Dpate

Do you like it better than other chromes on the market?

Don't really need a clear base coat. Works over gloss black base. I have seen this before unsure about it considering the results i get with everything else.

Yeah I've seen that picture of the GT4 and i have the proper color for it from gravity colors. So I'm guessing the carbon fiber is just a custom option. Still trying to decide if the hassle of full carbon decals is worth it over the beautiful grey.

Yeah the alcohol basically dries up the varnish and makes it fall off. Whatever doesn't fall over is easily just pulled off with tweezers. I usually put parts in a mason jar capped so i can give them a good swoosh around here and there. I' am thinking about actually using my ultrasonic cleaner that i use for dechroming and after the dechroming clean it out and use it for alcohol bath.

Yes i mention in my post i purchased that.

Yeah with clears especially like 2K clears you wanna lay a light tac coat so the other coats have something to stick too better. You don't have to do heavy coats of clear though. I use a lot of scale finishes base coat paints and with there paint and your choice of clear coat you could be done painting and clear coating in like 2 hours. Gravity colors(spain) 2K is a awesome clear too. You don't have to do mist coats and wait days before doing wet coats that's just silly. A tac coat is just that a tacky coat. After 10-15 mins it should be ready for your next coats. This is speaking based on 2K clears because I've never used tamiya's clear before.

Only issue with older kits when it comes to stripping the chrome is the underlayer can be annoying. The chrome is easy to come off using 100% lye which is what i use cause it's cheaper. Use to use super clean which works but can stain the varnish under the chrome sometimes. Sometimes 100% lye wont even take the varnish off unless it's in a ultrasonic cleaner with heat, but still takes a long time. So the solution i came up with was letting the parts that aren't free of varnish sit in 91% alcohol and it works a charm. Alclad is more durable and cheaper than molotow, BUT it is still fragile. I think Spaz stix is way more durable than alclad, and green stuff world along with others. Spaz stix you can find at hobbytown near the RC cars. $13 for a bottle that would last you a year or more depending on how much chroming you do lol.

Alclad you would need a gloss black base and Molotow you wouldn't really need one, but both will produce a mirror like shine if done right. If you didn't want to clean the parts by stripping the chrome etc and rechroming than molotow would be your best bet if you're just wanting to recoat. Molotow can go on anything and give you a chrome finish. I think it's more a ink than anything.

Well you don't really need a undercoat with alclad besides there gloss black base or any good gloss black base except tamiya's acrylic X1. Unless you've done sanding than sure a good primer sanding down smooth before gloss black base. I've never airbrushed molotov but people that have had good results with it. I own several brands of chrome and just like many metallic metals similar too chrome they all act the same - meaning you must have a smooth gloss black surface and you must mist the paint on light mists coats (12-18PSI). You don't spray chrome etc like you do color coats. If you're spraying it right you'll start to see dust build up on the part, and does make it little hard to know when too stop. It just takes some practice and getting a good chrome shiny finish isn't that hard. You basically need good lighting and soon as you get that mirror look where you can see yourself - than maybe one more mist coat. You're really not putting down a lot of paint at all. I always use a dehydrator and cotton gloves when handling chrome parts. Honestly one of my favorite things to do in the hobby lol is using chrome. Dunno about clear coating though never tried to do that usually the chrome itself is pretty durable especially spaztix.

Yeah that’s what I was asking was just the whole body carbon fiber. Cause every pic I see especially of Tamiya is gray. But the template decal set covers the entire body shell of the car. Every part you just named lol.

So I bought the Tamiya GT4 kit, and both scale motor sports photoetch set, and pewter carbon fiber decal template set. My question is - is there even a real version of the car fully done in carbon fiber? Can’t find pics of one on the web at all. Like I know there are certain parts of the car that is fiber, but never seen a full bodied carbon fiber GT4. Also if i were to carbon fiber the whole body would I be able to use Tamiyas decals on top of it? Decal on top of decal?

Someone said the Matt aluminum version works great just have to buff it up with a Q tip. I actually found a pack of the “New improved” chrome at hobby town. They only had one and I haven’t tried it yet. Lady said it’s been there for a long time, but I still bought it lol. I was like this stuff is big money right here.

Can't really help you on this one, but I'd like to know as well just in case i decide to keep some chrome parts in the near future. I always dechrome the parts though because there gate attachment on the parts are horrible except for tamiya and aoshima and hasagawa theres be pretty good. Touch up chrome doesn't blend in that good either. It really just depends on how anal you are about it tbh.

Thank you!

You don't have to wait a few weeks or months to do anything. Without a dehydrator you could wait like 2 days or so proper room temp and you should be good. If i had to wait weeks etc to do anything I'd be using a different product lol. Like gravity colors 2K or Finish 1 2K. Also instead of scratch X and novus 2 just get meguiars ultimate compound and there polish. Tamiya makes good products too. Just depends on what results you're after? Like sandboarders picture of that blue body. It has a little bit of orange peel, but still looks great. It's just like a 1:1 with the orange peel, and I've seen 1:1 with worse orange peel than that. If clear coat is sprayed right you wont have orange peel at all. Also what blue is that @Sandboarder

A lot of folks use oil paints like Winsor & Newton raw umber, Burnt Sienna, etc along with a fan style paint brush. Only thing is - is the oil can take a long time too dry. You could even do clear orange on top too.

It's not the dehydrator that's the issue. I remember using some off the wall 2K clear called "No Name" and few hours in the dehydrator and than rest with no heat cause i had too leave. Next day i went too the hobby room the 2K was hard as a rock. 2K clear mixed properly with reducer if needed and hardner it will dry like it's suppose too. Waiting that long before polishing is crazy lol you really need to use better products i think, but if you enjoy waiting that long than enjoy.

Crazy how the new improved BMF looks so much better than the regular chrome.

I seen these too and was wondering if anyone has tried them lol. I just spent about $800 at plazajapan so I can 't afford to test them right now.

It's really a $15 brush at best. You could get them for $10 from plazajapan which is a great site, but shipping is killer. $20 for a brush is no different than $20 for a quality paint brush.

Was your primer coat smooth? That can cause color coat to be rough too if the primer coat isn't smooth. Top back side looking little pinkish too. You're gonna have to do some wet sanding and than do another coat.

Gotcha that makes sense. Like the trumperter firetruck i have there is alot of diamond plated parts. Well i never had any polished aluminum just aluminum metal colors like AK and Valejo so what you explained makes sense. Spaz stix chrome is little brighter than alclad which is why i tend to use it more, but i do love the alclad chrome. So I'm def going to get some polished aluminum when i can. It's not just big rigs either it's really everything that should be polished aluminum instead of chrome is what I'm worried about.

So my question is are these very similar? I own plenty of Alclad chrome along with other brands of chrome, but for parts that are diamond plated like on big rigs are they chromed or aluminum? Would chrome give the same affect or there is a difference? I mean on 1:1 the diamond plate looks just like chrome bumpers etc.

When i purchased BSI CA accelerator refill bottle the first time that's what i did was get some smaller bottles with needles to use it. Tiny drop will do ya, and don't know why folks spray this stuff all over a part that's clued lol. I'm actually thinking about getting some bottles with brushes inside like tamiya glue has and use that too just brush it on since it's so thin, and will go where ever it needs to go.

The SMS Ceramic scraper is what you want. Safer than a x-acto you can't cut yourself or gouge the plastic. It's pricey but worth every penny. Haven't touched a X-acto blade since owning the SMS ceramic scraper.