Upgrading a Cheap Constantine Lighter with Metal Leaf

[MajorDeckard]

Great question. I would say it's probably for an intermediate-level maker. I don't know what I would have done without a belt sander, as the project requires TONS of sanding and a variety of grits, but lack of experience with the belt sander will cause one to over-sand! But if you're manually sanding, prepare to sand for hours to shape it just right. I can provide suggestions on tools that worked for me.

You should also have some experience with filler putties, like Bondo or similar, although the lighter is pretty forgiving about that.

The gold leaf was much easier than expected, just be sure to have high-power reading glasses or something similar to get nice and close.

The chemical tarnishing part was easy, but it's easy to overdo it, so brief short exposures are best.

It's pretty hard to hurt the lighter unless you scratch it up really badly, in which case you can usually fill, sand, and try again. The inner part of the lighter comes out, so you can work on just the casing without touching the inner parts. Once the gold leaf goes on, it becomes delicate until clear-coated.

They say "you go to school on the first one" of anything, so I would recommend purchasing two lighters (they're so cheap), so you can practice on one first. Or if not practice, have a backup in case of major screwup! Or if semi-successful with the first, moving on to do it again almost always produces a better result.

Be sure to get the one with the sharp edges! The other one is too small. And get it in Gold, because you won't want to gold-leaf the interior!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806689873257.html

So...having written all that, it's probably not for newbies, unless you feel you've got a steady hand and patience. You don't have to be artistically inclined for this project, but slow and steady. I am my own worst enemy, and when I get moving fast, I make myself to take a break. So my lighter took me about two weeks, with an hour here, an hour there.

Hope that helps!
Bill

That is so helpful thank you so much. My worst fear was the sanding actually and yeah I can imagine it would take a lot of time without belt sander and I don't think I would buy a belt sander for this project because I'm assuming those are definitely not cheap. So if I was to tackle this I'll most likely use manual sanding and when that time comes I would love to ask you for further advice on that. The patience part is not a big problem for I think I would be patient enough to both sand and other tedious parts, at least I believe I can lol. So I assume the screw ups would be much less frequent and a small scale. And I believe even if I kind of screw in sanding part, because of the nature of the prop, it will carry those little imperfections and bumps and scratches way better than most considering the lighter is supposed to be worn down old artifact type of thing.

That filling stuff definitely looks interesting. I don't know anything about that so I definitely should search more on that or just use whatever you use and with exactly how you used it lmao (If that same brand or at least similar brand is selling in my country of course). I actually have a question about this. Your filling on the top part for the "Constantine" writing looks so good, why did you left the bottom Zorro part?

They say "you go to school on the first one" of anything, so I would recommend purchasing two lighters (they're so cheap), so you can practice on one first.

This is such a good advice thank you. I probably would not outright buy two lighters both because I think it will help me be more careful with the first one without another easily available lighter and because while it's certainly cheap in comparison to most things, the unfortunate currency of where I live actually makes it not that cheap (Plus the crazy taxes they collect in customs for anything except books). Having said that though knowing they are not that expensive would definitely help me not get that angry or sad if I screw up big time so that's comforting.

I was planning to buy from this seller:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256806030313234.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.13af525eiYigYf&mp=1

It's a different seller but the lighter is the same. I'm assuming the one you say don't buy is the regular zippo sized one which I'm definitely not planning on buying it. One of the reasons why I'm so obsessed with this version of Constantine's lighter even though I like the etchings and symbols of the TV version of Constantine's lighter better (though certainly not the depiction of the character better in comparison to Keanu's contrary to popular opinion) is that movie version is weird and special because it's big and feels way more like an artifact.

Also I'm curious if I decide to start this project against my better judgement would you be okay for me occasionally bugging you with my questions and anxious crises ramblings since you're the only one who worked on this specific lighter and did bafflingly good job? I promise I will not be that annoying lmao.

 

[Astyanax]

My worst fear was the sanding actually and yeah I can imagine it would take a lot of time without belt sander and I don't think I would buy a belt sander for this project because I'm assuming those are definitely not cheap. So if I was to tackle this I'll most likely use manual sanding and when that time comes I would love to ask you for further advice on that.

Absolutely, happy to help when the time comes! You'll want many grits from 80 all the way up to about 400. No need to go higher if you're covering it in gold leaf. Also, prepare some really hard sanding blocks. Like stone-hard, if you can.

And I believe even if I kind of screw in sanding part, because of the nature of the prop, it will carry those little imperfections and bumps and scratches way better than most considering the lighter is supposed to be worn down old artifact type of thing.

True, and you can always fill anything really bad.

That filling stuff definitely looks interesting. I don't know anything about that so I definitely should search more on that or just use whatever you use and with exactly how you used it lmao (If that same brand or at least similar brand is selling in my country of course).

I like Bondo 2-part body filler because it cures really fast. It's made for cars. But there are other putties, like Milliput, Green Stuff, Apoxie Sculpt, etc. Probably any of those will be fine.

I actually have a question about this. Your filling on the top part for the "Constantine" writing looks so good, why did you left the bottom Zorro part?

Yeah, that was an aesthetic choice. I wanted to be able to show the provenance of the lighter, and I knew it would not show in a display. but if I was planning to carry it around, I would probably fill that too.

It's a different seller but the lighter is the same. I'm assuming the one you say don't buy is the regular zippo sized one which I'm definitely not planning on buying it.

Yep! Get the oversize one in gold!

One of the reasons why I'm so obsessed with this version of Constantine's lighter even though I like the etchings and symbols of the TV version of Constantine's lighter better (though certainly not the depiction of the character better in comparison to Keanu's contrary to popular opinion) is that movie version is weird and special because it's big and feels way more like an artifact.

Yes, I totally agree! I don't care if the Keanu version isn't too much like the comics, it's an awesome movie with an incredible vibe!

Also I'm curious if I decide to start this project against my better judgement would you be okay for me occasionally bugging you with my questions and anxious crises ramblings since you're the only one who worked on this specific lighter and did bafflingly good job? I promise I will not be that annoying lmao.

Sure, fire away! Thanks very much for asking first. I appreciate the respect, but the RPF is all about sharing information; I'm merely standing on the shoulders of the giants who came before and who advised me! So feel free to keep posting the questions here and I'll do my best!

Bill

 

[MajorDeckard]

Alright me again I was wondering something that I forgot to ask the first time about the filler. I don't know much about Bondo and you said it's usually for cars so maybe it's something different but I do know about Green Stuff which is mostly used for Warhammer minis if I'm not mistaken and that is I think resin or plastic. I'm curious how, after the filling is done, the surface feels. Because the rest of the lighter is brass? But even though it's not brass it's a kind of metal so to the touch, is filling part feels weird or plasticy in comparison to rest?

 

[Astyanax]

Fair question. Bondo is indeed a resin. Green Stuff will work fine too. Once you fill, you'll do lots and lots of sanding to get it as smooth as possible. So whether or not the textures feel the same under your finger doesn't matter, because you would then be covering the entire lighter in gold leaf, thus bringing it all back to a metallic texture again.

You'll just want to get the filled spots nice and smooth!

 

[MajorDeckard]

Fair question. Bondo is indeed a resin. Green Stuff will work fine too. Once you fill, you'll do lots and lots of sanding to get it as smooth as possible. So whether or not the textures feel the same under your finger doesn't matter, because you would then be covering the entire lighter in gold leaf, thus bringing it all back to a metallic texture again.

You'll just want to get the filled spots nice and smooth!

That's fair and makes sense. I'm pretty sure as a display piece it's indistinguishable (and from your pictures it definitely does look like that) but I'm still not sure how would it react in time, especially with use since it's not actual metal under but a resin filling though like you said because the outside is all gold leaf covered maybe it wouldn't react any differently. Though I don't think there is an alternative either way since I'm guessing if one wants to fill those with actual metal, brass or otherwise, there needs to be melting and all which is probably undoable for most people especially for me lol.

 

[Astyanax]

True. There are harder and softer resins with which to fill your gaps. You'll want to use as hard a resin as possible. I really believe that if it's a hard resin and you've sanded it smooth enough, you won't be able to feel the difference even before you gold leaf!

Milliput is a VERY hard resin filler.

You might also want to give it a nice hard gloss clear-coat before you lay the gold leaf.

 

[Astyanax]

Also, you could approach it from the expectation of the gold leaf rubbing off eventually, and paint the underlying layer to be revealed before you apply the gold leaf...

 

[MajorDeckard]

I'll do that, thanks for the advice. I didn't buy the lighter yet but planning on soon and will check out the stuff I need also for the project. Probably most will be locally available different brands which I'll try to find the ones the closest possible to yours. This also reminded me to ask you if you did any outer invisible protecting layer thingy that I forgot the name that people also uses with their non display game ready Warhammer minis that will prevent the paint to rub off and protect all kinds external damages? I'm assuming you didn't bother with it since yours is for mostly display but for a potential not daily but occasionally used lighter for me, what do you recommend?

Edit: Well you were also answering for similar thing while I was writing lmao.