Thanks everyone for the ideas. I think I'll try Thirsty Barbarians approach. It might look more "real' then a true chrome and it won't cost as much
True "chrome" (mirror finish) from a can, unless it's the type of specialized stuff that Micromeister mentioned, is pretty much impossible. I used a chrome-in-a-can Rusto or Valspar on my Dr. Zooch Mercury Atlas Friendship 7 Anniversary build
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...Zooch-Mercury-Atlas-build&p=285218#post285218 and it never really worked completely right. Fingerprints just really messed it up, and had a devil of a time getting it to fully cure. It's basically a sort of "plain silver" look now, which is okay with me.
IF you REALLY want a TRUE "mirror" finish chrome, your only REAL choices are either the $100 buck a can paint systems previously mentioned, or monokote type films of whatever type or kind. Other than that, you're not going to really be happy with the chrome-in-a-can stuff from your typical home improvement store or wallyworld.
IMHO, a good high quality non-metal-flake silver looks almost as good for most rockets, and it's MUCH easier to apply, and works a LOT better than common off the shelf chrome in a can type materials. You're not going to get a true mirror finish, but it'll look good. Beware that silver paints of any type are a little more sensitive than other colors, when it comes to fingerprints, handling, picking up marks or stains or stuff like that. Silvers, for the most part, are more sensitive to clear-coating as well-- some clear coat with little change in appearance, but a lot of them will turn very "muddy" looking and tend to shift toward looking more like a flat gray than an aluminum silver look. ALWAYS do a paint test of silvers with whatever finish you're looking to apply over it beforehand so that you can judge what the final appearance will be, and if it's satisfactory to you, before applying it over the silver on the rocket.
I painted a rocket with some plain silver and it looks pretty good. More of an "aluminum" finish to it than a mirror finish to be certain, sort of a flat aluminum look to it, which was okay. As I said, the mirror finish is virtually impossible without adhesive films or high dollar paint systems like those mentioned. I've even used some "metallic silver" (which has metallic flakes or bits in it) and it looks pretty good, depending on what you're using it on and the final effect your trying to achieve. I wouldn't use it on scale rockets, though... but for sport rockets, it might be just the ticket... looks a little more "silvery" than a plain aluminum "silver" non-metallic type paint...
Best of luck! OL JR