What Can we do with CHROME paint?

I'm again at a loss!
For the umtenth time I've total screwed up a prefectly good Chrome finised model
I've tried everything I can think of and every single time the mirror finish is instantly removed. future floor wax, microscale clear, and even plain auto wax Greys the finish???
Has anyone found a way to keep this from happening?
Seems it doesn't matter what "Brand" of Spary on Chorme paint either. I've tried Testors Chrome, Master modeler Chrome, Krylon Chrome, Krylon Special formula Classics Chrome, Rustoleum Chrome, ColorWorks Chrome, Tinimic Chrome, and all the silly off brands i've run across in the last 6 weeks;(
I give! are we just to leave it Chrome until we touch it and simple except it's gonna grey down to plain old silver?
Heres the "Before" and close up "After" of the nosecone after a flight and some attempts to save the finish with microScale clear and Future

View attachment MM 339p01-sm_5.4g Nose weight in epoxy Dead Ringer_09-29-07.jpg

You might have to try an automotive paint or at least an automotive clear-coat.

falingtrea said:

You might have to try an automotive paint or at least an automotive clear-coat.

Click to expand...

NO good, at least the spraycan polyurethanes put out by both PPG and Dupont Actually worse over any of the other brand Chrome paints.

Humm:
So I take it that everyone has had pretty much the same luck i've had: It's either standard silver grey metallic (Aluminum) or nothing?
Noone has found a way to preserve a mirrored finish? Rats!!!! I'll keep looking.

The only way I've have any luck at all with chrome is to give it an extended drying time before touching. By extended time I mean like 6 weeks.

Even with that, with enough handling it will dull down a bit. Just not as fast or as much.

You're right, John.

When I wanted to add a little pizazz to the new rear differential cover I needed for my Blazer, I spray painted it Chrome before putting it on. Living in the Northeast (where salty roads are the norm 'bout half the year) I wanted to clear coat over the Chrome paint so it would last longer... The Rustoleum can I used said boldy "Do Not Clear Coat"

So I didn't


And it's starting to bubble/rust off


And getting under there with some sandpaper to take the surface rust off and masking the brake line off that runs in front of it and re-spraying is something I'm procrastinating...


I feel your paint pain!

I know this is not ideal, but how about using strips of mylar instead of chrome paint?

EVERY chrome or silver paint I have used will wipe off with ones hand if rubbed gently. The paint is very powdery and seems to rely on this "powder" laying flat to get that real nice finish. Since the surface isnt really sealed ANY clear coat you use will disturb the powdery outer layer of the paint, causing it to gray. I posted a while back that I had good luck "polishing" the testors regular silver spray with a tissue. This made the paint much more shiny AND removed most of the loose surface particles. I then covered it with future... It did still gray slightly, but its the best finish I've gotten by far with the silver paint and clear coat.

Thanks Scott:
I did try polishing (actually burnishing the surface) as is done with gold and silverleaf. Using both soft tissue and cotton balls, neither method did much more then remove the mirror finish I was attempting to save
My Hope had been that one of the two methods would at least burnish/polish the underlaying alumimum powder to a decent specular finish.....alas not to be. could be the underlaying solids are still to wet? only time will tell.

I suppose, my next step is to sand the model down and recoat it with Chrome then let it sit for the next couple months.
I've already test flown the dwindled Dear Ringer, so I know it's stable, now it can sit on a shelf to harden LOL! maybe it'll be one that I use with those White cotton gloves we get when handling archival documents.
Looks like another long term experiment....paint a bunch of squares the destroy them with every kind of overcoating I can lay my hands on. I'm also gonna do a little more digging into the chemistry of these products. Maybe we'll come up with something, maybe not.

I once had some pretty bright 'chrome' paint that I used to paint a pine wood derby car for the boy scouts, that was designed as an undercoat for candy--which you could clearcoat.

I am not sure what the brand was, but you might look for something along those lines.

I've had no luck either, John.

If you want "chrome", meaning mirror-like reflective finish, I think your only two options are a monokote trim or just having the sucker plated.

Otherwise, the closest equivalent I've ever gotten is technically not chrome but silver metallic, and has more of a glitter/sparkle look than a mirror finish. Those usually turn out fine.

Even more frustrating to me is that Rustoluem sells two completely different products called "silver metallic", both in the same looking can, at least in my neck of the woods. It's only when I check the SKU # that I can tell which one is the nice glittery stuff and which one is the "mirror like" stuff destined to turn flat steel gray on me.

By the way, you neglected to mention (or at least have overcome) one other common trait of chrome paints--they tend to go on thicker and run more than other comparable colors.

--Chan Stevens

On hearing me swear a blue streak at NSL this year when my beautiful chrome Space Ark got covered in fingerprints Sandman suggested Dupli-Color automotive paints. He showed me the Sarah Conner he had painted with Dupli-Color and it resisted all manner of finger prints, smudges and other violations. Haven't got to try them myself yet, but I plan it in the near future.

Could you try the Future + SIMPLE Green trick to make it stay "wet" looking?

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=39343&highlight=simple+green+future

Nope! Future Straight or Future/SimpleGreen: as soon as the first mist touches the surface she instantly turns GREY.....No more mirror finish.
Dried super glossy but the specular finish is gone. Oh man was the auther correct about it being a dust magnet! Good thought tho

I did a quick check with a couple old-time plastic model builders here (one of 'em a very accomplished, contest-winning expert) and some flying model builders and even a couple guys from the company model shop.

You may be S.O.L.

No one was familiar with any way to clear-coat a bright chrome finish and have the 'bright' remain. All of them chuckled and shook their heads. (Apparently this is some sort of 'classic' problem for model builders?)

The guys in the model shop here cheat. They send stuff out to some vendor who does an actual chrome plating job. They do not use over-coats.

I heard several mentions of some new product that is a transferable metal foil. This stuff gets you a very nice finish but it will also not tolerate a clearcoat.

Closest to an answer I got was that one guy says he used model airplane dope (the lacquer kind) sprayed over *thin* layers of gray and white auto primer. He used this on plastic models to get a shiny metallic finish that was close to chrome, and he called the finished color coat 'bullet proof' against fingerprints and most scratches, but there was no way to overspray with anything. He said he had to trim the clear edges off all decals and apply them without any clearcoat protection.

Don't know if that helps.

Here's a list of the things tried so far:

Krylon #1301 Krystal clear
Krylon Triple Thick Clear
Krylon #1307 UV resistant Clear
Krylon #1305 Clear
Krylon matte clear
Krylon Workable Fixatif
Rustoleum Clear Gloss
ColorWorks Gloss Clear
Dupli-Color Gloss Clear
Testors Gloss Coat
Testors Dull Coat
Folkart clear Acrylic (spray)
Dupont polyurethane Clear (topcoat touchup Sparycan)
Dupont Imron Clear (spraycan)
PPG ultra urethane Clear (topcoat touchup spray)
Micro Scale Decal clear (brush on)
Future
Future/SimpleGreen
Nazdar Decal Clear screen ink
Minwax clear polyurethane (brush on - Airbrushed)
Valspar urethane Clear (brush on/airburshed)
Spar Varnish
Shallac
Sickens Clear polyurethane topcoat (touchup spray)
Sickens straight clear enamel topcoat (airbrush)
Matthews Gloss clear polyurethane (2 part) (airbursh)

every one greys on contact, except Micro Scale which turns milky white ....Lions-26, Christians-0: I'm running out of things to test folks.

How about electrolysis?

Try Killer Chrome by the alsa corporation.

Pmlkid said:

Try Killer Chrome by the alsa corporation.

Click to expand...

It does look 'killer'...But at $40 a canWould need to be something truly spectacular to use on..

Killer Chrome

It's not just the price Alas materials are designed mostly for second surface application.
This Killer Chrome looks like it might have a chance with the overcoat clear???? Kewl stuff!

We've used a few of their flip/flop color change paints at work. Very KEWL stuff. Outragiously expensive

Maybe try Monokote? It's a plastic film used on planes.

Mike

I was just thinking that with any clear coat the light has to go through the clear coating to the chrome paint and back out. So, any clear coat will dull the chrome? That make sense?

Also, when any paint dries, doesn't it shrink slightly? With chrome paints it may shrink just enough to lose the mirror shine.

I remember reading an article in a science magazine recently (within the last couple months) about how one major auto maker is developing a mirror-like finish for its cars. The way they described it, paint drops are generally roundish in shape and don't lay flat, leaving a somewhat rough surface. This company has been developing a micro-scale flat paint that lays flat against a surface as it dries, leaving a mirror-like finish.

I'm not sure if the physics of that come into play here, but it could be a possibility.

Micro- I don't see Duplicolor Chrome in your list...thats one to try! ! it's the best spray chrome I've seen atleast.

but I haven't found a way to clear it without graying, it's a heartbreaker, because it's so chrome-like straight from the can

takes some getting used to because It sprays on very thin, you have to almost mist it on, or it will run.

also same as the others , fingerprints and soot will ruin it without a clearcoat.

Maybe it's time to change tactics. Perhaps you could apply a material other than paint/wax. Maybe transparent shrink wrap over a chrome paint? Maybe you could chrome glaze the rocket (maybe there is some glazing material similar to pottery glaze without the need for the high kiln heat to cure)?

BOb

I have had pretty good luck with the Dollar General Miracal Metallic Silver..It isn't chrome nor have a mirror finish but is plenty shiny...and doesn't(at least hasn't for me) turn grey when a clearcoat is applied..

Can you imagine what this model would look like in even the thinnest mirror silver mylar?
Maybe Baremetal foil, but monokote..NO WAY.

Great! Just found this thread as I put the final Krylon Chrome coats on my Astron Cobra clone.

Now what . . . ?:cry:

now that"s a good choice monokote the sticky kind..

View attachment IMG_1570.JPG

Heh- does anyone else find it funny that this is a thread about clearcoating started by John who doesn't recommend clearcoating?

kj

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showpost.php?p=483071&postcount=6

I just got through calling Krylon directly on this, because I want to finish off my Astron Cobra.

Krylon/Sherwin Williams stated that the Krylon Crystal Clear finish is the recommended finishing product for this paint (Chrome). I told them that I've heard it dulls the finish and the customer service employee at Krylon emphatically state that it won't do this. They also stated that they've never heard of their Chrome paint dulling after an application of Crystal Clear.

So I guess the bottom line is . . . it's news to them.