polished aluminum on wheels

[roadhawg]

On 9/21/2022 at 8:29 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Sure would like to see some "if you do this, it'll look like this" photos.

I don't have much use for unsubstantiated opinions, hearsay, "I think...", or "I use such-and-such" without pictures.  

These race car wheels were done with Alclad chrome over Testors enamel black, it's the closest thing I've found to polished aluminum yet......short of using actual polished aluminum wheels. 

 

 

[crowe-t]

2 hours ago, roadhawg said:

These race car wheels were done with Alclad chrome over Testors enamel black, it's the closest thing I've found to polished aluminum yet......short of using actual polished aluminum wheels. 

 

 

These wheels look great!  What technique do you use for spraying the enamel and chrome paint in the deep dish wheels.  I tend to get a bumpy texture spraying deep dish wheels. 

Edited October 2, 2022 by crowe-t

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 hours ago, roadhawg said:

These race car wheels were done with Alclad chrome over Testors enamel black, it's the closest thing I've found to polished aluminum yet......short of using actual polished aluminum wheels. 

Thank you, sir. Those are certainly compelling evidence that that's the way to go...

[Dpate]

20 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Just wondering how it compares to Molotow. Big price difference. 

It looks more realistic than molotow IMO, but will look similar in certain situations.  AK super chrome is on the same level as molotow, and it can be brushed on as well and actually dries faster than molotow and just as bright.  I don't use there markers anymore at all, and would never buy another.  You get more paint with green stuff world than you do in a molotow marker.  Green stuff world isn't that much more expensive than other brands it's just the shipping makes it more pricey.  If you want another brand to try besides the typical brands you could give kustom service chrome a try.  It's $8 for 30mL bottle.

[Dpate]

10 hours ago, crowe-t said:

These wheels look great!  What technique do you use for spraying the enamel and chrome paint in the deep dish wheels.  I tend to get a bumpy texture spraying deep dish wheels. 

Probably masked using a circle cutter to make circle masks.  Just put your wheels on a kabob stick or similar and spin the wheel with your fingers as your paint.  That will help from the paint bouncing around inside the rim as if it was stationary.

[TransAmMike]

1 hour ago, Dpate said:

It looks more realistic than molotow IMO, but will look similar in certain situations.  AK super chrome is on the same level as molotow, and it can be brushed on as well and actually dries faster than molotow and just as bright.  I don't use there markers anymore at all, and would never buy another.  You get more paint with green stuff world than you do in a molotow marker.  Green stuff world isn't that much more expensive than other brands it's just the shipping makes it more pricey.  If you want another brand to try besides the typical brands you could give kustom service chrome a try.  It's $8 for 30mL bottle.

So many choices huh. Everything I buy other than what's at HL has to be online. Shipping cost sure can vary. 

[Dpate]

47 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

So many choices huh. Everything I buy other than what's at HL has to be online. Shipping cost sure can vary. 

Yeah even though i have a few shops over an hour away i still order just about everything online.

[roadhawg]

20 hours ago, crowe-t said:

These wheels look great!  What technique do you use for spraying the enamel and chrome paint in the deep dish wheels.  I tend to get a bumpy texture spraying deep dish wheels. 

Thank you sir. The best I remember I didn't do anything special, I just painted the wheels the way I would a body (primer, wet sand as best as I could, paint) using an airbrush and several light coats until it was nice and glossy black The black basecoat has to be pretty good....just like BMF, any imperfections will show in the chrome. I applied the Alclad chrome the way they suggest, using very low pressure and several very light coats. 

[Straightliner59]

Alclad Chrome over Walmart's Color Place Gloss Black spray (yes, from the can!).

[Monty]

Here's a demo of the chrome paints from Green Stuff World

 

[ea0863]

On 10/18/2022 at 10:46 AM, Monty said:

Here's a demo of the chrome paints from Green Stuff World

 

Very useful link, thanks!