My Ferrari Wheel Printing Plate

[xpeed]

This was first etched onto the plate by scratching the plate lightly with a needle. Then it's a long process with acids and resin. Pain in the butt, but it came out better than expected.

The Plate


The Prints

Etching without acid.


After the Acid Process


And a Lexus one without using acid at all.

[Dx_king91]

Nice I like it

[sketches_of_b]

Ok, I'm dumb, but what technique is this? Could you go more in detail about the process? The results are really neat, but you lost me between scratching and acid.

Thanks, B

[off the edge]

looks like some sort of block printing, I really have no idea

[d.scribner21]

+1 for u man

[xpeed]

The technique is simple.

1.) You draw directly on the plate using Conte *red chalk* onto the plate lightly, and then you scratch it in over the lines you drew.

2.) A process called, "aqua tint" is when you want the lines to go in deeper without etching in the lines by hand, giving it a clean finish and lines. You first have to put a "Sugarlift" which is resin and with a coating of resin powder on top to block the areas you don't want the acid to eat through. After that is dried, you place the plate in a tub of acid, which is the "Fast Acid" process that is very corrosive and yes, can cause extreme pain to your skin if you're not careful.


3. After that, you repeat the process over until you get your desired shades and levels.

4.) If you want an area with a light shading, you use the "slow acid" process which is a less corrosive acid.

I've done color before, but it didn't come out as well as I wanted it to be.

[Rothart]

That's very cool. What kind of plate do you use? Is it just a thin aluminum plate or is it more like a printing plate for an offset press?

[xpeed]

^ It's a zinc plate, same or similar type of plates used for a offset printing press or a rolling press.