Alclad chrome - 1st test hit

[The Fisherman]

I believe I know what I'm looking for, but I was prepped for failure after talking to the HS owner, so is this the correct finish? Or should I be going after more reflection and glare qualities?

Kit pieces were sanded as finely as I could. Shot with Alclad black base, left to cure for 24hrs. Then Alclad chrome sprayed with multiple fine passes with the airbrush held at a 45 degree angle to the pieces as each pass was made. Made certain to make no spot shots, and no heavy passes........which I had to think about as the color started to come out.

Tried to get captures with different light intensities and comparisons with one of the pieces that will receive the paint to correct spruce damage.

Is this right, or is there room for improvement?

[Harry Joy]

It looks fine. That said, I love Alclad's metallic colors, but you are better off spraying your base coat, if needed (and you do for chrome), with a spray gloss black. For that, I prefer Tamiya gloss black spray can, but other folks have their own faves.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Harry Joy

[Ace-Garageguy]

That's about as close to chrome as you're going to get with Alclad. That said, naturally the more perfect you get your parts before shooting them black, and the more perfectly you lay out the black, the better it will look.

You probably want to take care of the attachment points before you shoot any finish products too, and find another way to hold your parts. That will avoid having to touch up any areas after you cut your parts free.

There are some other chrome processes on the market now that look better...exactly like chrome...and cost a lot more, made for real-vehicle use.

And just FYI, "sprue" is the thing the parts are molded on. "Spruce" is a kind of wood. 

[Misha]

You've done well with the Alclad Zachary, especially for the first go at it. I would recommend removing parts from the sprue and drilling a small hole into which floral wire can be inserted. If I'm going to use the wire as a pin to help attach it to another part I'll usually use CA adhesive and trim the floral wire back when ready to attach the part. Cleaning up the parts is a key to a good finish and having it off the sprue helps immensely.

Cheers Misha

[The Fisherman]

The only reason those were left on the "spruce" was because they aren't going to be used for anything other than trial/error. I typically will drill holes as well, but use toothpicks to hold the pieces that are getting painted. Pieces that can't be drilled either get a piece of tacky clay or Elmer's (white) glue applied with a toothpick or skewer.

  "sprue" is the thing the parts are molded on. "Spruce" is a kind of wood.

 I don't know..................this stuff can be pretty hard to cut through sometimes.