Project: Indy Idol Part 2

It has been a long and difficult process of painting the Indy Idol to look like gold. I have not found a gold paint-in-a-spray-can that looks real enough. There’s a reason why gold is expensive: its brightness is very difficult to match. I need something with the right degree of reflectivity and doesn’t appear too “chrome”. It took many weeks and multiple trials and errors. The result was not perfect, but since this was my first attempt with this method I thought it was rather acceptable.

First coat of gloss white

Several coats of chrome spray paint

After light polishing, the paint is reflective enough.

The idol was first spray painted with a layer of gloss white (“Model Master Classic White Enamel”). This would act as the base coat. Next, several layers of chrome paint (“Spaz Stix Mirror Chrome”) were then sprayed on. After some light polishing with a microfiber cloth (from my eyeglass case), the statue attained the desired level of reflection.

A clear yellow tint coat was applied directly on top of the silver chrome paint to create “gold” effect.

Then came the hard part. Several layers of yellow tint coats were carefully applied on top to turn the silver chrome into gold. This was very difficult as the coats needed to be applied very evently. I made mistake on the forehead and it turned out to be too orange. This was one of those cases where “good enough” might be better than “perfect”, since I tried to correct and ended up making several scratches on the forehead. This process also takes a long time, since I have to wait for each tint coat layer to dry before applying the next one.

Finally the eyes were added. I got some acrylic “brown” eyes (typically used for dolls) from Amazon. These were oval shape, 23 mm long and has 12 mm iris. The back of the eyes were sanded down so that they can be pushed through the eye sockets. Finally, four grooves were cut at the four corners of the eyes, to which dental floss were affixed with glue. This allowed for 4 axis that I can use to align the eyes with the eye socket.

Finally, four grooves were cut at the four corners of the eyes, to which dental floss were affixed with glue. This allowed for 4 axis that I can use to align the eyes with the eye socket.

Each eye was pushed through its corresponding eye socket, with the 4 strings remaining outside to be used to alignment. Once alignment has been made, superglue was applied from the outside to hold the eye in place.

Each eye was pushed through its corresponding eye sockets. The 4 strings around each eye was used to align the iris with the eye socket. Superglue was then used to secure the eyes in place.

Finally the strings used to manipulate the eyes inside their sockets were cut. The final product was a Golden Idol that I found to be “good enough” for the first try. It will be displayed in my office until I can make a new and better version, without all the mistakes I have made this time.

The completed Chachapoyan Golden Fertility Idol from Indiana Jones’ Raiders of the Lost Ark.