Copper Patina

[little25victor]

Hello! I think the variety of Windstone figures is great, and the colors and textures is fantastic. I especially like the PYOs. What really knocks me out is the Copper Patina on various figures. What I would like is for someone to put up instructions on how to plaint my own figures this way. I’m a beginner, so I really need details. Thanks!

[Melody]

We did it using airbrushes, but I bet you could find a spray can copper acrylic paint that would work just as well or better!
We started with an undercoat of dark brown acrylic paint. Then spray or airbrush on the copper paint. We tried to get it as lumpy and textured as possible. Then, when that is dry, rub a bit of greenish aqua paint in the deeper recesses.
We used photos of genuine copper statues as a reference for where the greenish patina color would go.

Give it a coat or two of clear acrylic finish. Krylon clear acrylic works well I’m told. be sure to put a good coat of clear finish on the undersides of the piece, because the undersides tend to absorb more paint and may turn darker when you put on the antique. Then you can antique the whole thing with a brown color. That is the tricky part. Antiquing is done either by using a commercial dark brown antique finish ( craft store) or using thin dark brown acrylic paint. Do small areas at a time, and wipe it off the high points QUICKLY before it drys, leaving the deeper areas dark.
The clear finish prevents the antique from sticking too much and making the piece too dark. Copper paint tends to cover mistakes well, so you can usually respray the copper if you want to try over again! Copper patina is supposed to look old and beat up. We did our best to get it really grungy looking.
I bet you can find copper patina mimicking paint kits at a craft store.

Has anyone done copper patina with hand brushing?? That would probably work well too. Can”t wreck copper patina.

[little25victor]

Thanks for the info! Sounds easy enough, but I bet it will take some time. I have no skill with airbrush, so will have to hand brush (more time!). Hope I can try this soon. Again, Thanks!

[Scathach]

Thank you, Melody.

Life is beautiful.

[Kim]

That’s cool to know how it’s done if I ever want to try it! Thanks for sharing Melody!

Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!

[Author]

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