Golden leather dye? (fantasy armor)

[Mandyneko]

Hello, I'm fairly new to leatherwork and was wondering if anyone had some advice.

I'm working on a costume that will have golden bracers to be worn on the arms (think Wonder Woman but not shiny metal). I got a bottle of Eco-Flo water stain in gold, and it's nice but very subtle in color.

Do any of you have advice for getting a more eye-catching golden color on veg tan leather?

Thanks!

[Dwight]

If it is costume, . . . spray paint will work AOK, . . . does not handle a lot of flexing, . . . but can be very convincing in appearance,  . . . 

Tandy stores also carry paint you can apply with a brush.

May God bless,

Dwight

[fredk]

or. . . . a rare thing but you can get leather that has coloured metal foil bonded to it. I have some 'crinkly' gold & silver. afaik its available in smooth versions a well. If you can get this perhaps you can glue it on.

Le Prevo usually has some

Main page - look down for Metallic Leather : http://www.leprevo.co.uk/hides.htm

colour example page:  http://www.leprevo.co.uk/photos/metallic-colours.htm

It is very thin and the plain gold is quite bright and shiney

Edited December 13, 2019 by fredk

[Cslaughter]

I would either apply gold foil to it, or glue a thin layer of gold finish lambskin to it. I believe that Springfieldleather.com Carrie's some at a reasonable price. Good luck and fun!

[DJole]

Ditto to the above:
1) Gold foil glued on (flexible, fragile-- will tear and scratch easily, too. Perhaps a protective finish can be put over it?)
2) metallic-gold leather (may be more money that you are willing to spend)
3) Acrylic paint (cheap, flexible, less fragile than foil but maybe not the look you want)

Is there a particular reason you don't want to actually make these out of metal (not gold, of course!) and then apply a gold metallic finish to them? 

[Mandyneko]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I did some experimenting with gold acrylic paint I already had, and I think that's the look I will use (middle sample). It flexes beautifully and doesn't crack.

I wanted to use leather because this is for a She-Ra costume (if you remember her from the 80s), and I wanted to make the bracers, belt, headband, etc all out of the same material so they'd match exactly. The headband doesn't need to flex much, but the bracers and belt certainly do. I've also just started leatherwork, having made a few items (bracers, belt, pouch) for another costume last year. I really enjoyed working with it, and I love the "authenticity " it gives a design.

[chrisash]

Have a look here

https://buyleatheronline.com/en/27-laminated-metallic-leather

[Mandyneko]

Just following up on my original post. I found a super shiny gold paint made by Folkart called Treasure Gold that is still flexible but beautifully shiny. I’m really happy with this look and wanted to share in case anyone is looking for similar results!