Datamancer.net - Technical Art and Steampunk Contraptions

Paint and finish work
Once the handle was bonded to the knuckle gaurd and buttcap, I started the body and paint work Sorry, my photodocumentation got a little spotty toward the end of this project, so I do not have pics of every step of the process.

In this picture, I have applied a thick coat of high-fill primer and have begun wetsanding it.

Here's a pic of the Espada painted gloss black (pre-wetsanding and polishing) and balanced on my thumbnail. You might be confused as to why the entire sword is black. Well, to get a reflective chrome finish on the metal parts, I had two options. 1.> I could spend about 2 months, night and day, polishing and smoothing out the steel until it shined. I'm starting from metal fabrication grit...36 or so, which means I'd have to repeatedly sand every nook and crevice on the sword, stepping up in paper grit without skipping a single one. This would go something like 36, 60, 80, 100, 120, 180, 220, 320, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, 5000, then heavy compound, light compound, polish, polish, polish, then sealing the blade with something so it doesnt rust. Orrrr..... 2.> I could just paint it . Now, "chrome paint" up until now has been nothing more than a cruel joke and an insult to chrome everywhere. It's just silver paint in a can that has a severely misleading chrome lid. Thankfully, a company I've been following for a while by the name of The Alsa Corporation has come out with a few chrome paints that are actually quite passable as real chrome. Go check out some of their stuff. If you order anything, do me a favor and use my referral link above and I get a few bucks kickback from it. Anywho, one of their paints is called "Mirrachrome" which, if you follow the TV gearhead scene at all, you may recognize as the paint they used on the roof of the car Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) had built for his fiancee'. The "ChicaMobile" I think he called it. Anywho, It's about $200 a pint so I opted for the cheaper alternative, which they market under the name "Killer Chrome". It's about $40 a can. I believe the paint is slightly transparent and relies heavily on the gloss of the coat beneath it, so you're supposed to paint the surface gloss black first. Though it pains me to paint metal....the color of metal....and goes against every fabrication instinct I have, since I am short on time and money right now, I decided I'd try the chrome paint and see how it goes. First some sanding and polishing to get a nice flat surface to lay the paint onto...



These pics show the brilliant high gloss surface achieved after wetsanding, buffing and polishing the black paint. Would you believe that's regular $4-a-can black spraypaint?





I have to say, the chrome paint came out much better than anticipated. Once I mastered the spray technique, I was able to get a very reflective surface out of it. If you look at the last photo (immediately) above) you will notice the reflection in the knuckle gaurd of the writing on the paper bag it's sitting on. My first attempt was a little choppy and came out just looking like silver paint, but after I sanded the silver off again, buffed and polished the black back to a shine, and repainted it, It looked pretty nice. The trick to it is that you have to barely paint it with the chrome. Use super light dust coats while holding the can very far away (even lighter and further than when you apply guide coat to primer). The chrome is highly translucent and just sort of tints the topmost surface of the black paint, so make sure you get your black EXTREMELY smooth and glossy first.

Click here to see the creation of the HANDLE
Click here to see the creation of the BLADE
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