motocycle exhaust

maffen

Welcome to the FSM site, and congrats on your first post. Sorry that I can't answer your question. But, do not take offense if nobody answers your questions.

Remember that most paint and glue will not stick to the chrome parts. One of those rules that I really do not understand.

Try painting a piece of spruce with chrome paint. Then put a coat of gloss on it. Finally test your technique on it.

Good Luck

I have never actually done this... but you might try using an oil wash. One advantage of oil is that it dries slowly enough to have plenty of time to "adjust" it... adding or removing the wash.

And it is easy to mix just the color you want.

I've never done it, but from reading various article in magazines, it sounds like you're on the right path. Clear colors overtop of the crome seem to be what I remember...

Murray

a couple of other suggestions....try using watercolor paints with a little gum arabic mixed in or acrylic paints with a gloss medium added ...also stained glass paints would probably work..

Maffen,

Strip the chrome (most racers don't have chrome anyway), paint it with a metalizer and use a wash to simulate the bluing. The wash will adhere better to the paint than the chrome.

thanks everybody for the reply , your help put me on the way

I have a little trick that used on Aircraft...I also noticed this works with using metalizer paints...very interesting thing happened. I will explain both techniques:
1. Use a blue permanent marker with a damp paper towel. To do this take your damp paper towel and cover the exhaust...then slowly rub the permanent marker over the paper towel so that it bleeds through onto the part. go slow and do this sparingly so you don't put too much marker ink on the part. This will give help give you that blued look you are looking for. (use Red for contrast)

2. (This was by accident but turned out very nice) I first painted my part with buffing metalizer paint and let it dry for about a day or so. I then took a blue permanent marker and covered the area completely where I wanted blue to go (The part I was working on was a spring on an f1 rear suspension part...I wanted the spring to look blue). I let that dry for about an hour or so...I then went back to touch up the areas I had put marker ink on by accident (Kinda got marker happy on some spots). What I did next supprised me. I went back with a fine brush...loaded it up with my metalizer and began to cover the areas again where I had too much ink...to my supprise the laquire paint kinda spread the ink with the metalizer and gave it a blue sheen. I then tried it on a piece of exhaust with very good results. it literally thins the blue ink down and covers with the metalizer to make it have a blue tint. Worth trying if you decide to strip and start from there.

My two cents worth...

thanks man , gonna try this on a piece of scrap first , sound promising

Justin, that sounds alot like 'pre-shading' I've heard about with aircraft panels. You may have hit on a good method, though. If the 'metal' coat is somewhat translucent, then the color underneith would show through?? In your case, it sounds like it 'blended' with the metalic paint, but I wonder what would happen if you'd just paint 'blue' onto the part before putting the metalizer over it??

I'd try this out, but alas, I'm still without a bench and/or all my model 'stuff' since my house move...

Murray

That's a good question Murray.
Might be worth trying...I know that lacquer thinner will pretty much thin anything. I do believe most metalizer paints are somewhat translucent. You might get different results with different types of paint. I was using Testors MM metalizer when I brushed it on for touch up. I will try your idea on some scrap and see what happens.

hi fellowbuilders , i've tride the technique for bleuing with the permanent marker , first a coat of revell metalliser (let it dry), on top permanent marker (let dry) and then put some metalliser again on top. nothing happens (have thin it down in several stages to almost water). i know you taken the metalliser from testors but i don't think it would make any difference what kind you take or am i wrong? thanks for replying

Only thing I could add is that I did this...

I put the permanent marker on fairly heavy...then I hand brushed the MM metalizer over it (almost like a dry brush method but with a little more paint on the brush) and it just kinda melted in with the metalizer...this is the MM metalizer for airbrush only...I used a brush to go over the areas not my airbrush. As a matter of fact I went back over the area again last night cause I still had blue tint in the metalizer from the marker.
I personally haven't used Revell metalizer before so Im not sure about that specifically. Model Master Metalizer is pretty darn thin and Laquer based. If Revell has to be thinned for airbrush that might have something to do with it...also if it is enamel based might make a difference as well.
I am going to experiment more...Im going to try Alcalad metalizers next.
I hope this gives you some direction to try...if not I apologize. keep trying!

Maffen,
Tamiya Model Magazine International issue 100 has a detailed article on building a Suzuki RGV 500.
In it the author staes he "blued" the exhaust with clear colours of red and blue over a base of X32 Titanium.
Then the welds were hilighted with X23 Clear Blue.

In the magazine it looks convincing enough but I would have blended the colours a little more and made the change from blue to red a little more gradual and used an intermediate coat of purple as well a a coat of bronze to give the burnished look so common on Formula 1 machines and racing bikes..

Hope this helps,
Cheers, Pete.

thanks pete , going to try this ( the paint i think is from testors?) see if i can get some. greatings

maffen,
I found this as well and thought it may be of some help:
From Fine Scale Modeler Magazine, October 2002,
Readers Tips, Page 58.
Supplied by Chris Bowcock

Heat Stressed Exhaust Pipes
To replicate heat stressed metal on my 1/12 scale Yamaha TZ 250M, I painted the exhaust flat black then airbrushed thinned Burgundy Testor enamel on the pipe bends and joints until they were a subtle shade of purple.
I dipped a damp cotton swab into Doc O'Briens faded blue weathering powder (available from Micro Mark) and applied this paste over the areas I had painted.
When the powder dried into a dull haze I buffed it with a dry cotton swab until it had an almost transparent purplish-bluish sheen.
The effect only seems to work on black or dark colours.
On aluminium or steel colours you get more of a true blue but after some vigorous rubbing you can get some of the purple to show.

Cheers, Pete.

I've used the Model Master's clear blue with a fine tipped airbrush to get the effect you are after, It works great. Here is a link to a picture of a Harley I did that to. http://www.angelfire.com/space2/sachsfamily/harley1.jpg