Hi! It's Heather from Thicketworks - and
today I want to share with you a recent
experiment where I created a version of
a Faux Antique Zinc Finish.  This is
something I've been wanting to
experiment with for quite some time. To
create an interesting surface on which
to apply this Faux Antique Zinc finish,
I'll be casting Model Air air dry clay
in an Iron Orchid Designs Decor Mould.
Using simple tools and supplies, I'll
create several of these castings and
then apply them to these cheap plastic
pots from the nursery. Cornstarch is a
great mold release for air dry clay and
I just brush it into the mold cavity and
then tap it out. Polyform Model Air is my
very favorite air dry clay for casting
purposes. It's super soft, easy to work
with, and it dries to a beautiful finish.
I like to tear off small pieces of the
clay and force it deeply into the mold
cavity and then scrape the back of the
castings with a rigid metal blade.
Then, it's easy to just deposit the
castings onto the work surface - and I
glue them onto the substrate while they
are still damp. By working with the clay
while it's still damp, I can crank out
multiples of these very quickly. So, even
though I need 12 of these castings for
this little project, it really doesn't
take much time at all.
I'm gluing them down with a watery blend
of regular Aleene's Tacky Glue. In
retrospect, I probably would use a more
robust glue if I were doing this again. Aleene's does a great job of gluing these
onto a porous surface - but because this
is plastic, E6000 or FabriTac would
have been a better choice. Now, I like the
overall shape of these little containers -
but the upper rims are super thin and
that's going to give away how cheap they
are in the final analysis. So I'm turning
to sticky-backed craft foam - cutting it
into strips and just attaching those
strips along that narrow upper edge to
simulate a more substantial type of
container. Sticky-backed craft foam is
one of those things that I just never
want to run out of in the studio. It has
so many uses... this stuff is magic! And
even though it's relatively flimsy once
we finish this project
it'll be unrecognizable. To complete this
stage of the project, I'm just adding
those foam strips to all three of these
little plastic planter boxes.
The next step is to prime the surface,
and I'll be using my old favorite: Rust-Oleum 2X Ultra Cover in Flat Black.
I need to add some weight to the
bottom of these little planners so I'm
just reaching for some cheap glass gems
from the dollar store and putting those
in the bottom as ballast. The hot glue
gun is fine for helping solidify that
mass of glass gems and gluing this
packaging in place. I'm going to approach
this faux zinc finish from a couple of
different directions - but it's going to
begin with this Rust-Oleum Silver
Metallic Spray Paint. So, I'm just putting
down an uneven coat and next, doing
something I can't really recommend that
you do...but here's what I do: I put
rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle and
that does make a combustible vapor - so
use this method with caution. What I'm
looking for is a way to break up the
bland surface of the metallic spray
paint and it will react somewhat with
the isopropyl alcohol creating a more
fluid organic feeling. Here, I've sprayed
the alcohol first, and am adding a little
bit of the spray paint on top and
dabbing away with a moist baby wipe. I
end up preferring this method, so I spray
the alcohol and then hit it with a
little bit of the metallic spray paint
and immediately dab away. The result is
interesting, but it's still far too shiny.
 So to counteract that, and to create a
more matte finish I'll be layering with
some basic craft paints and some DIY
coffee stain. I'll start the layering
process with a neutral grey craft paint
and to warm up that color, I'm going to thin it with some DIY coffee stain made from
instant coffee crystals.
This will help warm up the finish - right
now it's a little too silvery and a
little too cold. To my eye, antique zinc
has a bit more warmth than what we see
here
so I'm dabbing this mixture onto the
metallic surface with a moist baby wipe.
Dabbing and using a little bit of a
twisting motion as well, to create a more
organic patterning effect. And now, I'm
looking for a little more depth to the
finish, so with black craft paint and
more DIY coffee stain, I'm dabbing on a
darker layer. Again, with the same baby
wipe (which is getting pretty
disreputable at this point) Next, I'm
using a really watery version of white
craft paint to add drips and splatters
and smears of the chalky oxidization
that you'll always find on an antique
zinc surface. I'm impatient, so I grab the
heat too,l and then continue adding more
and more layers of all of these colors
until I'm happy with the finish. I'm
looking for a subtle interplay between
metallic silvery and matte finishes for
my Faux Antique Zinc. Next, I'm going to
poke a hole in the center of this
packing material - because I want to
create some little faux Topiaries with
these eggs from the craft store -
I have no idea why I bought these
initially, but today they're getting used!
A needle tool and an awl make short
work of creating apertures in these
little foam pieces, and then they'll
slide right onto these twigs from the
garden. The resulting shape is a little
awkward and humorous, but it'll be fine.
Next, it's time for a quick dry fit - just
to make sure that everything is going
according to plan. I keep an old
coffee grinder in the studio, and it's
great for things like cutting up and
blending together different colors of
moss - which I'll be using to cover the
topiaries. Much like layering with paint,
the two colors together are going to
give a more interesting result than a
single bland color of green would. And yep, that ought to do nicely. I'll just chop
up a bit more. I'll be reaching for Super
77 in order to adhere this mixture to
these styrofoam shapes. It's going to
take a couple layers, but it does a
really good job at giving full coverage.
A layer of glue and a layer of moss - more
glue and then pressing everything into
place! Now, I'll be turning to the hot
glue gun to put a layer of glue all over
that packing, and then add more moss on
the top of these funny little planter
boxes. A palette knife comes in handy for
tucking in the stray bits. And that is
that! I've got my three funny topiaries,
and I'm actually pretty happy with this
Faux Antique Zinc Finish. If you've
experimented with this faux zinc look
I'd love to see what you've done -
leave me a comment and I'll come check
it out, because I am a sucker for faux
metallic finishes! Can't get enough...
Thanks for watching.
Take care...
