Hi Bill,
Nice piece. I like to see thermal spray used for a few out of the ordinary applications rather than the run of the mill anti-corrosion or engineering coatings.
We have quite a few customers doing architectural / artistic applications with both flame and arc spray.
Some are spraying bronzes and copper etc. onto gates, railings, tables, window security screens etc - more run of the mill decorative stuff.
Some are spraying metal master moulds in zinc and using these to cast resin figures (planes, racing cars, still life, sculptures etc.) then spraying onto the resin with tin zinc and polishing so the finished product looks like a solid metal item. The finish is often acid etched to make it look like pewter.
We have one potential we are working with to spray metal onto expanded polystyrene foam shapes. The shapes are cut out then sprayed to give them a metallic finish. Uses are hoped to be robust concrete moulds as an industrial application but artistically the items will be used on movie sets.
Resin items are often sprayed with aluminium or phosphor bronze and acid aged before polishing. Similar finishes are used on stair bannisters etc. It has also been used to spray large, external plastic floodlight boxes that lined a driveway to a large castle.
I've tried to insert some pictures below but not sure if it will work.
A copper coated Iris flower - part of a decorative table
Resin hand sculpture coated in Al Bronze
Resin mould, coating with bronze and aged.