I know it doesnt look just like chrome and wont replace chrome but we have used it some and its kind of a neat look on some things...anyone tried applying it over a basecoat of some kind and had any different results?? thanks-
I used the chrome powder a few times, but only as a base coat for candy colors. I mixed it with some house of color gold flake and a candy red top coat and my favorite was a candy lime green over the chrome with heavy green flake. With the automotive flake you have to lower the baking temp to about 375 and bake a little longer. I will try to dig up some photos.
Single stage or with clear? I used the 2-stage on some parts and they lost a bunch of reflectivity after the clear went on. I dumped the cure temp down on the clear as they recommend, but have not had good luck. If you go to their site, they have a forum and others have posted pics of the different colors applied over chrome base. I doubt it would do anything itself over a base since it is an opaque color. Here are a couple of brackets I did with the 2-stage.
The first generation chrome powder didn't work to well for me. It required a clear coat and I had trouble with the clear coat. This is the newer stuff. I think they call it reflective chrome. Strong solvents will ruin the shine. It'll never replace real chrome but it is about as good as some of the high dollar ceramic coatings that I've seen. Part of the problem, I'm sure is operator error as I learn more and practice more. I love it for carb linkage and small parts. When you really get close there are some dull spots that will up set the perfectionists but for the price it's hard to beat IMHO.
maybe you know or maybe not... the fake chrome has to full cure, then apply clear when cool and rebake. Fake chrome over anything will just make it fake chrome, Translucent color can go over, as well as flake in clear.
Tommy, that RC looks a lot better than with clear, is it Eastwood's? I did some reading and someone mentioned that it was the UV protection in the clear that causes it. Ironically, it's that same component that keeps the the first stage from tarnishing. I also read that using an acrylic over looks better, but some argued the time/pain vs. the reward is not worth it. It was also mentioned that not having a full cure on the 1st stage could cause the chrome to re-flow once the clear is added. This causes them to melt together and makes it more grey in color.
It's Eastwood reflective chrome and it does not have any clear on it. They did not specify to use the clear. I don't know how long it will last but so far so good. We'll see. Yeah I know the lettering looks bad up close.
If that's single stage RC then it does not need the clear. They have two, and they even say in their forums that the single has a bit more reflectivity. They also have a sprayable liquid chrome product that goes over a black base and then gets cleared. I have never tried it, but have used a very similar product on Lexan R/C bodies and it looks great. I will get one of them down and post a pic.
I have also used the single stage, and while its obviously not chrome, it sure makes odd little brackets and things look good to me; especially stuff buried in the engine "clutter" and down low on the chassis.
I have tried a lot of avenues to keep the sheen once cleared and the best results I have found is using acrylic clear powder. I get it from powder by the pound. This is powder by the pound ultimate chrome with acrylic clear... Coincidentally, I just cooked my first batch of parts with some of the single stage chrome. They are in the oven cooling right now.
Check this out... http://powderbuythepound.com/ flakes, candies, chrome, etc. tons of different powders!
Here is the spray chrome. I was thinking about buying Eastwoods and trying it on some of the parts that won't get much abuse. It's tough to see on such small detail on a dusty 1/10th scale body, but it looks much better than the brackets I powdered.
The Jalopy Journal
