Metallic bears - Part Two.

Please wipe your feet on the way in.

Today, as promised, I will touch on creating metallic bears from bears other than those already dipped in a metallic coating.

I thought about having bears dipped professionally but then thought that having somebody else mod my bears would be no fun at all, it would also be fairly expensive. I then decided to try and paint my bears instead. I searched high and low for something that would suit my needs and eventually came across ‘Plasti-Kote- Chrome finish enamel’. The lid was highly reflective and had an almost mirror finish so I had high hopes for the paint.

I painted 2 bears, an Arnold that I had butchered when trying to find a decent paint stripper and a Horace who I had repaired the tufts of hair on. To begin with the enamel looked very promising when wet but after 24 hours had dried to a less shiny finish which I was slightly disappointed with, (It looks nothing like the lid). The enamel is also fairly thick and so small details become far less obvious to the eye.

So lets have a run down-

Stripping metallic bears-

PRO’s-
You should get a very shiny finish,
The process is quick, as no drying time is needed,
The finished article is more ‘convincing’.

CON’s-
Fairly rare bears are needed to begin with,
It is tricky to get a uniform colour,
Lots of trial and error is needed,
Dipping into thinners can get fairly messy!

Painting standard bears-

PRO’s-
Paint can be brought in a can meaning your hands stay clean,
Any bear can be used with ease,
Suitable paints are both easier to find and cheaper than thinners.

CON’s-
The bear will not look as shiny as genuine metallic bears,
Enamel takes 24 hours to harden,
You will get runs in the paint if ‘trigger-happy’,
Small details could be lost and will become ‘softer’.

Why stop at metallic bears though? Why not try glow in the dark bears, pearlescent bears or glittery bears? Hell if you are feeling really adventurous then give temperature changing paint a go! The possibilities are endless.

I have some whiteware coming soon, (especially for blog purposes), but tomorrow I will be showing something I am fairly excited about. Be kind and pop back to say hello! :)