Gold Leaf Foil

True gold leafing involves coating an object with an adhesive, and then burnishing an ultra-thin layer of gold foil into the adhesive.  Once burnished, you lift the backing away, and the gold foil will have stuck to the adhesive on the object.  Again, this method produces a golden finish with a very high sheen and lustre, and is what most people envision when they think of vac-metal.  

As always, of course, there's problems.  Most gold leafing kits come with a system of base coat of paint, a sealer, the gold foil, and an adhesive.  If you're thorough with the leafing, the base coat isn't necessary.  The problem is with the adhesive, which must be painted on and allowed to dry until tacky.  You then burnish the foil onto the tacky adhesive.  The adhesive that came with my kit had the same consistency as Elmer's White Glue.  This caused huge rippling brush streaks when I painted it on the torso, which didn't level out as it dried, and then showed through the final gold leaf.  You can see this best running horizontally on Hal's pectorals in the straight-on shot.    The best way to get around this would be to find an alternative adhesive that dries until tacky, but has a thinner consistency that wouldn't develop brush strokes, and using that instead.  A spray varnish would be ideal, but then you have problems with masking and overspray if you're just trying to leaf a small section of a figure.  A brushable varnish might also work.  Further experimentation would be required.

The other problem is that the gold leaf comes stuck on a backing sheet about 5" x 5".  When burnishing the leaf onto the figure, it is difficult to get the leaf into all the crevices and grooves, as is very evident between the musculature in the above images.  Again, if you were using a brushable adhesive like a brushable varnish, you could work on small sections individually, allowing better coverage.  

Finally, the sample I produced had problems with durability.  I was able to scratch off some of the gold foil with my fingernail.  But again, I suspect this could be due to the crappiness of the adhesive.  A more permanent varnish bond might yield better results.

Available at Michael's, the crafts section of Wal-mart, and most craft stores everywhere.

Pros                                Cons
· Looks like vac metal    · Slightly expensive, but not bad.  A gold leafing kit can be had for under $8.00, and varnish is cheap.
· Comes in gold, silver    · Application / burnishing around curves is difficult and time-consuming
    and copper                  · Not very durable
                                       · Brush strokes of adhesive visible through leaf

Synopsis:
The jury is still out on this one until I can experiment with a brushable varnish.  If the varnish solves the problems of the cheap adhesive, and you're patient enough to apply leaf to small sections at a time, this method is quite nice and gives a very nice, reflective finish.