touching up chrome

[b-body fan]

I thought this came out pretty good and wanted to share it. I'm sure it's been done but I thought it was worth mentioning. This is the valve cover from a 1/12 Camaro. the sprues were attached at 2 points along this side at the bottom. It was cast in orange. Sorry I didn't take before pics. Anyway.. I touched the spots with gloss black, left them dry, and then brush touched them with alclad ll chrome. Here's the results.

[59 Impala]

Yep, looks good fer sure Mike.  I love using Alclad for this kind of stuff.  Thanks fer posting this.    Dan

[vintagercr]

That's a great idea.....thanks for sharing

[snacktruck67]

I did not know you could brush it on by hand.  Stunning job.

 

 

[disabled modeler]

Nice...cant even tell it had the bad spots...good tip there. 

[b-body fan]

I did not know you could brush it on by hand.  Stunning job.

 

 

I didn't either. I just figured it was worth a try. You gotta REALLY shake it up. That was only 1 very light coat of the alclad by the way.

[Tom Geiger]

I buy the Alclad spray can.  I touch things up with it too. I spray a little in a cup. I find that it's better if I dab it on, leaving a  raised drop of Alclad inside the depression. It shrinks down as it dries and doesn't leave a brush mark.  I was doing that on my '29 Ford Roadster last evening.  Although Revell went to decent lengths to put the attachment points in unseen places, there's still a few that need a touchup.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Tom Geiger

[StevenGuthmiller]

I'll have to give this a try.

There always seems to be a little spot here & there that could use it.

Up until now, I've been fixing all of my imperfections with foil.

 

Steve

[ChrisBcritter]

I'm going to try that - Steve, if you ever build any AMT '60-'64 Corvairs, you'll need it for two big spots on the TOP of the rear bumper where they put the sprue attachments for some reason...

(just trust me on '63... )

[StevenGuthmiller]

I'm going to try that - Steve, if you ever build any AMT '60-'64 Corvairs, you'll need it for two big spots on the TOP of the rear bumper where they put the sprue attachments for some reason...

(just trust me on '63... )

I usually sand that sort of thing out along with any mold lines & have my parts re-plated.

But there are still many times a small imperfection here & there that this technique could come in very handy for.

 

Steve

[b-body fan]

I haven't tried it on any large spots. It just worked well for these small touch up's. If anyone tries it on a larger area please post your results. Thanks, Mike.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great tip. Thanks for sharing.

[426-Hemi]

I took a WHOLE engine and chromed it with Alclad paint.....

A Dodge "Red Ram" Hemi going into a Dodge Deora pick-up that I'm further customizing. From box stock (I wanted the kit for the Slant 6 engine), to start with BUT got to lookin' at it and thought a little "Baby Hemi" supercharged be a perfect fit.......

Granted, this whole engine was brush painted gloss black from Testors, and then when dry, I dipped a cleaned brush into the Alclad chrome and basically, "blotted" the Alclad over the black. I found brushing it, the swipe of the bristles doesn't go over well, blotting however well, you can see! -I think it looks pretty good! BE SURE when you use Alclad tho, that the gloss black is ENAMEL, nothing else, it won't stick, OR "shine".... -Flat black base will make the chrome look "Aluminum".

I also brush paint the Testors Metalizer paints too! -These MUST BE painted over bare plastic........ as they don't work otherwise!

 

Edited November 21, 2015 by 426-Hemi
Added content

[Deathgoblin]

I've been trying this on the BMW 635CSi that I'm working on right now.  Some of the chrome pieces needed a touch up after sanding off the attachment points, so I polished the black plastic out and just brushed the AllClad on.  Can't see the repairs now.    I've also done one piece with primer/gloss black, and it's CHROME.  Works really well brushed on.  

[yh70]

great tip..

[MrBuick]

Awesome tip, thanks! I've been using Silver Chrome Trim colored paint from Model Masters and haven't been overly pleased with the results...it looks better than leaving it untouched, but certainly doesn't hold up to scrutiny. I can't even tell where the valve cover was attached to the tree in your picture. I'll have to look for some Alclad.