Hi guys,
Many thanks to Don Bies for his information.
If the frowning Idol seen in the Archives book was cast from one of the 2 Archives Idols, then the non Glass Eyed Idol in the Archives must also have the frowning face. This style is not seen in the film.
You have to consider the continuity of the Idols. The mechanical eyes version was the main hero, and the one seen the most clearly in the film. We know that they made fixed glass eyed versions that were essentially identical to the mechanical Idol, but without the mechanics and without the seam on the head. These were made to match the mechanical hero. Why then would they make a third version with gold plated eyes, that clearly did not match the one seen in close up in the temple? It would fly in the face of the theory of continuity.
There is no evidence of a version existing with painted pupils, aside from screen captures from the film that show pupils without clearly showing the edge of the cornea. This is just down to lighting and reflections. The Idols seen in the film with pupils have the full glass eyes, it is just not obvious.
Please take a look at this graphic as an illustration of the eyes. The black and white shot is an on set still of Ford holding an Idol next to the spiked Satipo. The edge of the cornea is clearly visible. The color shots are screencaptures from when Ford picks up the Idol next to the Satipo in the film. The glass eyes are not obvious, they even look gold.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn174/ba100583/IdolEyesIllustration.jpg
As for how the plating was done, I am not sure. It could be that it was not vacuum-metalized but leafed or finished in some other manner. The finish appears rough and uneven in the film, and it clearly did not hold up over time. I believe the finish would have had to have been applied after the Idol backplate was glued/puttied in place.
I was once told that the C-3PO pieces were finished through a process called "Styaniting." I could never find additional information on this process.
All of the OT C3PO costumes, the Idol and the Ark were built and finished in England. I can't see how a California plating company would have been involved in any way, at least for the film's productions. Perhaps they were involved with restorations or promotional pieces.
Regards,
-Brandon
The Prop Store of London