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Chrome paint??????????????

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NcBaller1985

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2003
Location
Shallotte, NC
Is there anyway to a paint with chrome paint without it turning an ugly grey color when you touch it. The part I need painted is on the front of the case so it is bound to get touched sometime. I have tried Rust-Olem chrome and Dupli-Color Chrome, but they both turn grey when you touch them. Also when you try to put a clear coat on it....it turns grey too!!!! Is there a way to paint it chrome without this happening??? The front panel is plastic by the way. Thanks in advance!!! :D
 
Chrome paint sucks donkey balls. I can promise you that there is no way you can possibly acheive a 'chrome' look without SOME sort of electroplating. But, depending on the size of the object, this might be MUCH easier than you think, even cheap. How big is the object you are attempting?

Also, you could have it professionally done, if you want a truly beautiful exterior.
 
Negative on the professional job, its for my Microsoft MVP case mod and it is a tight budget mod. Here is what I am painting chrome....hopefully.

030903-mm2.jpg


The red part would be painted chrome. I REALLY want this chrome as it will look good with the blue paint I have. Anyway of doing this? I was thinking of trying some Plasti Kote Bumper chrome. I am not trying to make it look EXATXLY like real chrome... as I know there is no dublicating that with a spray can. Just want a chromy effect. So is it doable? Thanks. :D

Oh by the way...this is one of the last things holding me up from finishing this case so anything that would work or thoughts or suggestions are really needed. If I can't the chrome look then I will have to just go with silver or something...but I REALLY want to aviod that if at all possiable.
 
I don't want to be rushy....but I am going to make a trip up to the auto sore for paint here in the next couple of hours and I would REALLY like to aviod buying this bumper chrome for nothing. I don't even have a chrome bumper on my car I could use the extra paint on. It would just be thrown in my "modding closet" with the other...oh say...around 18 cans of spraint paint. And yes, I have enough computer "stuff" and modding "stuff" to fill up an ENTIRE closet. Back on subject....PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
What is your budget on the effect? It would be fairly expensive to have it professionally done because they would have to copper coat it first for conductivity. However, if you wanted to have the option of possibly chroming MORE things in the future, I have a few "almost-chrome" kits I could suggest. I've been doing a lot of chroming lately for my little chiller box, so I'm fresh on ideas ^_^.

Honestly, I don't think you'll be able to achieve anything better than a splotchy silver look without spending $20 or more. A little can of paint just won't do. I like your etching and cases and I think you deserve to have a decent chrome job, not a shoddy, drippy metallic spray paint. I'm sorry if that comes off abrasive(pun!) but I simply have too small of an opinion on spray cans.
 
As far as I have seen there is no way possible to get any spary paint to look like chrome. the best you could hope for is a brushed look.

I dont know about your area but you could try to find someone who does vacuum vapor deposition on plastic. I know here in the Dallas area one of the junk yards I used to go to, had a plating setup that took whole car dashboard instrament clusters and including prep would do the plastic chrome plating for about 30-50 bucks.

It would be fairly expensive to have it professionally done because they would have to copper coat it first for conductivity.

EDIT: Plastic usually is not electroplated. To plate plastic you first strip the surface of all the paint and coatings and buff the plastic smooth so you have a nice smooth surface. Then you treat the plastic with a solvent to tack the surface up. The plastic is placed in a vacuum chamber, pumped down. Then a metal strip(usually aliminium) is vaporized and the vapor plates to the tacky surface of the plastic.

Of course there are steps I'm prolly leaving out and this is definatly not a DIY project, but you get the idea.
 
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Understandable...and it really is going to bother me, seeing as I am a perfectionist (WITH EVERYTHING, computers, etching, school work, etc.), but I guess I will just go for a sleek silver or something at least semi-chromy. I don't like to take short cuts, and if this was my personal case, there WOULD be no short cuts, but there just isn't any funding at the current time to do what I want to do. Also this is for his senior project (a BIG project Seniors in High school down here have to do where you write a long research paper and then do a physical project and present it to a panel of judges...in other words....a pan in the a$$!) and he has to have the case done soon. It's a shame, but I will just make the best of the situation and try to find at least a good looking silver. :(

Oh, your gonna like etching for this case! At first, he hand drew me a VERY simple wave and said he wanted that etched. I looked at him and told him there was no way I was going to do something that simple because I have a reputation on here to keep!!!! LMAO We found a much more complicated design that was to both me and his liking. Not REAL detailed like the HALO etching, but pretty detailed. I think it is some sort of tattoo design or something…but it’s cool. Should be done in the next 2 weeks sometime. Oh, and I finally got some cold cathodes to better show off my work!!! :D

Damn, I can’t believe I just typed that much. ROFL!!!!
 
NcBaller1985 said:
I looked at him and told him there was no way I was going to do something that simple because I have a reputation on here to keep!!!! LMAO

haha! That's great.

For this project, I guess I would go with the lightest silver you can find. They darken the color with black pigment and that's what drips all over. You might get by with finding some chrome touch-up paint at your auto-paint store. "Touch-up" was meant to be BRUSHED on, so you don't have to worry about splotchy application. The best silver/chrome SPRAY kits are what Maaco or whatever auto-body shop you have would use... air-brush and such. To use from a spray-can, the quality of the paint drops big time. Sooo... go with the next best thing and look for a touch-up bottle.
 
If you're a serious cheapskate and want a near-chrome look, your best bet is Aluminum tape. It's used for RF sheilding of telecomm and Cable equipment and is available at larger hardware or electrical stores. Generally sells for $5 a roll.
 
Borgy said:
how about checking the loacal model store for some Sliver vinyl ?
the stuff you shrink with a hair dryer
Borgy

LOL! I was just going to sugges the same thing. I don't know if it will hold to the panel all in one single application, and multiple layers will leave a line where the the overlap of the layers is.
 
Here's a good question....

If chrome spraypaint doesn't work, why is it even released, much less produced????

~C.P.
 
i chromed a piece of plasic thats always touched on the front of my case. get a good even chrome color and laquer it. worked for me
 
i use rustolem chrome. the thing is to keep the can as far as u can from the object your painting while actually getting the paint on there and getting as thin of a layer as possible. and NEVER go over the wet paint again until it dries, just spray over it once, let it dry and if u missed any spots go over it again. the way i see chrome paint working is when you spray an object, the shiny reflective particles raise to the top of the paint and dry. If you spray too much (even the smallest amount to cause a run) you may notice how you can see the metal particles shift and cause cracks in the shinyness. The less wet paint you have, the less chance of the cracking. and as for it turning grey, when you touch it the particles get wiped off. i dont know why but i read somewhere clear coats do something to the top layer of the shiny paint. Laquer doesnt do that and it protects the layer.
 
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