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BuggyDad

Chrome paint for polycarbonate

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I've got a shell that has some details I'd like to do chrome: bumper parts, that sort of thing. 

Has anyone had much success achieving some approximation to a chrome finish on lexan, ideally from painting on the inside as normal (it's a runner)? 

Fastrax do a rattle can FAST283:

https://www.fastrax-rc.com/body-shop/paint/fastrax-fast-finish-chrome-spray-paint-150ml

Molotow was suggested as a possibility but is this the product and has anyone used it for this? 

https://www.spraypainthub.com/belton-chrome-effect-spray-paint.html

I've read Spaz Stix recommended but can't see it in the UK. 

I also have a pen, which I bought to have a go at eg window trims. I may see if that works inside. 

So, anyone have experience of this, whether it be with the above products or anything else, and have any tips to share? 

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Too bad you cant get Spaz Stix, its the best I've seen on lexan.  Just make sure you back it with black and will really pop

Alclad II is also good and they make a spray.  I don't know if you can get it in the UK, but there are British and American flags on the label!

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Yeah, I believe Alclad is available over here. I think Molotow Chrome refill can be airbrushed too (if airbrush is an option?)

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UK options do seem a bit limited. 

That Molotow is water-based. So I guess I'd have to be careful using it alongside Tamiya PS. Would I spray the water-based paint last? Not sure whether I could back it with PS black? I'd like to protect it with something, and I might subsequently tape and shoe goo this bumper area. 

If Alclad is the best UK available paint then I can see only their airbrush stuff. 

https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/30ml-chrome-for-lexan-a-mig-2313-ammo/ 

I assumed I don't do enough to justify airbrush, but I ought to check. What does a starter airbrush cost that's not rubbish? I'm sort of interested, for a nicer finish, but not to the extent I want to make a £100++ investment into it when Tamiya cans are really good for my purposes mostly. 

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I bought one of these (now unavailable) from Amazon to try airbrushing on miniatures (my other hobby stopping me from wrenching on my RC). I bought it on the basis that if I got on with it, I might upgrade in future.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089FB37JF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I haven't used it on a car yet but plan to later in the year.

I've been using acrylic-based paints and even managed to get some done in the (unheated) garage last week. Affected slightly by temperature but not as much as using rattle cans on the cars. It speeds up the priming element of my hobby so has been a fantastic investment.

It works well enough, nothing fancy and there are plenty of others like it on Amazon / eBay. 

Expensive for a one-shot item but I thought I'd get plenty of use out of it to off-set the cost. Mine was £65 and isn't one of the cheaper 'air always-on' models.

 

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I asked about chrome paints a few weeks ago. Haven't done anything about them yet, but I might just go with PS48 and be done with it. I have a molotow pen, which works great for detailing, but doesn't give a great finish when used on larger areas, I always seem to get pen stroke marks in the finish...

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3 hours ago, Badcrumble said:

I bought one of these (now unavailable) from Amazon to try airbrushing on miniatures (my other hobby stopping me from wrenching on my RC). I bought it on the basis that if I got on with it, I might upgrade in future.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089FB37JF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I haven't used it on a car yet but plan to later in the year.

I've been using acrylic-based paints and even managed to get some done in the (unheated) garage last week. Affected slightly by temperature but not as much as using rattle cans on the cars. It speeds up the priming element of my hobby so has been a fantastic investment.

It works well enough, nothing fancy and there are plenty of others like it on Amazon / eBay. 

Expensive for a one-shot item but I thought I'd get plenty of use out of it to off-set the cost. Mine was £65 and isn't one of the cheaper 'air always-on' models.

 

Then I guess an entry level airbrush setup is a viable option. Can see them from about £70, either cordless like this or a setup with a compressor. I have also long considered buying a compressor for other stuff and never got round to it. Maybe this is a trigger to do that. If I get one with outlet pressure adjustment and moisture trap I think then I'd just need the hose and airbrush, right? 

Looks like minimum would then be about this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Timbertech®-ABPST01-Airbrush-Adapter-Nozzles-Needles/dp/B00K78M09E/ref=asc_df_B00K78M09E/

Then up a step looks like about this (plus more for Hose/fittings):

https://www.air-craft.net/acatalog/Sparmax-MAX-3-Airbrush.html

I find it hard to judge whether I'd use an airbrush much but it would also be really nice to have to get into those hard to reach areas like wing sides, I'd like to improve my painting generally and I have a number of shells I'd like to do nicely. 

Hmmm. Food for thought, more research needed. 

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So another question - would you paint chrome bumpers before the main body colour or after? Ordinarily, I'd do body colours (red, then yellow) then do silver, then black to finish (there are some black details as well).

But the chrome is not the silver backing layer. Plus, I have a feeling it would be much easier to mask accurately the relatively flat areas around bumpers for bumper spraying alone first than it would be to mask the deep bumper recesses to spray around them. 

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On 2/2/2023 at 1:23 AM, ad456 said:

Yeah, I believe Alclad is available over here. I think Molotow Chrome refill can be airbrushed too (if airbrush is an option?)

Don't think Alclad (the primer really) will stick to PC. Also, the primer prep for Alclad requires some serious work, mirror shine kind of thing.

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On 2/2/2023 at 12:58 AM, 67CamaroSS said:

Alclad II is also good and they make a spray.  I don't know if you can get it in the UK

Alclad is a UK company, English to be precise.

https://alclad2.com/about/

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1 minute ago, alvinlwh said:

Don't think Alclad (the primer really) will stick to PC. Also, the primer prep for Alclad requires some serious work, mirror shine kind of thing.

Thanks man, I’d read it worked but had no personal experience, I’ll not suggest it for that in future👍

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On 2/2/2023 at 2:38 PM, BuggyDad said:

Then I guess an entry level airbrush setup is a viable option. Can see them from about £70, either cordless like this or a setup with a compressor. I have also long considered buying a compressor for other stuff and never got round to it. Maybe this is a trigger to do that. If I get one with outlet pressure adjustment and moisture trap I think then I'd just need the hose and airbrush, right? 

If you can spare the space and put up with the noise, get a proper compressor, 8L will do. This is a good basic airbrush as it has Teflon seals so can put up with hash paint. I use it for most general paint work like priming and area coverage (which 1:10 bodies are) I clean mine with cellulose thinners (deadly) no bother. 0.4 (or even 0.5) is better for larger surfaces like 1:10 cars. The 0.3 you linked to, I will use it more for 1:48 scale planes in mono color schemes (meaning no serious camouflage, just basic top and bottom color).

I do have airbrushes ranging from 0.18 to 0.5 but find this 0.4 sees most use.

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5 minutes ago, ad456 said:

Thanks man, I’d read it worked but had no personal experience, I’ll not suggest it for that in future👍

It is a lacquer so probably not work. I spoke to Gary the painter and he said that our PS paint are basically an etching paint. He suggest going to Factors to get some clear plastic primer and it should work just like PS-55. Just never gotten around to going out to Hatston.

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On 2/2/2023 at 7:04 PM, BuggyDad said:

But the chrome is not the silver backing layer.

Proper chrome paint uses gloss black as it's primer.

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21 minutes ago, ad456 said:

Thanks man, I’d read it worked but had no personal experience, I’ll not suggest it for that in future👍

Ok I might be wrong, came across an ALC-114 CHROME FOR LEXAN which may work. I had no personal experience with this paint. But be warned, Alclad is not an easy paint to work with, especially for an airbrushing beginner. I had seen my boss using it and it was a real PITA paint.

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1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:

Ok I might be wrong, came across an ALC-114 CHROME FOR LEXAN which may work. I had no personal experience with this paint. But be warned, Alclad is not an easy paint to work with, especially for an airbrushing beginner. I had seen my boss using it and it was a real PITA paint.

That's the stuff I had seen. Although I haven't seen it in stock anywhere in the UK. 

This guy seemed to get on well with it and like the result. I wonder if this lexan stuff is a different product and therefore not so hard to work with? 

 

US though. Irrelevant if I can't get it. Even if it is a UK Co, it doesn't seem easy to find stock here. 

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1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:

If you can spare the space and put up with the noise, get a proper compressor, 8L will do. This is a good basic airbrush as it has Teflon seals so can put up with hash paint. I use it for most general paint work like priming and area coverage (which 1:10 bodies are) I clean mine with cellulose thinners (deadly) no bother. 0.4 (or even 0.5) is better for larger surfaces like 1:10 cars. The 0.3 you linked to, I will use it more for 1:48 scale planes in mono color schemes (meaning no serious camouflage, just basic top and bottom color).

I do have airbrushes ranging from 0.18 to 0.5 but find this 0.4 sees most use.

Hey, thanks for this and all the other posts - I was hoping our resident airbrush expert might chip in. And by pure luck, that airbrush (well, either 0.3 or 0.4 option) had popped up as the solid entry level (well, maybe a bit better than entry level) option. If I go down the airbrush route (with separate compressor) I'll go for that. 

Quick Q - what are the hose fittings? 

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When I see videos of people airbrush painting, I have to say it does appeal. The control and lighter spray than a can. Seems to me the only negative (other than cost) is that tamiya PS paints are so good (durable) on lexan and only come in a can (I know you can decant). Is nothing packaged for airbrush anywhere near as good? 

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26 minutes ago, BuggyDad said:

If I can't get the Alclad, this is the stuff that seems to follow it on a search, and is UK available. Anyone experienced it? 

https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/30ml-chrome-for-lexan-a-mig-2313-ammo/

 

Alclad is not a paint for beginners, not only is the prep work difficult, it also sprays differently from most other paint. Further more, it is also deadly. A respirator (vapor filter, not just a covid mask) or extract booth is highly recommended. Take note of this.

Now, that MIG stuff, I had not tried it so cannot say much about them. As with all things, try on some scrap piece first?

However the general MIG and Vallejo stuff can stick to PC, although not too durable in my experience.

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13 minutes ago, BuggyDad said:

This implies it's the same product:

Screenshot_20230203_205214_Chrome

https://www.snmstuff.co.uk/spanish-metal-wars-winner/

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234987220-alclad-did-mig-buy-into-the-company/

I think MiG bought into Alclad not Alclad 2.

And to confuse matter more, Alclad and Alclad 2 are in fact different.

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/tools/alclad/tool_alclad2.shtml#:~:text=One of the first major,had no reaction without primer.

Read through it and it will probably does your head in. Same paint different primer required.

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56 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234987220-alclad-did-mig-buy-into-the-company/

I think MiG bought into Alclad not Alclad 2.

And to confuse matter more, Alclad and Alclad 2 are in fact different.

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/tools/alclad/tool_alclad2.shtml#:~:text=One of the first major,had no reaction without primer.

Read through it and it will probably does your head in. Same paint different primer required.

🤯

Whatever I do I think multiple test runs on scrap will be required!

But, this is lexan-specific stuff, so does that not at least mean it is designed to go directly onto lexan. I mean it has to because you're spraying it on the inside, right?

I'm not wedded to this option at all by the way, just trying to find the way to go. 

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1 hour ago, BuggyDad said:

Hey, thanks for this and all the other posts - I was hoping our resident airbrush expert might chip in. And by pure luck, that airbrush (well, either 0.3 or 0.4 option) had popped up as the solid entry level (well, maybe a bit better than entry level) option. If I go down the airbrush route (with separate compressor) I'll go for that. 

Quick Q - what are the hose fittings? 

Expert? Nah, I am just a hobbyist. 🤣

I recommend 0.4 as it is good for area coverage and if you are up to it, painting flames (for example) on your car. You can even use it to touch up stone chips or scratches on your 1:1 car! If I am doing a camo scheme on a 1:48 Nazi plane (they are beautiful BTW), I will use a 0.18 or 0.2 as it can do pencil thin lines but will take ages on a 1:10.

Not sure what you mean by the last question but I will just show you my setup.

3ZwAHYx.jpeg

First the compressor. This is a 12 years old B&Q compressor same as those that tradesmen will use onsite. It is LOUD! 97dB loud. Make sure you and your neighbors are ok with it (mine are, I checked).

8sXfAWB.jpg

Off the compressor (red knob) is the first pressure gauge. This one is not important as I will explain later. The screen is so covered by paint that I can no longer see it. It has a quick release connection (comes with the compressor IIRC, if not just buy where you buy the compressor, they will have it). Plugged into this quick release is a moisture trap, again, a trade item, not modeller. Why trade item? They are usually cheaper and last longer than modeller stuff. This screen is cleaner as it is used to set the max pressure I want to use, typically around 20 - 22 psi. Connected to the outlet of this is a modeller item now, a airbrush airhose, 2 or 3m IIRC. This one is a 1/4 at the compressor end and 1/8 at the airbrush end (standard for airbrush). You also can get a hose with with 1/8 at both ends (such hoses are more for modeller's compressors) and use a 1/4 to 1/8 adaptor as well. I will not recommend using Badger 1/16 hoses as nothing else seems to use them so you will probably need adaptors on both ends.

myApxLg.jpg

Now at the airbrush end (the airbrush is the very 0.4 one I recommended, usually "parked" and ready to go) is a quick release with a fine air control knob (knob on the left above the brass color collar). This is an optional part as it allows me to swap quickly between airbrushes, just slap a male adaptor on the airbrush and slot it in. It also allows me to quickly fine tune the air pressure on the fly (usually down as it was set to the highest I will normally go at the moisture trap?). You can do without this optional part and just screw and unscrew the airbrush and adjust the air pressure at the moisture trap.

Now a common question from beginners will be what pressure to set it at and the answer I was given (when I was a beginner myself) was "you will feel it when it is right". Not very useful but it is true. I will normally suggest 20 psi to start with and work your way around that. These days I do it at around 18 psi.

There are plenty of excellent YouTube videos out there to learn from (which did not exist when I was starting out), so I think there is no need for me to rehash what is there.

1 hour ago, BuggyDad said:

When I see videos of people airbrush painting, I have to say it does appeal. The control and lighter spray than a can. Seems to me the only negative (other than cost) is that tamiya PS paints are so good (durable) on lexan and only come in a can (I know you can decant). Is nothing packaged for airbrush anywhere near as good? 

I literally can sprayed a body and regretting it now. I will just decant all my PS in the future.

I even go as far as to using a can opener to get the last 2 or 3 ml out. PS is not quite ready to go out of the can for airbrushing, my trial and error seems to show that cellulose thinner works. Cellulose is very harsh on the seals on the airbrush and only Teflon seals can stand up to it, something to watch out for. Be warned that those cheap £20 airbrush will be trashed after a few uses if used with cellulose, which brings me to my next point.

Since PS is such a tough paint, cellulose cleans it best, another way to trash the seals. If you do get yourself an airbrush, get some Badger airbrush cleaner, it seem to work on anything.

Another tip is do not get a bottom or side feed airbrush, they use air pressure to get the paint out and there are too many ways that paint can be blocked (time wasted trouble shooting). At least with a top fed one, you know gravity is pulling paint through all the time and if there is a stoppage, it is definitely the nozzle.

Finally, DO NOT drop your airbrush! Well, do not drop an expensive airbrush. You will cry. I do all my cleaning on the floor, to reduce the distance things will fall.

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