Chrome paint in a rattle can, which is best?

[McColm]

Hello again ,
Thanks for the info about using oven cleaner to strip old paint from plastic kits.
I see that Halfords has a chrome paint in a rattle can that is safe to use in plastic .Have any of you tried this?
I have a collection of 1/24-25 scale American car kits in my stash, a Peterbilt truck and some European cars. I've tried using silver paint to touch up but this doesn't look right. The foil kit works well on large flat areas.
I thought of using the Chrome on the 1/96 Comet 3D and the Airfix 1/24 Hurricane ,the engine replacing the diesel in the Peterbilt kit.

[darthspud]

I got recommended HALFORDS Polished Aluminium, think it was on here, just can't recall who it was though.

I use it all the time, seems ok for aircraft, not sure if it'd be ok for that scale of cars though.

[NARSES2]

I use Halfords Aluminium and Nissan Silver to provide a little variety.

Haven't used either for an age but if I remember rightly the Nissan Silver is the more shiny/smooth

[Dizzyfugu]

If it is just for tiny bits, simple Silver from Humbrol (#11) works pretty well. There's also a Chrome Silver (191), but I found the standard enamel to leave a better surface result, while 191 has finer pigments and appears lighter.

Anyway, you have to stir up the paint well, and work quickly and generously with a brush, so that you get an even coat that is not too thin. It "shrinks" and leaves a very shiny surfaces, excellent e. g. for small scale hydraulic pistons abnd such. Not on par with plated chrome, but maybe an option for spot repairs?

[Mossie]

If you want a shiny surface, Humbrol Metalcote Polished Aluminium works well.  When sprayed on, it looks flat but a gentle buff will bring it up nicely.  A heavier buff will be very shiney.

It's to damage once on so I'd suggest adding a coat of Klear, (the Klear would work well for highly polished show car).  Use two coats and try and be sparing, the cans don't last long.  Alternatively tinlets are available if you're happy to brush paint.

[McColm]

I bumped into an old school friend this morning and had a coffee with him. He works for a sign company and had some samples with him.
He sprays the plastic black and then applies a chrome spray paint. He's asked me to send him some samples from various kits. I'll get back to you with the results.

[Dizzyfugu]

AFAIK there's some kind of "real" chrome effect paint, I have seen this applied on a car (for painted chrome trim). That stuff?

[McColm]

Yes, that sounds like it.

[Dizzyfugu]

Great. Looking forward to the results - what I have seen looked 100% like chrome plating, but application must be complicated.

[McColm]

It works on a similar system to Gortex. Rain drops are larger than air monocules. Meaning whilst it is raining you stay dry and the air can pass through the material.
My mate has been experimenting with the monocules in paint, owns a sign company in Western-Supermare, near Bristol. We went to the same Primary School. We were both good at art. Where as he could do 3-D drawings , I got around this with abstract art.
If he had designed the EuroFighter , I would have come up with the Rafael.

[steelpillow]

I have had mixed results with Humbrol tinlets - often matt rather than gloss and they can fail to buff up. I had best results with chrome 191.

And the secret with shiny chrome is to get a good gloss black finish first, then a thin coat of chrome paint on top. That's how I did the spinner on my MacRobertson Interceptor (photos on the topic page) - brushed on two coats of 191. Its overall silver dope finish was one of the others (I forget which) mixed with a dash of gloss white to reduce the metallic sheen but increase the gloss. The amount of white was critical and the mixture started going off before I had finished the last topcoat.

The really unbelievably shiny finishes (looks just like chrome plated plastic) use specialist airbrush-only metallics. Can't recall the brand, made in the USA I think. Again, gloss black undercoat is essential.

[zenrat]

The really unbelievably shiny finishes (looks just like chrome plated plastic) use specialist airbrush-only metallics. Can't recall the brand, made in the USA I think. Again, gloss black undercoat is essential.

Sounds like Alclad II Chrome.  Tricky to get right but an amazing (if fragile) finish when you do.

[steelpillow]

The really unbelievably shiny finishes (looks just like chrome plated plastic) use specialist airbrush-only metallics. Can't recall the brand, made in the USA I think. Again, gloss black undercoat is essential.

Sounds like Alclad II Chrome.  Tricky to get right but an amazing (if fragile) finish when you do.

That's the badger. ISTR they also sell a clear protective topcoat - essential, I should imagine.

[zenrat]

I've never tried their clear as I am suspicious of it's effectiveness.  I've got some Model Master clear meant to go over their buffing metalisers and if turns a shiny metal finish to one that looks like silver paint.  I worry the Alclad one could do the same and instead handle the chrome parts as little as possible.  Easy to do on car grilles and bumpers but harder if you'd done a whole plane.
I get the required chrome effect on about 1 in 3 tries with Alclad.  The others look like old dulled chrome but are still better than silver paint.  The trick is to get a super perfect shiny gloss black base coat and then put the chrome on in 2 light coats at about 8psi.  Then cross your fingers, appeal to the fates and hope the phase of the moon and the tides are right.

[jcf]

There is also the Spaz Stix Ultimate Mirror Chrome in aerosol or airbrush.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015H1FGA/ref=s9_hps_bw_g21_i1

http://www.hobbyrecreationproducts.com/spazpaintmirror-chrome-s/1700.htm

http://www.hobbyrecreationproducts.com/spazstixpaints-s/1724.htm?searching=Y&sort=5&cat=1724&show=60&page=1&f-Aerosol=1707