Chrome your own parts

[Deuces-wild]

Can anyone come up with a cool idea on how you can chrome kit parts at home without using paint??? I'm willing to bet that ladies who craft nik-naks at home know the secret. I wish I had time today to scroung the net, but I gotta get going to work. If anyone finds anything, please post it here.... Thanks in advance!!

[ScaleMotorcars]

I know a way but its not cheap. Do a google search on vacuum metalizing.

[Herman]

The only ways of metallizing I know are paints of all sorts (with alclad being a nice option), Chrome films (Bare Metal Foil, or even cheap kitchen film) and chroming metal parts with DIY kits of all sorts. Plastic can onl be done by vacuum metallising, see www.vacumetal.com

[Deuces-wild]

Thanks Dan! I'll look into it. I was thinking along the lines of chem dip tanks, but on a much smaller scale. Guess I'll have to learn about the processes involved in chroming plastic.

[ScaleMotorcars]

Theres also a spray chrome procedure but again, expensive... And theres this stuff. Alsa Killer Chrome. From what Ive heard its fairly good but I dont know how well it would work on plastics. I think it needs to be baked..

[ScaleMotorcars]

I just read the steps for the Killer Chrome. The stuff seems allot like Alclad withouth the airbrush but it might be worth trying out if you have a bunch to chrome.

Check this link here on SMC for a video's of the Spray Chrome and below that the Killer Chrome.

Spectra Chrome is best from what Ive read and there might be someone local that could do it cheap. If you opt for the Killer Chrome its about $100 for a full kit.

SPRAY & Killer CHROME

[slingshot]

Here’s a thread from the site I used to work on where a guy did an excellent job using bare metal foil and talks about his technique. He did an excellent job of making the aircraft look like aluminum and also hiding the seam where the foil overlapped, that definitely take some practice, I still haven’t got it down yet although I haven’t tried much. I wonder how well it would work with chrome foil? It’s a two part article.

http://www.largescaleplanes.com/arti...p35_partI.html

http://www.largescaleplanes.com/arti...35_partII.html

[hot ford coupe]

I like those articles. It may take some practice but I think it might work for some applications. Most BMF I've seen always looks crinkly on small models. This aircraft really looks pretty good.

[Deuces-wild]

Theres also a spray chrome procedure but again, expensive... And theres this stuff. Alsa Killer Chrome. From what Ive heard its fairly good but I dont know how well it would work on plastics. I think it needs to be baked..

Thanks for the link Dan. I'll do some reading on it this weekend.

[Bob Cline]

Theres also a spray chrome procedure but again, expensive... And theres this stuff. Alsa Killer Chrome. From what Ive heard its fairly good but I dont know how well it would work on plastics. I think it needs to be baked..

The only thing Killer Chrome does is kill your wallet!

Last winter 3 of us ACME club members got together and made a side by side comparison with it, Alclad and Testor's metalizers. We used plastic spoons as a test base.

The results of our subjective, but unamious, test was that Killer Chrome came in behind Alclad and more or less tied with the Testors.

All products were air dried. The results were without clear product to be used over the Killer Chrome. When we applied the clear it made it look like your typical hardware store aluminum paint.

The test was conclusive - save your money. One poor guy in the club was out over $100 for the KC!

[hot ford coupe]

Thanks Bob. You just saved a bunch of us a hundred bucks. I haven't played around with the Alclad yet but I did find a way to make the Testor's metalizer work better. There's also the SNJ stuff. The company was supposed to go out of business but at the eleventh hour, someone bought the company and is still producing the stuff.

[Herman]

That's an interesting test. Next thing that comes to my mind: Most chrome parts need some handling afterwards to be mounted on the car. (or in case of a Bugatti: everything under the hood is alu, polished alu, chrome and polished steel).

Does Alclad , Killer or Testors stand up to the handling?

[ScaleMotorcars]

Thanks BOB... Good stuff to know and your right that killer chrome is a killer on the wallet.

[Deuces-wild]

Well... I guess the killer stuff is a no no Back on the drawing boards. Thanks Bob!

[hot ford coupe]

I don't think any one of them will stand up to heavy handling without a sealer coat. That's where you get the dulling effect. I have some experimenting to do.