Auto Chrome?

Whitecloud100

Use the Clear Smoke on top of the kit chrome plate?

 

Yes - easy and effective trick.

For super shiney I've used Alclad ALC 119 over gloss black.  This little DC-3 was super shiney.

Thank you all for chiming in.

I truly appreciate the feedback.

It's well worth the effort, especially when building kits from older molds, where you get a bunch of chrome plated flash and mold imperfections. 

I would caution agains Molotow markers/refills. It does look fabulous, particularly when airbrushed, but it does not take handling and is damaged quite easily.  

I have also tried MRP Chrome, which seems to dark to me, but I only started using is and only over gloss black paint. I am going to try Dark grey and Dark blue next.

AK Extreme Metal Chrome seems to be the best option right now IMO. It is pretty durable when dry and looks pretty good to my eye.

These bumpers and shocks were painted with AK Chrome and the pipes were painted with MRP Chrome

Whitecloud100

Use the Clear Smoke on top of the kit chrome plate?

 

I often use an overcoat of Testors Dullcoat to look like polished aluminum.

Use the Clear Smoke on top of the kit chrome plate?

When I do decide to rechrome or chrome parts that should be chrome but are not, like around windows etc, I too use Molotow. I also have a craft paint that does a decent job on things like gutter rails, but I wouldn't do an entire grill or bumper with it.

gregbale

If you haven't encountered it yet, I'd suggest you look for a finish product called Molotow Chrome. It's available (online, craft and hobby stores, all the usual places) in pens or as a liquid 'refill' that can be brushed or airbrushed. It is by far the closest thing to real chrome I've seen in my nearly 6 decades of modeling, and it's sort of 'self-leveling,' so it gives a nice smooth finish. Really good stuff!

I found Testors Metallic Silver in the little square bottles to look just like what the Molotow pens produce.  Great to use on a car that has been painted with a lacquer or a real automotive enamel like MCW.  Any little foul-ups can be cleaned up completely with a little mineral spirits.

I'm another one that usually removes the kit chrome IF seams or sprue attachment points need to be cleaned up -- there's no way any touchup will blend properly.

If you haven't encountered it yet, I'd suggest you look for a finish product called Molotow Chrome. It's available (online, craft and hobby stores, all the usual places) in pens or as a liquid 'refill' that can be brushed or airbrushed. It is by far the closest thing to real chrome I've seen in my nearly 6 decades of modeling, and it's sort of 'self-leveling,' so it gives a nice smooth finish. Really good stuff!

I built Monogram's Tom Daniel's Red Baron Hot Rod, and I stripped the chrome, primarily because I wanted to clean up the seams and sprue gates on those parts.

I used SuperClean to strip the chrome (it dissolved into the solution in two minutes) and used Rustoleum's Metallic Finish 7718 Chrome to repaint the pieces.  It produced a nice finish that looked more real than the kit chrome.  A little darker than that bright chrome Monogram used.  A buddy of mine who details cars, as well as building models of them, said he thought it looked better, too.

In the end, though, it comes down to your own preference.  Test whatever technique you decide upon on some scrap pieces first, to see.

You can also treat the existing kit chrome with washes and semigoss clear coats etc. Assuming it's clean chrome, not chrome over a bunch of flash or impurities before the chrome process was done.

Thanks guys!

Defiantly going to give it a try.

Another trick is to shoot them with a coat of Tamiya clear smoke

I think its well worth the effort.  Makes those parts look more realistic instead of looking like they belong on a toy.  Stripped and re-chromed these Magnum 500 wheels using Alclad 107 Chrome.  Another advantage to doing it this way for these wheels is that Alclad requires a gloss black (or sometimes gloss blue) base coat, so all I had to do to get the black insets on the wheels was to base coat the wheels with gloss black, stuff some Silly Putty into the insets, and then spray them with the Alclad 107 Chrome.