Revell spray chrome

[Bill Eh?]

10 hours ago, deuces wild said:

B Rex did a video on this chrome...

I watched his test video. He wasn't entirely impressed with the results he obtained.

[LennyB]

10 hours ago, stitchdup said:

it used to be available from that classic restoration catalogues that were in every magazine circa 2000. i cant remember the name (maybe frost) but the cover was usually green. they rebranded some of eastwood products but i've not seen them for years

You can buy it direct from Eastwood. Don't know if they ship overseas.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-liquid-chrome-and-black-base-coat.html

[Ferbz]

On 12/31/2024 at 10:39 AM, Brutalform said:

I’ve seen it for $30ish. I can’t break down and buy it though, when I’ve been using this for years. Only $17 shipped. And it lasts a long time. 

I just came across this post. The price makes this attractive to me! Can you handle the parts ok after spraying this? I notice handling parts after using Molotow chrome pens alters the shininess.

[Brutalform]

14 hours ago, Ferbz said:

I just came across this post. The price makes this attractive to me! Can you handle the parts ok after spraying this? I notice handling parts after using Molotow chrome pens alters the shininess.

I’ve never had any problems with handling the parts after they dry thoroughly. I’d give em 24 hrs. Nothing like the Molotow ink. 

[Mattilacken]

On 1/8/2025 at 12:15 PM, Nicholas said:

I have just bought this stuff, best stuff I have used to date, I tested it on the exhaust tip in the pic, I black based it with my Alcad black, then lightly applied the chrome on it , no clear after and rubbed it between my rough sandpaper fingers about 25 times and nothing  came off! I only let it dry for about 1/2 hour! I bought mine from bobs hobby shop and r c , guys name is Ed as his father was bob. he is the only distributor for outlaw paints as they are out of Australia 

 Must say that tha looks good in my eyes, I have revell chrome and used it on some parts just recently not sure about the results just jet but 12h dry time and it does not like to be touched and that might be bad for me since I am inpatient 😂 

I used Zero Paints Azzuro Thetys, which is a silver for Lamborghini, it have a chrome like loom or at least semi polished alu, so I might go a head and try their chrome paint and se how it works, much better in handling since it’s a lacquer. @stitchdup have you tried it? I know hiroboy carry it. 
 

https://www.zero-paints.com/Chrome_Paint_30ml_Zero_Paints--product--7597.html

Edited March 1 by Mattilacken

[Brizio]

Revell chrome paint is great! I did some test last year and very happy with the result. Also can be spray on non prepped parts (parts with no primer). They sell it on Amazon for $37,99 and free shipping. 

[stitchdup]

5 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

 Must say that tha looks good in my eyes, I have revell chrome and used it on some parts just recently not sure about the results just jet but 12h dry time and it does not like to be touched and that might be bad for me since I am inpatient 😂 

I used Zero Paints Azzuro Thetys, which is a silver for Lamborghini, it have a chrome like loom or at least semi polished alu, so I might go a head and try their chrome paint and se how it works, much better in handling since it’s a lacquer. @stitchdup have you tried it? I know hiroboy carry it. 
 

https://www.zero-paints.com/Chrome_Paint_30ml_Zero_Paints--product--7597.html

nah, i live on an island so they charge extra for shipping paints. it would make the revell stuff over £60 a tin. zero paints i haven't tried yet but i do have the golf harlequin paint from them

[Sledsel]

Well, I am building a 49 Ford and wanted the bumper guards removed. After working on them and getting them to look good I used BMF on them. They looked good but not right.

I bit the bullet and purchased some Revell Chrome. I considered the plating cost and how much I could get plated for $35 and decided to try it out. 

Well, I am very happy with the results and the can should go a long way.

The bumper was primered with black primer and wet sanded with 3000 grit, cleaned with dawn and painted. Quick mist coats and when it was all smooth, stopped. Gonna let it set for quite awhile til I finish other projects.

Here is one of the bumpers, other than a small area where I worked on it, it came out great IMO. You can even see my hands holding the camera about a foot away.

[Bugatti Fan]

Heard it is good but costs an arm and a leg.

Will they produce this stuff for airbrush use I wonder ? The aerosol creates a lot of wasted overspray I would imagine !

[NOBLNG]

3 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Heard it is good but costs an arm and a leg.

Will they produce this stuff for airbrush use I wonder ? The aerosol creates a lot of wasted overspray I would imagine !

I have decanted it and it airbrushes beautifully. It would be nice if it came in a liquid like the Molotow refills. It would likely cut their production costs too.

[peteski]

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

I have decanted it and it airbrushes beautifully. It would be nice if it came in a liquid like the Molotow refills. It would likely cut their production costs too.

I think that Revell (or any for-profit company) doesn't make products to minimize cost. They make them to maximize profits.  So selling expensive spray cans is what they want to do.

[NOBLNG]

55 minutes ago, peteski said:

I think that Revell (or any for-profit company) doesn't make products to minimize cost. They make them to maximize profits.  So selling expensive spray cans is what they want to do.

?🙄

[Belugawrx]

Everyone wants to minimize production costs tho

[av405]

Something to remember is that unlike other chrome paint options, Revell doesn't require a black base coat. You can spray it over bare plastic or primer and it'll look just as good. So you're already able to cut out the cost of buying a black base coat when purchasing Revell chrome. It'll still undoubtedly be too expensive for some, but just food for thought.

[Jim Dodson]

Recently sold into indentured servitude to buy my first can of the Revell Chrome spray. The post above states no gloss undercoat required and then goes on to imply I can simple spray right over the 1959 AMT annual Buick kit's deteriorated front grill/bumper assembly as is. Am I misreading the poster's intent?

[NOBLNG]

15 minutes ago, Jim Dodson said:

Recently sold into indentured servitude to buy my first can of the Revell Chrome spray. The post above states no gloss undercoat required and then goes on to imply I can simple spray right over the 1959 AMT annual Buick kit's deteriorated front grill/bumper assembly as is. Am I misreading the poster's intent?

The finish will only be as smooth as the surface you spray it on. It is very thin and any texture on the deteriorated parts will show through. Personally, I would rather strip the chrome, smooth any blemishes and prime rather than spray on bare plastic.

[av405]

29 minutes ago, Jim Dodson said:

Recently sold into indentured servitude to buy my first can of the Revell Chrome spray. The post above states no gloss undercoat required and then goes on to imply I can simple spray right over the 1959 AMT annual Buick kit's deteriorated front grill/bumper assembly as is. Am I misreading the poster's intent?

My intent was simply to share what I learned based on my own first hand experience with the product and what I've consistently seen on videos and forums online. Did you do any prep on the surface before spraying the chrome? I always sand all of my parts with 600 grit and then wash them in warm water mixed with Dawn before painting.

[Bugatti Fan]

Alberto mentioned that this product does not need a base coat gloss black like others, thus saving the cost of the base coat. I would probably use a gloss black base cost with it anyway, and guess that many others might too.

It was also mentioned by another poster that companies like to keep their costs down, so only producing this stuff in aerosol form has got to be much more expensive than producing it in  bottled form?

Someone else mentioned that it can be decanted to use in an airbrush. Yes of course it can. But how inconvenient having to go through the faff of doing this.

Lastly, is the Revell Chrome more durable when handled compared to other 'chrome' finishes ? If not I cannot see any advantage in using it.

Edited March 22 by Bugatti Fan

[Zoom Zoom]

14 hours ago, av405 said:

Something to remember is that unlike other chrome paint options, Revell doesn't require a black base coat. You can spray it over bare plastic or primer and it'll look just as good. So you're already able to cut out the cost of buying a black base coat when purchasing Revell chrome. It'll still undoubtedly be too expensive for some, but just food for thought.

This is true with Revell's Chrom as well as the chrome inks from at least AK and Molotow. They all are pigment dense and require a heavy coat for the reflections to look authentic, it doesn't matter whatsoever what color the plastic is underneath. As long as it's smooth/shiny/clean, parts sprayed (or brush painted) will look fine without any gloss black base coat. Modelers as a group are thoroughly entrenched in old-school methods that Alclad II chrome required (smooth part, apply gloss black enamel, then chrome) or Spaz Stix chrome (Tamiya LP or TS gloss black base) that they continue to use those gloss black base coats that are completely unnecessary. But if it makes 'em feel good/confident, they'll be fine regardless. I don't use enamels anymore and I like saving my Tamiya LP-1 gloss black for shiny black bodies and I might use a chrome plating service for models that deserve the best finish on bumpers.

[Jim Dodson]

Thanks to all who offered feedback on my question. I have not done any work whatsoever on the old kit chrome. All of my efforts on this old swap meet find have been on planning/executing a kitbash between this 1959 annual glue bomb and a recent issue Monogram 1959 Impala convertible kit chassis. I had to stretch the Chevy chassis to match the Buick wheelbase, but otherwise the mechanical 'arranged marriage' looks to work.

[mcs1056]

On 3/22/2025 at 8:13 AM, Bugatti Fan said:

Alberto mentioned that this product does not need a base coat gloss black like others, thus saving the cost of the base coat. I would probably use a gloss black base cost with it anyway, and guess that many others might too.

It was also mentioned by another poster that companies like to keep their costs down, so only producing this stuff in aerosol form has got to be much more expensive than producing it in  bottled form?

Someone else mentioned that it can be decanted to use in an airbrush. Yes of course it can. But how inconvenient having to go through the faff of doing this.

Lastly, is the Revell Chrome more durable when handled compared to other 'chrome' finishes ? If not I cannot see any advantage in using it.

Reading of decanting and , I just  this morning. Did you know that spray can decanted fluids still hold some of the gas? So I, being a smart feller, let it gas for about a half hour, until it stopped bubbling. This was a couple of days ago. 

With the contents in a Pre-Val jar, I put it on the shelf after I sprayed what I wanted. GREAT!

This morning, I grabbed that jar and gave it a good shake to mix. Upon opening the jar, I learned that the stuff had further gassed, and became a spray bottle again when I spun off the top. 

Hands now white. Workbench now white. To be blue model body now white. Tops of shoes...guess what. 

Though none of the decanting videos I had seen referenced this phenomena, it seems like one should have let the stuff gas until it fully hardens in the jar.

Learn from me, folks. My life is full of lessons. (We can talk about removing the bellcrank from a LearJet fuel control some day)

Edited March 23 by stitchdup

[RancheroSteve]

Yes, there have been discussions of this phenomena in some of the decanting threads here. It's important to note that the gas isn't a completely separate element from the paint, but rather is dissolved in it. Agitating the paint - whether it's in the can or not - releases the gas.

Edited March 24 by RancheroSteve

[peteski]

On 3/23/2025 at 12:31 PM, mcs1056 said:

Though none of the decanting videos I had seen referenced this phenomena, it seems like one should have let the stuff gas until it fully hardens in the jar.

LOL, not quite that long.  This phenomenon is often discussed in threads in online forums about decanting paint. I don't  really watch YouTube videos and I'm not sure why they fail to mention that the paint will be degassing for quite some time.  I don't think it is malicious.  I leave the decanted bottle's lid slightly loose for couple days, gentling swirling the bottle from time to time. If you were to search this forum for decanting info, you would find multiple threads about the subject.

 

[Brutalform]

I stripped my Kenworth chrome wheels, and applied the Revell Chrom spray. I let them sit for 36 hrs, and when I handled them it left fingerprints. 91% alcohol stripped the spray chrome off easily. We shall see after it sits for 48 hrs this time. Nothing is printed on the can that I can understand. Hopefully 48 will be long enough. 

[Rodent]

I have found that SpazStix clear doesn't affect the "chrominess" of Revell Chrom. In fact, the first thing I tried it on was a pair of taillamp bezels that were anodized aluminum in the 1:1 world and I was looking to tone it down a bit.