22 minutes ago, cloakfiend said:Thanks i polished it up and printed another for a visual comparison...
There is a beautiful light in this model.
Instead of plating with real metal, have you ever tried spraying with chrome-like paints? Like those used to give plastic car wheels a chrome look? And if yes, did that work? Maybe you already wrote about it, but I don't remember.
I had a look into those chromium paints and other spray/brush on applications but they are very expensive compared to plating which is fairly cheap when works. My solution is already dying after having plated so much large things and chemical pollution i dont know how to fix it by either altering the ph level or dilution or removal of organic material so ill probably just end up buying more solution...25/30 uk pounds for 5ish litres, should last me a month or so of moderate use. In theory if well maintained should last indefintely. I Always end up contaminating the sopper sulfate and never have enough deionised water around to clean things. Keeping things clean at all times when you are a bit of a casual person proves to be quite difficult at times.
now some photos of it polished...lol I went a bit overboard on the photos, but I have some interesting results...
Thats it for this one, moving on to the next...
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2 hours ago, cloakfiend said:now some photos of it polished...lol I went a bit overboard on the photos, but I have some interesting results...
Thats it for this one, moving on to the next...
Beautiful work @cloakfiend !!!
Thanks Steve!
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Absolutely gorgeous! This is a 'whole piece'. Sculpt, concept, execution and finishing, all comes together as one.
This is truly amazing. And, I thought your stuff was good before.
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Amazing work! 
Also, in the photos, the black background and the mirror-effect fit very well to these shiny models. Also the light is good. If you don't mind, I woul like to see a photo of your photo-stand setup, including the lights.
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If you saw my camera setup, you would laugh! there is just an iPad and a folder leaning up against a macbook on my table in my living room. The side lights are just phone camera lights!
Ill post a pic of my next setup when I take some photos next. Theres not much to it! The main factor with the shiny one depends on what colour table cloth I have on the table at that particular time, My favourite is my christmas red one. Really add warmth to the shiny plates. Currently its just a white patterned one, looks like a wedding dress. The untreated satin-matt effect metal feels almost exactly like silk, its so smooth and reacts extremely uniquely to lighting, sort of absorbing light like velvet. Just moving lights around dramatically changes the photo results.
Here is the before and after acetone and the back so you can see where i drilled the holes to fill it up. This is where the transparent filament came in really useful. I could never figure out where all the holes would be as easily as seeing them! Plus the problem of seeing if you were going to drill too deep was eliminated because you can see if you are safe to drill in that area and the best place to fill.
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Beautiful!
On 3/13/2018 at 5:42 PM, cloakfiend said:If you saw my camera setup, you would laugh!
...
I consider simple methods that work well and produce excellent results, more advanced than "high-tech" methods that don't work. So I would rather learn from those simplistic methods...
What kind of conductive paint do you use?
I use all sorts from silver to graphite mainly. But i also use silver graphite mix, nickel, copper conductive paint, conductive screening paints of many varieties and much more. It all depends on the model you are trying to plate. Models with insets (like the inside of an open mouth) are more difficult to plate than things like a head for instance so you need to experiment and see what works best for you. I am still learning because i didnt get any help or read any instructions how to do it and decent precise ones dont appear to be available or cover plating plastic in very much detail.
From what ive read the paints people use tend to be trade secrets, but in my experience nothing beats silver paint with a high purity of silver in it. But this is extremely expensive and watching many plating videos proffesional plating companies tend to use a goldish paint of some sort (possibly a laquer?) that they have in the bucketload that they bake to cure (which i obviously cant do with pla) but id like to know what it is anyway. All plating companies tend to use the exact same chemicals and paints as well from my research and many ebay purchases. I airbrush the paint on as i want it minimal so need to leave it bathing longer or double dip it. Hope that helps. I randomly change the voltages without calculating anything and my electrolyte tends to get contaminated very quickly which leads to poor coats and vastly longer coating times!
I have no idea of how to rebalance the ph of the solution and brighteners need to be replenished with use but ive tried that route as well with no luck. There is a red cabbage ph tutorial but after testing some spent electrolyte comparing the ph to some new electrolyte, i couldnt see any difference. And how exactly do i correct the ph? By adding sulphuric acid? Water? What? Fuck knows? People seem to be tight lipped around this topic too....i gave up asking.
I need someone who knows their shit about this to explain it to me properly so that each time i plate something its not a spray and pray effort.
The good thing is that if you mess up a plate you can just dry it real quick respray it and have another go! As i did with this one.
Edited by cloakfiend
Since you are basically jumping into this feet first, you need a pointy hat in your avatar there @cloakfiend to complete the image of the alchemist you have become
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Man that gets my BAT award for the year (Beacon of Awesome Talent)
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Yes @cloakfiend, you can say it....
"I'm BAT-MAN...."
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cloakfiend 996
Thanks i polished it up and printed another for a visual comparison...
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kmanstudios 1,120
That is gorgeous! Your sculpt plus the plating really makes it look amazing.
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