18th Century putti table centre piece bowl for fruit and flowers ~ UNPAINTED

We send all parcels on a tracked  parcel service. MDF kits can be sent as Large letters which reduces the postal costs. UK deliveries usually arrive within 1 to 3 days of despatch and most USA, Australian and Japanese deliveries arrive within 10 days.

Europe takes about 5 days.

I package well and try to keep postal costs to a minimum by ensuring that I use light weight but effective packaging - however on the off chance you receive something damaged in the post please let me know - and I shall send a replacement if and where possible.

 

If goods are delayed in transit this will be due to the courier or postal service. Apart from tracking and possibly contacting the courier I am unable to "speed" things up....However I shall always aim to despatch your item within 48 hours of receipt of your order. Please note that we have issues posting to Spain and Italy. The service is very slow and sometimes parcels disappear. We recommend a tracked service. Also we find sending to PO Boxes in Australia and New Zealand can be hit and miss!

 

 

Cleaning up:

The metal is straight from the mould with a nominal amount of cleaning - you might find a tiny line where the mould has joined or maybe a tiny slither of metal that needs snapping off. Most people do not bother with the cleaning but if you are like me you may want to remove any "flashing" - tiny metal files are handy as is normal sandpaper. You can purchase emery files designed for metal model (online)

 

 

 

 

Painting

I find it is always best to prime the metal with metal promer before painting as this provide more "grip" for the paint. My preference is to spray because the finish is smoother and cleaner but you could use acrylic paints.

 

Polishing

You will be please to know the all the metal items can be polished to a lovely bright sheen. You will need something slightly abrasive such as wet and dry paper or a brass abrasive wheel. After polishing a wipe with black wax gives more defination.

 

Gilt

Gold leaf can be applied directly to the surface. First paint any areas you want to gild with gold size (acrylic for easy use), allow to go tacky and then gild the surface with dutch metal (an imitation gold leaf).

Alternatively try using a gilt paint such as liberon or bristol paint. I find the gilt waxes can oxidise and go green unless they are sealed.

 

Aging

If you wish to age your paint finish try one of these two methods:

1. Annie sloane makes a wonderful dark brown wax which works well over acrylics and emulsions. Paint it on and wipe it off.
2. Raw umber is a brilliant colour for aging (use acrylic for fast drying) - paint on and wipe off- to increase the drying time add a small amount of scumble glaze to the paint.

 

The metal items are copied from real life items reduced to 12th scale, drawn in 3d cad and then 3d printed. The print acts as a master which is moulded. The metal can not be cast in a normal mould. The moulds are vulcanised rubber that is heated under pressure. Two halves are created (Imagine two halves of a cake) and the topn half has a hole in the middle. When the mould is ready for casting it is placed on a centripetal casting machine, set to spin mode and metal alloy is poured into the hole. The metal flies inot all the recessed areas of the mould.

Please be aware that I hold only a small amount of stock and make a lot of items to order and as a consequence despatch time can take up to 10 working days.