How To Paint Your 3D-printed Millennium Items (and Maybe Non-3D Printed Ones If You Like)

How to paint your 3D-printed Millennium Items (and maybe non-3D printed ones if you like)

This is a little (hopefully) informative post about how I painted my 3D-printed Millennium Items~!

I did a little research beforehand and what I found most commonly recommended was to do a coat of plastic primer, then glossy black (the chemicals that make the paint glossy force the paint to make a nice smooth surface, which is what is critical for getting a metallic gold look rather than a sparkly gold look), and then the metallic gold.

The Ring looks pretty sick in black too though, tbh.

There's no appreciable difference between the one that had the primer and the one that didn't, so I wouldn't bother. Note that these models are the White, Flexible and Strong Polished kind, I don't know how well this process would work on an unpolished piece.

Notice that these seem more glittery than actually metallic. They just have a coat of metallic gold. I didn't want to risk giving them too many coats of paint and accidentally filling in the tiny details.

I tried sealing one of my Millennium Eyes with glossy sealant, and it really dulled the paint, so I ended up painting over it. Some people swear by epoxy glaze, though I didn't have the budget to give it a try (plus I didn't want to risk getting the Ring's pointers stuck).

So, these are the paints I used: Rust-oleum Metallic Finish Spray (in Gold) Rust-oleum Ultra Cover x2 Glossy Black (it might be either the Painter's Touch brand or the American Accents brand, but definitely has to have the Ultra Cover x2 Glossy bit)

I got them at the local Walmart Supercenter. If there aren't any Walmart Supercenters in your area, Home Depot and other hardware/home repair and painting stores should have it. If you can't find these particular brands, then try looking under the Krylon brand, those were also highly recommended. I bought a can of the Krylon gold with the Rustoleum, though I forgot to do a comparison painting. Either should do the trick though!

Once you have your paint, give the item a coat of primer (if you want to), then a coat of the glossy black paint, then two coats of the metallic gold. Before painting, check the can to see how much time you'll need to wait between coatings, and follow it religiously! The best thing would be to only give it a coat of paint per day, to make sure everything is 100% dry.

If you're painting a tiny, doll-sized item and you're sure you can give it very thin coats, then try a coat of glossy black and one of gold. If you're not that confident or it has moving parts, like the Ring, one coat of gold should be fine, though you'll get the more of the glittery look.

Protips: The Eye is best painted by slipping a thin stick through the pupil so it is suspended like a lollipop. Hang the Ring on a line so you can spray from every angle- air movement should keep the pointers from sticking together, and if it doesn't, jingle the line a little periodically.

If you're a total newbie to spray-painting (like me), here are some helpful tips and a pair of tutorials~!

Hopefully, this is helpful, though I'm curious: do any cosplay veterans know of better ways to get a nice metallic sheen onto a prop?

Premiered my Millennium Ring at #animatemiami ! Get your own Millennium Item by checking out my post: http://vaguelygenius.tumblr.com/post/73164866113/3d-printed-millennium-items-how-to-get-one

Painting up some millennium items~

EDIT: Head over here to get some for yourself~

Whoops, I just couldn't resist drawing this cutie.

Happy new year, everyone!

Some of the awesome cosplayers I saw at animatemiami! (Part 1/3)

Tried my hand at drawing ponies and I think they came out okay!

You can get this design on a t-shirt, hoodie, or sticker too~