Putting chrome on plastic parts

Hi me again trooothfully I was just being a smart alec. Though one could have
part done like this , I dont think many could justify the cost. 2-300 bucks a run.
model co's do thousands at a time. However, if you could solve substrate problem(copper the best in this medium.). Micro marks may just work. After
all real chrome parts are cu. underplated.

QUOTE: [i] How hard could it be?.

Sounds simple enough, does FSM recommend any home kits? LOL

rabbiteatsnake

first, welcome to the forum

second, the theory is simple, but the equipment required is rather specialized. For a country the size of the USA, there aren't that many places that silver mirrors let alone are willing to silver a plastic model. (unfortunately)

The process vacuum metalising, much like how they coat mirrors, is acomplished by coating with a dialectric lacquer. The parts are placed
in a chamber where the vacuum is formed. the parts are charged(elec + -).
A thin aluminium wire is fused(vaporised electrically)where it settles on
the anode, in this case the part. How hard could it be?.

I don't know what kit that is, but all they show is engine and drivetrain components. I was hoping to see a late 1950's Caddy, with a ton of chrome.

Look at the F-104 and the United Airlines jet, those are as shiny as chrome, or so it seems.

In the Alclad2 home page on the left hand side under automotive, there are 2 tabs. One for a lotus kit and a second that only says super detailing... what kit are they showing for super detailing??

There was also a FSM piece a while back about restoring car kits. I remember they stripped the old "chrome" off and after preping them sent them to a plater. If I remember correctly they gave the companies address in the source section of the story.

Thanks for all the information! I really appreciate your help

If you mean to plate the plastic so they look like the chrome plated parts that come in some kits (cars usually) check FSMs Index. They published an article several years ago on how to have a model or model parts chromed and it even had a list of places that could perform the process (don't know how up to date it would be today though). I seem to remember they built up a 1/48 B-17 and had the entire model chromed for the article.

Swanny has a tutorial about using Alclad...

http://www.swannysmodels.com/Alclad.html

Also, visit Alclad's page...

http://www.alclad2.com/alclad-home.html

and look at the F-104 model, that is a good indication of what the stuff can do. Pay close attention to Swanny's tutorial, he really knows his stuff. He is a master modeler if there ever was one.

Hmmm I think Id rather use alclad2 or bmf.

The chrome on plastic parts is not the same as that of metal parts. You can send them to a shop that does vacuum plating. They will spray your parts with clear lacquer and them put them in a vacuum chamber where vaporized aluminum will be introduced. When the part is dry you'll have a piece that is exaxtly the same as a kit chromed part.

Try the Alclad IIsystem,I have seen the result on a Tamiya Formula 1
Ferrari and i first thought it was real chrome !!The only problem with Alclad is that
this paint is very dangerous for your health (cellulosic solvent based).Allways
weare a mask wen spraying it .

Why don't you just paint it with Alclad II or Spaz-Stix chrome?

Bare Metal Foil is what I currently use on all my natural metal finishes. It can work on cars just as well as on planes. BMF is about $4.00 a sheet and comes in Matt aluminum, Chrome and Ulta bright. It's not very hard to apply. I know a lot of guys like to use SNJ metalizer for their finishes, but since I've never used the SNJ stuff i can't comment on how well it goes on or how much work is involved. It comes in a powder form and I don't want to deal with the mess. But that's just my preference. I guess the thing to do is to try both and see which gives you the results you want.
Good luck.
Chris