws and further evidence on the Popularity of PEZ Culture

I have been very busy with the other side of this project recently and have made little progress other than sanding back painting flaws and re-spraying. I have been applying many layers of paint to the sculpt to give the top colour more durability whilst leaving it to cure for several days between coats and contemplating leaving it un laquered to preserve the gleam of the gold. I doubt I will but I will see how durable it is tomorrow after being left for 3 days.

I stumbled across further evidence of PEZ popularity today in the form of this German Royal Wedding PEZ news story.


Although the video is in German it is clearly decussing the introduction of New PEZ dispensers comemorating the upcoming Royal Wedding in the UK!

Rebuilding the PEZ logos and Beginning to Spray

Ruling out Vac Meatalising - Again! Paint tests and Base Making

Whilst working on another project for a friend I asked if he happened to know of anyone who did vac Metallising as I had been unsuccessful in getting a company to do the job for me. I suspect this has been due to the unusual nature of the job and the fact it was a one off as opposed to a mass production job as vac metallised parts often are. Anyway, I he said he thought he knew someone who could help at 'The Wheel Specialist' whom work with the process for use on Recoating Alloy wheels for cars. I was hopeful they would be helpful given recommendation of my friend and the really were helpful. Unfortunately they can't do the job. It comes down to the materials being too soft to withstand the constant 205degree heat that parts have to endure during the process. Normally they only work with metal parts that can stand the heat and weren’t prepared to try it with the risk of damaging the piece. I couldn’t agree more at this point as I think I would have a breakdown if the pieces came out as a molten golden mess. Either way the contact was useful and they are well worth noting for future projects. www.thewheelspecialist.co.uk

Having ruled out vac metallising again I got straight into paint samples. I bought Plastikote Brilliant gold and Clear Super Lacquer, Halfords 'Ford Solar Gold' and Clear Lacquer as well as another lacquer made by the 'Rust-Oleum' Brand gold I have been using.

 The Plasikote was by far the most convincing gold coat when sprayed (top left above) but as feared lost its shine when lacquer (above top middle). The change was unbelievable and cannot be used. Upon reading the small print on the Plastikote cans it does state that using a top coat will dull the shine - it doesn’t say change it completely though!

Lauren later informed me there was a specially formulated Plastikoat Lacquer available for metallic finishes available from Hobbycraft. To be honest I sort of lost my faith in Plastikote after the change in the spray finish so I forgot about it for a day to see how heat (from the radiator) would affect the durability of the paint after a longer cure time. Having had a couple of day's drying time I decided I don’t actually like the gold colour the Plasitikote produces. It is shiny for sure but too deep in relation to the bright gold I want for the Oscar.

Secondly (above top right) I tried the Halfords Ford Solar Gold with Halfords Clear Lacquer. Whilst this finish was consistent and smooth the colour for far too dull and I ruled it out immediately. The lacquer however was really good and seems highly durable.

Thirdly I tried the Rust-Oleum Gold (Bottom Left Above) which turned out really well. Having used the previously mentioned lacquers on 2 (Bottom Left and Middle Above) I was surprised to find that using the Rust-Oleum brand made a vast difference (Bottom Right Above) and I must admit I didn’t think it would at all but they’re tips are accurate! I decided that this finish is good enough for what I want and is more than durable enough for constant handling. Hopefully it will be myself doing the handling the majority of the time which will mean a lighter touch when handling it! 

I intend to leave each coat to cure for at least a day to ensure it does not easily run or get flawed by touch.

As well as painting I began constructing the 'film reel' base that is featured on the Oscar Statuette (Above). I drew up the approximate size on Rhino and transferred drawing to be laser cut from MDF (above) to save on the costs of using Acrylic. The main downside to this is the finishing process will take time to get right but I think I am on doing alright for time as the moment. Spacing out the two parts with supports I put a styrene strip around the gap which has become irregular with sanding and needs to be uniformed this week with either filler or thicker styrene over the top. All in all I think I can safely say I have a lot more sanding to do!

Fixing the Sculpt to the Mechanism, Sculpt finishing and Looking at Painting

Due to the slightly uneven nature of the 'back plates' on the cast I affixed an acrylic part in place instead to be sure of its accuracy as this is crucial for the correct functioning of the mechanism. Once correctly placed I filled the remaining gaps in the cast with filler and began an arduous sanding ritual for the next few days between other jobs.

Fixing the mechanism arm (above) in place made it clear that I would need to remove further thickness at the front of the mechanism to prevent problems as the head piece tilts backward. This is annoying given the thorough thought I have put into everything up to this point. There could be much worse problems though.

Although I cannot be 100% sure until the sculpt is secured to the mechanism, there is a slight issue with the sculpt making contact with the body as it moves (see above). This could cause paint to scratch off which would look really bad once the sculpt is returned to the start position. I will try to prevent this from happening by adding 'guide' pieces to the side of the mechanism housing which will overhang the body by approx 1mm to ensure the sculpt can’t rock and make contact when moving.

Once I had sanded back the body filler I was able to apply a coat of filler primer and identify flaws in the finish which I can repair over the next few days with more filling and sanding. I sanded back flawed areas to be filled (below)

I was also able to mix up some silicone with black pigment (Mouldlife £5 per small bottle) to re-cast the grip that will slide the cards out as the dispenser is operated (below) The fit on the arm is tight which means there is no need for further fixing of the part which is beneficial.

Paul told me about a new product available at Mouldlife (http://www.mouldlife.co.uk/) called Illumilux which produces a highly durable metallic finish. I rang Pete Tindal at Mouldlife who informed me of its specifications. In short, they were out of stock and it can cost hundreds of pounds for a small tin! The product sounded perfect and Pete said it is being used more and more in film work because of its durability. Here’s a video of a chrome coat being applied: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDzlFhtypmI&feature=BF&list=PL2048B65896FCA71F&index=5

Pete said gold finished would be created by putting a gold tint over the top of the standard chrome finish.

To keep the project moving and due to its cost I have decided to look for cheaper alternatives. I bought some Plasticoat Metallic Gold paint and 'Clear Super' (a clear lacquer) to increase the durability. I intend to do a series of paint tests next week to determine how the piece will be best finished.

Talking to Jake, a fellow course mate, he suggested using car paint and lacquer as he had used on his interactive piece last year. My one problem with this is that most gold car paints don’t have the brilliant shine that I want to achieve. I will buy one as a sample anyway.

I decided to make casts of the face of the sculpt to act as my paint test pieces (above). Initially spraying primer and the gold resulted in a lot of pitting in the paint which I can only put down to contamination on the surface, perhaps wax from the mold? I have thoroughly rubbed them all down with wet and dry and hopefully won’t have any more problems next week.