Millennium Item Painting Guide!
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.
There’s no appreciable difference between the Ring that had paint primer applied 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 the tiny Millnnium Items seem more glittery than like actual gold. They just have a coat of metallic gold paint, without the bottom coat of glossy black. 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).
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 wasn't able 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.
Item-Specific Tips:
The Millennium Eye is best painted by slipping a thin stick through the pupil so it is suspended like a lollipop.
Hang the Millennium 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.
The Millennium Puzzle can either be hung on a line or lollipop’d.
Glue together the Millennium Rod bits before painting them, though paint the bottom half and the top half separately to avoid them getting stuck together. Make sure the paint isn’t so thick inside that it clogs up the screw threads.
The Millennium Necklace is simple enough to paint (one side and then the other), and lollipopping works too!
The Millennium Key can be hung on a line.
The Millennium Scales are probably the trickiest. There’s no particular trick to this one, you just have to try to get as much paint inside the crevices as possible. If you can, paint the plates separately by spraying one side, waiting for it to dry, then spraying the other.
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? If so, please feel free to contact me!