Need help with Airbrushing/Alclad for Chrome

[darthmilk]

Some background, Started with Krylon Gloss Black Polished and I tried using a gravity fed and a siphon. .8mm and .5mm. Ranging from 18psi to 30 psi.

I am trying to achieve the chrome similar to this:

When I was testing it at my friends how I was using abour 30 to 40 psi with a DA gravity fed but it wasted a lot of paint.

I think this is the best chrome but tbh I have no idea what I did to get here.

I have been reading that the siphon fed .8mm cheap airbrush is the best to use for alclad but when I use it at 15-18 psi it gets really foggy and grainy.

This is after buffing as well. What is the issue and how can I fix this? I tried spraying close and far from 1" to 3" and it still looks like this. These are using brand new airbrushes btw.

 

[Capt. Vick]

Will you ever get that level of shine from paint? What about using metal foil?

 

[GrauGeist]

The Cylon (silver and gold) armor, C3P0 and the Stormtrooper armor (like Captain Phasma) is vacuum plated, not painted.

 

[stona]

You should be able to get an even and shiny finish with Alclad. I have never used the chrome but have used the highly polished aluminium (over a gloss black) with satisfactory results.
I spray at my usual pressure (30-40psi) through a gravity fed Iwata. Many people do recommend a lower pressure, but it works for me. The important thing is to mist on several coats, leaving only a minute or two between them to build up the metallic effect. If you attempt to spray it on to quickly you will get a wet surface and all sorts of things can go wrong.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Crimea_River]

This CF-104 wing tank was painted with Alclad Polished Aluminum over Alclad Gloss Black Base using a Paasche VL siphon fed brush at about 20 psi. The gloss black undercoat needs to be blemish-free and extremely high gloss. I do not consider myself an expert by any means - the below sample being my first foray into the highly polished look - but I would offer a couple of thoughts:

• comparison between what you are trying to do with the small surface that I have shown here is probably not reasonable since you are painting a much larger surface. However, it just emphasizes the need for a lot of attention to your base coat.
• When you said you used "Krylon Gloss Black Polished", is that the exact name of the paint or did you trying "polishing" it after application? If so, you may have actually reduced the sheen rather than enhanced it.
• Several passes of very thin coats are needed to achieve the polished look.

Keep trying!

 

[GrauGeist]

The one problem with airbrushing (or spray painting) the armor, is that it won't wear well since the layers are thin and won't tolerate "wear and tear" if you intend to use it often.

A chrome-like finish with Alclad can produce great results on a static object like a scale F-104 or P-51D, but once you start wearing it (packing, transporting, wearing it at events, etc.) the finish will become damaged.