I’m just about to start a plastic model ship that has many gilded details molded into the stern as well as fleur de leis over much of the hull. Any suggestions on how to decorate these other that a REALLY fine brush and a steady hand? I thought possibly a magic marker with a flat side that could be used to cover the embossed area OR gold leaf that could be rubbed onto the details. These almost 59 year old hands just don’t have it like they did 30 years ago!
Thanks…
Steve
You could try lightly going over the details with the side of the lead of a gold pencil crayon.
I use a similar technique with a silver pencil crayon to bring out details like switches and instrument bezels in aircraft cockpits.
If you go lightly, you can control the density of the gold colour very well without getting any on surrounding areas, if you do, the corner of a fresh vinyl artists eraser will get the offending stroke out of there quickly without hurting the paint. Just make sure your underlying paint is flat, the technique goes nowhere on glossy paint.
Hope that works for you
There’s a company called bare-metal foil that produces, well, foil, that the car builders use in detailing. I do know that it does come in gold, but what I don’t know is whether or not this will work for you because I build neither ship nor car. But it’s a thought to possibly consider.