Chrome parts are annoying

HEY,
I have found a solution to your problems, chrome paint. I found some in a rattle can. It is not as shiny as the chrome plated parts but it is still chrome. Also try gloss silver. It is shiny and it does look like chrome.

Randy

BareMetal Foil will give you a nice result. Not as thick as aluminum foil, so it conforms to shapes a lot better. Good luck!
Tommy

The muffler is one of the most important conspicuous part on a motorcycle. The chrome halves once I join them together, there will be a seam down the middle. Is there a seam down the middle on a real motorcycle?

Usually no join. I had this very same problem with a Cobra 427. Fill the join and then sand smooth taking most or all the chrome off or strip the chrome with household bleach or somesuch. Then cover the lot with bare metal foil chrome -if you make the join of the foil on the inside it will be even more un-noticeable than it already is. Alternatively if you have an air-brush use Alclad II chrome - this is really the best way. Have look in the archive of http://www.modelersite.com it's odds on that your bike is there.

My experience is that the best two ways to go are:
- bare metal foil (or a competitive product)
- alclad II chrome paint.
They each take some practice and have some 'quirks', but if you have patience they will turn out results that some say look 'better' than the factory chrome plating on the sprues.

If you do a bit of a search on the fsm forum, I expect you can find lots of different threads that talk about foil and/or alclad II.

Good luck... hopefully you'll be able to give us an update and maybe even post a few pictures!!

Murray

I heard there is a company that rechromes the parts for you. Something like Chromatech...

On that last one Hou_ge2000 they must be onto a loser! It's a matter of opinion and personal choice but now most people are using either the BMF product or the Alclad as Murray said. I can't think of any reason to send your parts away when the wherewithall it there to do the job yourself! Some people like to use the BMF'oil because it puts down what is realistically real metal on the part and others like the Alclad which gives a fantastic result but is, when all's said and done,another paint. It's up to you what you want. Alclad is probably the one easier to use because it is very forgiving but the preparation is 95 pecent of the secret while BMF takes a little forethought and practice but again shows every mark under it so still needs thorough preparation. Of the two I would think that you may get away with more with the Alclad than the BMF because you can give it multiple coats and polish it out. The Cobra that I referred to earlier is at
http://www.modelersite.com/Ago2003/English/central.htm?I+Agree=I+Agree
with a bit of luck - pity he messed up the pictures which make it look worse than it is.

P.S. That link to the Cobra doesn't work you'll have to access CARS in the gallery and then find it on the right hand side. Pictures are Cr**p but all the chrome on that except the wheels (which are alloy) is Bare Metal Foil including the screen surround, which was too thick, and the instrument bezzles and steering wheel.