Opinions on the best aerosol chrome spray?

[JollySipper]

I would like to take a try at replicating chrome. In you guys opinion, what's the better product in aerosol? I guess it's narrowed down to DupliColor, Spaz Stix, Krylon makes one, and then there is the spray alclad.......I want something durable........

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

[Snake45]

For some time I've been buying every can of "Chrome" or various types of silver I've come across. Haven't tried Alclad or Spaz Stix. Couple weeks ago I sprayed them all on spoons. Gotta take some pics and write them up sometime soon, but NONE of them gave a chrome-like finish, though some of them would be usable for flat aluminum and other such things. Specifically, neither Duplicolor nor Krylon did a good job IMHO.

None of them looked any better than Testor Silver cut with lacquer thinner and airbrushed, which I sometimes use.

[JollySipper]

Thanks for the reply, Snake! Did you try them over a black base? I was reading up on the Krylon one and one person said it needs a silver as a base. I believe they are a modeler, said they were building an Enterprise..........

[Harry P.]

Hands down, Spaz Stix. You be the judge...

All the chrome on this model (But I didn't sand the windshield frame smooth enough, that's on me, not Spaz Stix)...

The wheels on this one...

Grille shell on this one...

Grille shell, wheels, and headlights...

 

 

 

[JollySipper]

Where do you order your Spaz Stix from, Harry? and Do you put it on in mist coats, or wet coats? I have a lowrider pickup planned, and it involves a chrome chassis.......

It looks beautiful, by the way!

[High octane]

I'm with Harry and Spax-Stix is my choice also. You can get it where they sell radio control cars like Hobbytown USA.

[Harry P.]

I buy it online. Do a google search and find the best price.

The secret is, like Alclad, you apply it in a thin mist coat. If you spray it on too thick, the "chrome" effect is lost and it just looks like silver paint.

[Harry P.]

If you're close to a Hobbytown USA, this is about the best price you'll find...

https://www.hobbytown.com/mirror-chrome-spray-paint-3.5oz-by-spaz-stix-szx10009/p9988

[Snake45]

Thanks for the reply, Snake! Did you try them over a black base? I was reading up on the Krylon one and one person said it needs a silver as a base. I believe they are a modeler, said they were building an Enterprise..........

I sprayed each silver on a bare spoon, and then on one with one good coat of smooth Walmart primer. Some of the silvers crazed the bare plastic badly. I believe all of them looked better over the primer.

Here's one I can save you some time/money with: Krylon makes one called "Looking Glass" that's supposed to turn any glass into a mirror, or something very close to it. That must be sprayed on the backside of the glass. On a spoon, it was just a medium gray with a little bit of a metallic sheen to it. Polishing didn't help. Maybe I'll come up with something in Model Car World that needs that particular color. In Model Airplane World, it will be absolutely perfect for the 5" HVAR rockets carried under the wings of WWII and Korean War USAF and USN/Marine fighters and figher-bombers....

[PARTSMARTY]

No doubt spaz stix

[Harry P.]

Thanks for the reply, Snake! Did you try them over a black base?

Just like Alcad, to get the maximum chrome effect you need a gloss black base under Spaz Stix. 

[JollySipper]

Thanks, Harry......... I thought the black base was the trick, even found that spaz stix makes a base for use with it's product. Some of my family is going to the next town and hopefully stopping by a hobby shop for me this weekend, maybe they'll have what I need......

[Harry P.]

Spax Stix does make their own black base, but really any gloss black will work. I used Testors gloss black enamel. Of course, if you want to be absolutely sure to get the best results, I guess I'd go with the Spaz Stix black base. After all, they were designed to work together.

[Miatatom]

Just like Alcad, to get the maximum chrome effect you need a gloss black base under Spaz Stix.

Harry, you may have answered this before but do you spray the Spaz Stix out of the can or decant and A/B? What primer  and gloss black brands do you use? Do you shoot the primer and gloss black out of the can or decant and A/B? TIA!

[Harry P.]

Tom, I like to keep it simple. No primer. I sand the part as smooth as I can get it, then gloss black Testors enamel out of the can (I suppose you could use Tamiya gloss black, or any brand, really), polish out any obvious specks of dust or crud, then Spaz Stix out of the can. 

I suppose you could decant and AB everything, but takes away the whole reason why I like Spaz Stix... it looks so good right out of the can!

[Miatatom]

Thanks for the quick response. I like it simple too. I'll be buying some of this to try.