Question About Sealing Chrome Paint

[kilowog75]

I could use some advice from the painters here. I am painting a bust with chrome spray paint. It looks nice and shiny but when I sprayed a krylon high gloss sealant on it the luster dulled considerably and the chrome looked more like steel.

Does anyone know of a good sealant that I could use to preserve the shiny chrome look? Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.

[modelkitfreak]

Hey Kilo,
When sealing any metallic finish, never use anything from a spray can, it reactivates the paint and ruins the uniformity. Use an acrylic sealer, preferably hand brushed or airbrushed. Anything that has xylene, toluene or acetone in it will mess up your chrome.
Most hobby stores have plenty of sealers to choose from that will work.

[kilowog75]

Great, thank you for the advice!

[Vince-Vell]

i never used that chrome from a spray can, but when i alclad chrome i always use future floor polish thru my airbrush. I dont use a fine brush but i dont use a thick one, i use one of my middle grade air brushes to get a thick coating but nothing that will bleed.

If it gets cloudy or i over sprayed a bit i use a hair dryer to clear it up and i get a nice shine. Now it sometimes takes the shine away but nothing serious.

I think alclad makes a clear coat so i need to try that one day.


ive had bad experiences with all types of canned clear coats. the only ones i use now is testers dull cote for flat colors, or gloss cote when i need a sheen. But testors is potent and will melt and reactor to certain types of paints, like tamiya clears.

Only other canned clear i use sometimes is Tamiya clear in the spray can. Its not bad, but you need to learn how to work with it. cause it can bleed on you and sometimes stay tacky, needs while to set and dry.

[kilowog75]

Thank you for the information Vince. I watched your youtube video on chroming and was very impressed. Awesome work! I ended up buying some of the future floor polish and it has worked out pretty well.

[Vince-Vell]

glad it helped. The future polish is great, its great for all kinds of stuff. Clear coats, tint in some color for washes, good for sealing water color on face features etc... and you can polish your floor too!!!!

Good stuff!

[Vince-Vell]

Tested some new things out, Alclad gloss works damn good even better then floor wax. Just have to make sure you dont breath in the stuff and give it time to cure.

Made a video on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6JwSYKdK3g