Sometimes an electronic component will be so stunningly beautiful that you can't help but encase it in gold. That's what happened to me with the Pimoroni Micro Dot pHAT for Raspberry Pi Zero. Hopefully, you can relate. My goal was to create an aged baroque-styled case to enhance the gorgeously retro display. Know that the Micro Dot lights are much brighter than the below picture leads them to look.
Demonstrated here are my efforts with Gold Leaf and 3D Printed components. From this, you can see what kind of effects are possible when using Gold Leaf on your 3D prints. This guide will go through the post-processing of models created from Proto-Pasta Copper High Temp PLA. The final result will be similar no matter what Filament, Resin, or Printer you utilise. See the Pimoroni Micro Dot pHAT on a Raspberry Pi Zero in the image below.
A guide worth checking out if you dig this is Create Fantastic Finishes on 3D Printed Components. Another guide would be Make 3D Prints Look Like Chrome and Steel - Metallic Paints and Finishes For 3D Prints. For a great guide to refine the settings for your 3D printer check out the guide Improving 3D Printed Models and if your running into issues with first-layer adhesion check out the guide Printing Perfect First Layers.
As always if you have any questions, queries, or things to add please let us know your thoughts!
Before and After
Below shows my setup for this task and the 3D-printed case. I brushed on some watered-down PLA glue over the entirety of the print, after sanding it with some high grit sandpaper. With the gold leaf, I utilsed a small brush and pressed lightly thin sections of Gold over the entire surface of the 3D-printed model.
The larger a section you can get on the better the end result. However, you can go too large. See below for an image of me placing on a too-large section onto the 3D print.
After some work I ended up with this as the result, see the image below. A very shiny, very fresh-looking gold component. However this is not what I wanted, I was looking for more of a aged gold result, as though it had existed for many generations. Also, because it is only one layer of gold (about 0.1 micrometre, which is astonishing when you realise that a human hair is around 60 microns in thickness), anywhere that I didn't get perfect or missed was really obvious.
So I turned to my trusted paints to apply a couple of gold and brown washes I ended up with the below final effect (which I am very proud of). It is a proper Baroque case, fit for King Louis XVI, enclosing a Wonderfully Retro Display and the most modern (and greatest) single-board computer there is. A true time warp that can fit into the palm of your hand.
