If you would like the design to be in high relief and cut out to the designs shape, the best option is to mould the design in resin, which can then be hand-painted.
Alternatively cold cast metal plaques are a cost effective but extremely realistic way of producing the design in bronze, brass or pewter giving a metal effect.
This usually involves coating the inside of a mould with finely powdered metal (bronze, brass, pewter) and then filling the mould with the resin. When cured the cast is removed from the mould and what we have is a solid resin object with a thin outer coating of metal. The piece can then be polished like a conventional metal casting and then can either be partly painted or left un-painted.
