If you want to simulate gold leaf on a budget,the Testor's square bottle gold is the way to go!

[philo426]

I used the square bottle Testor's gold on my unprimed red oak gallery and the results are most impressive!Note the reflection on the wooden"flame"!  

[bogeygolpher]

Is that the Testors enamel or one of their other brands?

 

It looks great.

[philo426]

yes it is the Square Bottle Gold enamel!BTW,the flame is unprimed red oak with only 2 coats on it!

[Nirvana]

I have done my testing with different brands of paint and found the Vallejo paint outstanding, now I wonder how its' gold would stand out?

Testing will tell.

[alde]

Something else to try that I have used in 1/12 scale figure painting is gold printers ink. It needs to be mixed with a carrier like boiled linseed oil but it makes for a ver convincing gold leaf. I bought an ounce years ago and have barley used 10%. A little goes a long way. It's also available in silver cooper and bronze.

 

Al D.

[Ulises Victoria]

There is a product used by plastic modelers to simulate metal finished. Its called Alclad. This video is for chrome, but they have a gold also. I have some of this gold stuff and plan to use it in the gold metallic parts of my Royal Louis.

 

Edited April 19, 2014 by Ulises Victoria

[S.Coleman]

That is very shiney! Thank you for the video. I must invest in one of those air guns. I see there is a thread on here for them so I will poke around. Cheers.

[jwvolz]

To any considering Alcad paints, be sure the surface you apply them to is absolutely blemish-free, as they go on very thin and show every imperfection underneath. I've never tried them on wood, only styrene. Also keep in mind they are nearly impossible to hand-brush since they dry so quickly. They are designed for airbrushing. 

[popeye2sea]

All of the gilding on my Soleil Royal build is done with Testors Gold enamel.  I am very pleased with the results.  The one thing you have to make sure of is that you stir or remix the paint frequently.  Even after very short periods of time the pigment starts to settle out and the finish starts to go on very dull.

[Ulises Victoria]

I just handled the golden metal parts in my Royal Louis, and my hands became sprinkled with something like fairy dust. (Where are you Tinkerbell? :))

So what I am planning to do is just dip the whole batch in thinner, strip all the paint in them and paint them again. I will probably use Alclad, as I have a bottle of that stuff laying around for maybe a couple of years.

[newbuilder101]

Testors gold is what I use on my San Felipe and I am very happy with the results. Just as Henry has cautioned, it needs to be mixed frequently as does any metallic paint.

[rafterrat_2005]

Have you tried Model Masters by Testors? They have a really good colors even different paints in metal. They are about $2.50/bottle and are worth every cent. I've used these paints for over 20+ years. If you use a air brush they have some that are for this application.