Eastwood has a spray paint they call Almost Chrome. It's used to restore the reflective inner parts of tail light housings. Has anyone ever used this? Does it turn dull or rub off on your fingers like all other "chrome" paints do? They don't market it as chrome, and I know it won't be, but if it's durable, it might be the ticket I'm looking for to get a polished stainless steel look on my models.
You apply over black glossy urethane, then the "chrome" and after cure, apply the clear coat and let cure. So, it will not rub off. I was going to use it, but found a high reflective aluminum/silver that worked on my '68 rear lights. Krylon MAXX 9193. (it does not rub off or dull if touched)
Ah. I looked in several places. It seems it was discontinued. The whole "Metallic Cover MAXX" line. Sorry 'bout the wild goose chase. (It is much shinier than the cap. I bought it looking for a dry/satin/cast aluminum finish)
Your local hobby shop, like Hobby Lobby, should have the chrome paint. That's where I get mine, and a lot of other paints and oddball stuff that I use for restoration.
Hey Jon I use Alclad when I need a chrome-like look on my models. Alclad has numerous types of metal finishes, but for your needs I would recommend either Polished Aluminium or Chrome. Regardless, they both require a base coat of gloss black. It is the black that gives the metal paint its chrome-like look. The trick with the metal paints is not to apply too many coats, or too heavy a coat, as the more metal paint you apply, the more the chrome look will be diminished. It should also be applied at low pressure, somewhere around 10-15psi max. For the black basecoat I use Tamiya TS-14 acrylic lacquer, as suggested to me by the Alclad rep, while they were demonstrating the paint line at the IPMS U.S. Nationals in Chicago years ago. As I primarily build aircraft models, I use Alclad chrome for the landing gear oleo stuts. In the attached images of a Mustang, you can see where I applied Alclad polished aluminum on the fuselage in the area of the national insignia. It is quite shiney and does a good job of mimicking highly polished metal. Also, one image shows the oleo strut in Alclad chrome. Before a reproduction was available, I refinished my buddy's chrome cover on his console door in his 72GS. For this I used Alclad chrome and it truly looked like chrome. Only problem is that it is a high wear area and it did not last. You should not have that problem with a car model (unless you are playing with them).
https://www.molotow.com/en/applications/marker-applications/liquid-chrome Haven't tried it but going to.
Awesome job Randy! Just ordered the gloss black 4oz & the smaller bottle of chrome to experiment with : ) Thank you : ) http://www.hobbylinc.com/alclad-1oz...MI9JP3nurb7wIVHcmUCR1KJwQnEAQYASABEgK1xvD_BwE
I probably should not plant this seed Randy but just seemed to be made for you and your WWII planes passion,brother
Good luck with your experimenting. If you run into problems, or have questions, give me a shout and I will try to help.
Hey John You should see my rec room. The walls are covered with signed aviation art. The art replaced all the awards that were on the wall as I ran out of room for the plaques. Actually looks better now. My late wife gave me free reign to do as I wanted downstairs.
Every good Krylon paint seems to be discontinued. First the Buick engine red paint, now this. I can't even find the semi flat black 1913 anymore. What is it with Krylon?
Has anyone done High Gloss White for tail lights? https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-refurbishing-swap-meet-tailights.18275/#post-252063
Yes, that's how the taillights were painted originally on my '67. I was kind of surprised when I opened them up and found white paint instead of silver.
No,but I did make templates and use reflective foil tape in one of my cars tail light housing with stock bulbs. Was MUCH brighter : )
Science says that white will reflect more light than any other color. Colors other than white will absorb (instead of reflect) light from the other spectrum's. So if the chrome paint applied actually cures as silver or gray, it should not reflect as well as white. As Randy said above, and the YouTube guru's agree, applying high gloss black first before the chrome will result in a good reflectivity. What we really want is a mirror finish which I don't believe can be created with a rattle can.
John I have read that as well. Furnace tape seems to be a popular choice and people say it reflects pretty good.
