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Hey TubeNetters,

My college has a ceramics studio, so the other day I actually made a tiny clay sousaphone! (Pics attached below.) Assuming that it comes out of the kiln intact, the next step is to coat it. Ideally I'd like to use a metallic-finish glaze, but apparently those are fairly exclusive to low-temperature "raku firings," which the studio don't have the materials for.

Given these constraints, I have a couple options, and, since I'm on the fence about it, I thought I would put it to a vote! Should I:
1) Cover the whole thing in aluminum foil, for a reflective silver finish?
2) Give it a yellow underglaze, then coat it with clear glaze for a smooth, characteristic "ceramic mug" finish?
3) Go to a craft store and buy metallic paint to paint it with? (I'm limited on transportation, so this is the least viable option.)

For context, the plan is to eventually convert this into an ornament--I can hang it from a ribbon tied around the bell.

Where are the pics?

Sorry it took me so long to get the finished product! I decided to go with the yellow glaze option after some examination and observing the poll options, but I didn't have the time to put it into action until a week ago. I just got it back this evening!

The method used to glaze this was as follows: 1) black underglaze in crevasses for detailing (valve caps, mouthpiece seams, bell seams and screws), 2) yellow underglaze of bulk, 3) scraping away yellow in crevasses to reveal black, then 4) clear glaze dip.

Photos attached below. Enjoy! Hope it was worth the wait.

If you rolled the creases out of that bell you could have a real player on your hands and not just an ornament!!

Haha, thanks, Three Valves! Now I only need to figure out how to shrink down to a height of 3 inches and i'll be all set. (The creases in the bell were the unfortunate byproduct of rushing to finish before the ceramic studio closed.)

I think it looks great! The black detail work is a nice touch. I think my favorite things are the guards on the bank of the bell! Nice work!

Wow, thanks! I'm really flattered that someone noticed the guards explictly.

I'm also glad the black accents paid off--I was thinking about painting it solid yellow at first, but i quickly realized that all the finely-carved seam details (like the valves and bell guards) would become all but invisible once the yellow glaze was applied and smoothed all the edges out. I was really gambling with the black accents, since i've never tried to 1) paint a lighter underglaze over a darker one or 2) manually scratch away a top coat of underglaze to reveal a different color. The effect was really nice.