Revell chrom paint

[18degrees]

decided to start a thread about this instead of hijacking MarkJ's thread about his IROC build.

to bring everyone up to speed, Mark posted something about his difficulties with Revell Chrom spray paint.  this stuff seems exclusive to Europe so it's pretty damn expensive to get over here (around $30 per can in my experience).  the stuff looks great when it goes down, like real chrome; it has a great mirror look to it, unlike plastic plated kit chrome or whatever technique that Salvinos uses.  it's an acrylic spray. 

the problem is handling it afterwards, when assembling parts.  fingers will mess the finish up pretty bad, not leave fingerprints if it's dry, just... i can't describe it.  like handling it tarnishes it, takes away the luster. i have tried to wipe off this with a glass cleaning cloth and it only made it worse; this will usually take any skin oil marks off normal Tamiya paint.  Mark used some Future and said that it didn't take away the chrome look, so that's good.  i posted that i was going to use it on my #66 Sunoco Indycar build for wheels and other parts and try some clear lacquer over it to see what that does, and Mark asked me to post pictures. 

i ended up spraying some older Model Master clear lacquer on the wheels after one base coat of flat black and 2 coats of the chrom.  it took away the luster of it, so it defeated the purpose of using the paint in the first place.  i ended up re-painting the wheels on the front with some chrom and left the back as it ended up.






you can see the effect the clear lacquer had on it.  i honestly didn't mind the way it came out looking after the clear, but when this stuff is so pricey and it's not the look you are going for, it's not acceptable.

i decided to go with a fresh can of Tamiya clear lacquer and see if that made any difference, gonna do it on a spoon instead of experimenting with parts and loading them up with multiple coats of paint.  should be able to spray the clear tomorrow sometime, will report back.  i may end up seeing if i can get a jar of Tamiya acrylic clear to brush on and see how that does if the Tamiya lacquer has the same effect.

here is the stuff on the spoon, you can see just how nice it really comes out.  ignore my reflection




side note - i used this stuff on the bumpers and wheels for a 1974 Roadrunner build i made for my former boss and those parts ended up looking horrible after assembly from all the handling.  i am not opposed to trying Future or whatever it's called now, if someone could point me in the direction of what i am looking for at the store and how to apply it properly (ie. what type of brush to use, how many coats, etc).

[Tom Birky]

Alot of guys use Spaz Stix Clear. It's made to clear coat Chrome paint. I tried it on a grille. Gave it a couple of days to dry just to make sure. You still need to be pretty careful handling it, but looks good. Otherwise on wheels and such, I'll install them with a tooth pick, pressing in a reccess so it won't leave a mark, then just don't touch it.

Tom

[Brian Conn]

...A couple of threads from the forums that bear repeating in regards to successful chrome paint....
 http://www.shorttrackmodels.com/index.php?topic=1979.0

http://www.shorttrackmodels.com/index.php?topic=1450.0

  I might add that I have seen chrome nail polish in the cosmetic dept. at Walgreens.  For those of you who don't shoot an air brush, there is another option in that the nail polish can be applied with a brush with excellent results.  Use a good sable brush or a good quality synthetic brush for a smooth finish.  Don't use camel hair brushes...keep in mind the softer the bristles, the smoother the finish.  The main causes of brush marks are brushes with stiff bristles, either poor quality or old brushes with hardened bristles from dried paint residue and over brushing , which leaves patterns in the paint as it dries.  Once the nail polish dries , it can be handled, buffed or polished, clear coated unlike the gimmicky chrome in a bottle that all it does is separate you from your money.     

[18degrees]

Brian's post gave me an idea, gonna try and use some clear nail polish and see what that does before i go the Future route.  still gonna try the Tamiya acrylic clear route, went to the LHS today and he was out until next week.  ironically he finally got some Chrom in, ($35 per can) and i asked him if he had used it.  he said that he hadn't, but other people that did reported the same handling issues that we have all had.

here is a pic of the wheels with untouched Chrom, along with spoons... spoons have one coat of flat black, one coat of Chrom, and then clear gloss.  top spoon is Krylon enamel and bottom spoon is Tamiya lacquer.  both give the appearance, to me at least, of Tamiya silver leaf.

[18degrees]

Only tried the Quick Shine floor polish so far and it's definitely a good option. Only takes a slight amount of the shine away, which is only noticeable when you sit it directly next to an untreated example. Can touch it without messing up the finish.

Will likely tru the clear nail polish tomorrow and the acrylic clear next week.

[MarkJ]

Thanks, Dave for your research on this product. When I can I'm going to redo some engine parts that I had chromed earlier. This time I will future the parts before I handle them to finish the engine. the Revell chrome people should warn on the label that the dulling tarnished effect will happen to their product if nothing is done to protect it. Would have saved me some time and cuss words.

[18degrees]

Not a problem Mark. Don't mind doing it so others don't have to go through the potential frustration.

And the clear nail polish is definitely a no-go. Took some paint off. Yuck.

[jh63fan]

Let me ask y'all who have bought the Revell chrome spray, would you buy it again when your current can runs out?

[18degrees]

yup, despite the need to coat it, it's great stuff.  plus i use it very infrequently, so it's good to have it when i need it.

[jh63fan]

The reason for asking is strictly the cost. I haven't bought a can yet and $35 can get a kit or several parts. Like Mark, I appreciate you sharing your research results. Next time I  make the hour drive to the hobby shop, I will get it.

[18degrees]

alright, the test results are in..

just for reference, here is a spoon with the untreated Chrom sprayed over flat black




and here are the 5 sprayed/brushed spoons




here is a solo shot of the one with the floor shine on it





you need to be the judge if it's worth it to you to use it. i have never used floor shine products on a model ever, up until now, and will be painting all my Chrom pieces on a tree and then coating them with the floor shine while still on the tree and then handling/installing them.

[Tom Birky]

Yes, I'll buy it again. Works great for touching up small chrome parts or whole assemblies, bumpers, wheels. I spray 1 squirt on a file card and brush paint small parts. I rarely coat it, but when I do, I use Spaz Stix Clear for chrome paint. Yes I'll buy again, we'll worth it. Wheels on the LM Revell chrome over bare resin. Same with the Nova grille. Grille is clear coated, wheels are not.

[Brian Conn]

......And the clear nail polish is definitely a no-go. Took some paint off. Yuck.

Guess I should have explained myself better....
  Chrome nail polish can only be clear coated with a clear nail polish and visa versa.....clear nail polish can only be used with the Chrome (or any color) nail polish.....both are entirely different than what modelers are accustomed to using.
  The truckers that I know (modelers that are building trucks) are using Mirror Chrome Paint https://www.culturehustleusa.com/products/mirror, ...kind of pricey @ $50.00 but one bottle is claimed to cover aprox. 64 square feet.     

 

Let me ask y'all who have bought the Revell chrome spray, would you buy it again when your current can runs out?

No, there are better products out there, that once dried, can be handled, buffed and polished with out being protected and without any other issues unlike Revells offering.