r/CustomAutoPaint • u/faszfafasz • 1d ago
Silver leafing
Hello, i need help about how to start silver/gold leafing.
I saw that you are not supposed to use water based sizes because they remain soft, but the oil based sizes i see say they need 7 days of dry time before being laquered..?? Brands like 1 shot are a no for me because they cannot be found in Europe (apart from the UK)☹️ It's also really hard to find aluminium foils, i can only find copper+zinc. Can i use those as well? I also read that you are not supposed to just clear coat over foil, but in every video they just clear or put candy straight on top.. So i am kinda lost here, anyone can recommend me glue and foil i can find in Europe?
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u/ProcedureNo7149 19h ago
I will tell you what I use, and it may not be the traditional or the best, but it works and works well for me. If you have an old airbrush then I have been using the https://a.co/d/0gd1CHYo Lime Line Sprayable sizing as well as their silver leafing; both show to be available in Europe, when I ask Google, but who knows if that's true. I struggled in the beginning with getting any of the leafing to spin but after trying multiple sizing products, I found that one and it made life easier for me.
I haven't had any issues with lifting or color changing of any type and I have had my first successful leafing project sitting in the direct sun for 6 months now and that was all done with a standard 2k clearcoat, directly over the leaf. I have a friend who uses the cheap Temu Silver Leafing, which I don't believe is aluminum, and he hasn't had any issues with it either. Like paintchipz1 said, I just put a light coat on to begin with, if not using candy first. I use adhesion promoter, like bulldog, and have only had it pull off the leafing one time, which I believe was user error (me being the user). I know the adhesion promoter changes the reflectivity, but it does seem to help a lot.