Alclad gloss black over resin?

[Arktic]

Hello all!

I'm in the middle of working on a Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk helmet, using a resin cast from FireWire.

I've decided to go the route of using Alclad chrome, but I've been having a bit of a problem getting my gloss black undercoat to be as shiny as possible. It could've been that I didn't clean the resin of release agent properly before I primed it, or it might've been that the PlastiKote primer I used wasn't curing properly (I'd left it for several days between primer and basecoat, but the primer might have been a bit old). I couldn't tell what was causing the issue, so I've decided to sand off all the paint and start again.

I was wondering if I could skip using a primer, and instead sand/buff the resin itself to be shiny using micromesh, and then airbrush Alclad's black gloss basecoat directly onto the resin before micromeshing that to a mirror shine, and finally the chrome topcoat.

Is that an option, or will the black not stick to the resin? I suppose I could just try it, but if it doesn't work, I'm getting seriously bored of sanding!

Any help would be most appreciated!

Cheers.

 

[Kasss Gnarl]

Hi Arktic,

I have never used Alclad myself but have looked at using it in the past and I was under the impression that their Gloss Black Bascoat is suitable as a primer. Would it be possible to test it on a part of the helmet and see how it looks and adheres once dry? At least then if it doesn't work you avoid having to re-sand the entire helmet again.

 

[Propsjonnyb]

Sorry but you need to degrease and clean the resin properly using a good engineers degreaser. The you must dry it , then prime it , then re prime with Alcad primer than apply the black spray coat . That way you should achieve the shine you're after and can proceed to chrome

 

[Arktic]

Cool, thanks for the replies chaps.

I've done a test spray on a small part that won't really be seen much (one of the chin parts, near the ear), so I'll let that cure and see how it holds up. It looks pretty decent, much glossier than it was when it was going over the primer. But I have a feeling that once it's dry, it'll want to flake off / won't stand up to wet sanding. But we shall see.

Propsjonnyb - what's the logic behind priming and then re-priming with the Alclad primer? If it needs a primer, can't I just directly prime with the Alclad primer before the Alclad gloss black?

Thanks for your help, anyone else with wisdom to share?

 

[KennyGordon]

Going straight to the Alclad black gloss shouldn't be a problem as long as you've degreased the thing and you have enough of it to black out the helmet. That will yield the highest chance of a good paint job, and I'm assuming by extension, and chroming. It''s still possible for good results if you omit a matte primer...

 

[jasonw2112]

If you want some more detailed info on Alclad 2 Chrome paint. Do a search for everything you need to know about Alclad paint. It's in the MIB Neuralyzer toy thread.

 

[Propsjonnyb]

Sorry I should have said, sometimes the chemical content of the primer reacts with the resin and the Alcad , so the use of an Alcad primer as well , stops this from happening.

 

[Arktic]

Thanks for the advice guys. I went ahead and decided to skip the primer and just go straight to the alclad gloss black undercoat - and I'm really pleased with the results so far:

(Please excuse the slightly blurry cameraphone photo!)

That's only the black, no chrome yet. I used micromesh to smooth it, and it's looking pretty damn glassy smooth, and seems to be holding up to being sanded without scraping off. Much better than when I had a primer coat first.

There area couple of little marks and a few tiny pinholes, but I think another coat or two of gloss with micromesh sanding inbetween will do the trick nicely.

And then after that, it's time for chrome!

Thanks for your help fellas!

 

[Kasss Gnarl]

Wow that looks super shiney, please be sure to post pics of how the chrome comes out.