metal leaves for habitat

[GeeBee]

I am looking for information on how to make habitat leaves from brass or copper sheet. Also, are there any special considerations for acrylic painting? I have just started bird carving (song bird size) and am looking at the bird surroundings. I have heard about metal leaves but have seen little "how to" information. I might be looking in the wrong places. I have learned so much from the WCI forum. Thanks.

[Robson Valley]

If your intention is to leave them as brass and copper:
Get the leaves you like and trace/draw/scan those shapes to paper.
Cut the shim stock to those patterns and use really dull tools (butterknife, etc) to gently hammer the veins.
If your intention is to paint them:
Use industrial plaster, plaster of paris or hydrocal to make molds of the leaves you like. Then you can crank out castings by the bazillions in silicone or latex. Airbrush to your heart's content. The advantages with this is permanence of the molds and you aren't limited by the size of the thin copper/brass sheet/shim stock that you can get (but maybe that's no issue?)
PLAN B: find a Michael's Craft store and buy the leaves. They have train-loads of the stuff.

[GeeBee]

Thanks Robson for the info. I never thought about the shim stock being pretty flexible making it hard to paint, especially with a paint (acrylic) that dries hard and brittle. I have seen someplace where someone used a propane torch to scorch the edges. When I come up with a design that I want to use in several different habitats, the molding idea sounds like the way to go. Again Thanks...

[Robson Valley]

As I recall, the shim stock comes in various thicknesses. I use it for pinholes in my 5" x 7" B&W pinhole cameras (aka coffee cans).
When you score-bend the blanks to make the leaf veins, I predict that will stiffen the sheet quite a bit.
Airbrush the color. . . I would think that some brass/copper highlights might look cool but depends on your concept/design. I see that Liquitex has just come out with a big range of acrylic inks. Need to try that.
I can buy 40lb bags of industrial plaster for $6-7/bag so mold making experiments won't cost much. Tupperware food storage containers make great molds. Please tell me that you will never pour excess plaster down the sink? Please? Dump it on some newspaper, let it set up.

edit: almost forgot! When a chef needs chocolate leaves for garnish/decoration, they paint the _back_ side of the leaf with melted chocolate, not the front. Peeled apart, the vein pattern has a better "look."

[dnstehly]

GB take a look at Interrupted Lunch, a thread that I posted recently. If you like the effect that was achieved feel free to PM me and I will be glad to give you more detailed information on the process.

[Robson Valley]

Nicely done, David. The leaves are very good. I think I can guess who is going "to come second" in your lunch break!