What I did at my house today...

[phil]

I think it is supposed to look something like this:

the effect reminds me of lusterware.. that thing is going to look beautiful with the care you are giving it !

[phil]

I am amazed at Willa's progress.. shes just knocking the jobs off as fast as I can read about them

[awomanwithahammer]

I am amazed at Willa's progress.. shes just knocking the jobs off as fast as I can read about them

I know! She's making the rest of us look bad!

[Corsetière]

the effect reminds me of lusterware.. that thing is going to look beautiful with the care you are giving it !

Yes! it does look like Fairyland lusterware! Thanks! I'm excited to see the end result, I hope I can do it justice!

[Corsetière]

That muted 20's polychrome always looks nice. Even in parts the de-silvered fixtures are looking much, much better.

Still : $ 5.00 !!!!!

lol! $2.50 a piece!
Thanks! It's not such a bad job since I am doing it in sections. I will need to make a decision about the gold color soon. I think I'm going to need a metal rimer to protect everything before I paint. I am tempted to gild things but I don't think that would be really practical based on how weirdly shaped everything is. I don't think I could get in some of the crevises of the arms with gold leaf.

[Corsetière]

The porch is stripped but still needs final chemicals in the nooks and crannies. Soon I'll have pics of its primed glory !

Ooooh! Exciting! I need to borrow some of your mojo, I am dragging ass on getting things done here. The heat and humidity has been a lot to contend with even in AC!

[Willa]

Ooooh! Exciting! I need to borrow some of your mojo, I am dragging ass on getting things done here. The heat and humidity has been a lot to contend with even in AC!

Geez - the mojo is an illusion. I am working at a middle-aged-lady- who-hates-the-sun-but hates-to get-up-early-to beat-the-sun pace. Also I am whiney about how my feet hurt on the ladder. And it's too hot right now. That's my actual speed.

[Lily left the valley]

* Yes, mismatched linens pretending to be curtains, with one whiter than the other.

We have mismatched curtains in our parlor. The front set we have, I found at a second hand shop a while back. The one I'm temporarily using on the side window is totally not an obvious match in pattern, style (that one is a cafe, front is more traditional half height plus the top bits that trail down just so), and also an obviously different shade of "not white". (The cafe lace set came from a shop in Cape May. Had that for years. Usually on the kitchen door.)

That muted 20's polychrome always looks nice. Even in parts the de-silvered fixtures are looking much, much better.

Still : $ 5.00 !!!!!

lol! $2.50 a piece!
Thanks! It's not such a bad job since I am doing it in sections. I will need to make a decision about the gold color soon. I think I'm going to need a metal rimer to protect everything before I paint. I am tempted to gild things but I don't think that would be really practical based on how weirdly shaped everything is. I don't think I could get in some of the crevises of the arms with gold leaf.

I like how you managed to pair it with other pieces you have on hand (well, the molds, but still!). Nice progress.

[phil]

That muted 20's polychrome always looks nice. Even in parts the de-silvered fixtures are looking much, much better.

Still : $ 5.00 !!!!!

lol! $2.50 a piece!
Thanks! It's not such a bad job since I am doing it in sections. I will need to make a decision about the gold color soon. I think I'm going to need a metal rimer to protect everything before I paint. I am tempted to gild things but I don't think that would be really practical based on how weirdly shaped everything is. I don't think I could get in some of the crevises of the arms with gold leaf.

be aware that aluminum has a special property of not allowing paint to adhere to it. as a lamp it probably isn't that susceptible to getting knocked.
to get paint to stick to aluminum well you can apply an appropriate etch to open the pores , or roughen it up with sandpaaper and if you really want it to stick well you can use an epoxy primer. You will get better adhesion with a roughened surface than a polished surface.

spraying metallic paints can be quite challenging. the metal flake is in suspension in the paint and if you stop stirring it wants to settle out, also as you spray it on and it lands on a contoured surface with hips and valleys the metal flake wants to flow into the valleys. Probably if you mix it well and maybe use an airbrush and dont' put too much on at once you may have less problems. If worst comes to worst you have to wash it off with a strong solvent and start again but I can see it being frustrating if you put a lot of work into a multi colored piece and have to start over. It looks like you might feather out the paint in different ways to create certain effects. you could perhaps try using the airbrush and a little piece of carrdboard held part way between to see how you can direct it so instead of a hard line you might be able to get a feathering effect.

maybe you could experiment first. I was wondering if you might copper or brass plate all the parts to get a gold colored base and then apply the paints.. there are so many ways and it's going to be your interpretation of how it should look. some metallic paints dont' look like metal at all and some look more towards gilding . Many of them have a shiny top on the can as an indication of the color but then when you actually use them the effect is not very pleasing and they tend to not like people trying them out in the store

how much you reduce the paint might have an effect how it flows out. the size of the flake as an effect too. temperature will also affect how the paint flows. runs in metallic paint show more than solid paints.

most cars now use basecoat clearcoat, the paints are the pigments but intended to have a gloss paint over top. UV curing is more common now too. I did one radio in a metallic paint and had to paint it several times before I was happy. I went to a body-shop and got the clear-coat there since I didn't need gallons of it. it was quite thick and I found it hard to get it to flow out nicely but I was able to build the clear coat and them polish it. that worked. make sure you aren't mixing some lacquer paints and some acrylic enamel they dont' like each other. Just didn't want to see you do a beautiful job with airbrushing the details and then apply the wrong type of clear only to watch it all bubble up.. that can happen if they are incompatible.

some ladies ( and I suppose some men lol ) get their fingernails airbrushed. I bet the artists that do that would know a lot about it. they use UV cure stuff too. Its fun seeing what you are doing there.

[Corsetière]

Ooooh! Exciting! I need to borrow some of your mojo, I am dragging ass on getting things done here. The heat and humidity has been a lot to contend with even in AC!

Geez - the mojo is an illusion. I am working at a middle-aged-lady- who-hates-the-sun-but hates-to get-up-early-to beat-the-sun pace. Also I am whiney about how my feet hurt on the ladder. And it's too hot right now. That's my actual speed.

Ha ha! #relatable