how to get something chromed, need your experience ,advice and help

[gyoung2993]

Well, if this has been covered before ,I apologize ,as some of you may know me and most do not ,I love this forum and I admire all of you with your great craftsmanship as prop builders.....I have knowledge in some areas and others I do not ...I am asking for your helful insight and advice to finish a prop Terminator 2 endoarm I am currently almost finished with and ,I have no idea how to chrome this or get a mirror-like-chrome finish ,if you can ,can you please take a moment to help me and give me your insight on what I need to do here......partially I know ,ALSA killer chrome can give a decent and nice finish and supachrome paint does too ,but how would I get this chromed exactly without merely trying to paint this endoarm ,curious and at a stand still with this decision.......... :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused.......thanks Guy Young

 

[DarkCreations]

I use Alclad paints for those types of finishes. Not sure what others may recommend.

Chrome is listed in the high shine paint types.
They have the application steps on the site as well.

Welcome To Alclad II Home

 

[Zombie Killer]

Find a chrome plating shop thats pretty close and carry all your parts to them and see if they can/will handle it. When i looked into it there was a flat rate for a certain amount of pieces. I plan on having them do some car parts for me and figured i'd take a resin piece to see if they could do it or at least try. You can also try it yourself with something like Caswell's plating kits. Caswell plating dot com

 

[gyoung2993]

thanks guys ,I appreciate it ,yeah shops around here where I live ,wont chrome it ,they will do automotive but wont mess with this resin endoarm,and the one place I got a YES from was in L.A and wanted me to ship it to them ,and would charge 250.00 ,and I do not want to ship this thing to get banged around and broken ,if you know what I mean ,thanks so much gentleman !!!!!! Guy Young

 

[Icetigris]

I've used the Alsa paints, they do a nice job. You just have to be really careful about not using too much of the chrome paint. It takes some practice to get the finish right. This was one of my first attempts (herp crappy picture). The chest plate looks better than the shoulder plate.

 

[gyoung2993]

I've used the Alsa paints, they do a nice job. You just have to be really careful about not using too much of the chrome paint. It takes some practice to get the finish right. This was one of my first attempts (herp crappy picture). The chest plate looks better than the shoulder plate.

I really didnt see a picture ,but will that ,ALSA give a mirror-like-finish, thats what I am seeking to try and get....your picture didnt pop up for some reason....thanks Guy

 

[GuntahKela]

Find a chrome plating shop thats pretty close and carry all your parts to them and see if they can/will handle it. When i looked into it there was a flat rate for a certain amount of pieces. I plan on having them do some car parts for me and figured i'd take a resin piece to see if they could do it or at least try. You can also try it yourself with something like Caswell's plating kits. Caswell plating dot com

BEWARE: Most chromers only do metal. It takes real expertize to chrome resin or anything else. Someone who doesn't have the expertize can screw-up your item without any way to undo the damage.

 

[defstartrooper]

Aside from the various paint methods mentioned there's also vacuum metalizing.

 

[Zombie Killer]

Thanks GuntahKela, if/when i do take them something, it will be something i don't care about. I may just go the Caswell plating kit myself and figure it out, or not. With the amount of car parts/ prop parts i have to chrome it would be worth it for me to learn.

 

[wackychimp]

It's an age-old question around here.

What I don't understand is why there are all of these (realtively) expensive options out there but my kids can spend their skee-ball tickets on a crappy little $0.03 whistle made in China and it's got a mirror finish on it. :lol

I've used Alclad II and you need to be sure that you've got a really good high gloss black under coat. Polish that sucker after it dries. Then apply the Alclad evenly and sparingly. I practiced on several plastic Easter eggs before using it for real.

 

[gyoung2993]

wow thanks for all your helpful insight ,I didnt know that there were so many options ,I am just nervous and dont want to ruin what I have worked on so much with time and energy,its a tough decision with all these techniques....still not sure but will take everything in consideration,I believe it has to be mastered (if I chose to do it myself) even though I have faith in myself ,I think it would be better for the endoarm to probably be done by an expert,I researched electroplating and that is definitely a NONO...... because they need electricity to go thru all of the same material,and I have steel parts ,aluminum parts ,jd weld ,and resin ,too much of a mixture to get it to work ,so chroming is the only way to go,Now all I have to try and do over the next month or so is to reseach more and make a logical decision on where and how....more trouble than I thought this would have been,but not impossible.......thanks everyone for your time and help on this matter, you all have been too kind....Guy Young

 

[Icetigris]

I really didnt see a picture ,but will that ,ALSA give a mirror-like-finish, thats what I am seeking to try and get....your picture didnt pop up for some reason....thanks Guy

I was hotlinking from cosplay.com, which apparently has a delay in not letting you do that. I edited my original post, so you should be able to see it now.

Now that you can see my picture, you can see that it's not really chrome-looking. I think that's because it was my first attempt at using it. Looking at the demo video, you can get a chrome finish if you do it right. The demo is here: http://www.alsacorp.com/live/view_killerchrome_demo.html

 

[gyoung2993]

Now that you can see my picture, you can see that it's not really chrome-looking. I think that's because it was my first attempt at using it. Looking at the demo video, you can get a chrome finish if you do it right. The demo is here: Alsa Corp | Killer Chrome Demo[/QUOTE]Oh Wow ,that looks great ,on the video that showed how he did that over a couple of day period ,very nice, this was what I am wanting to get done,
http://www.therpf.com/members/gyoung2993/albums/my-collection/4158-t2-almost-done-002.jpg

 

[Volpin]

Real, true, mirror chrome costs money. There's not a way around that, at least not yet.

Products like Alsa & KillerChrome will get you close, but in the end they're pale compared to the real deal.

For my work, the best solution I've found is Cosmichrome. I get my work done by Creations N Chrome in California. They aren't cheap and likely never will be, but this stuff is beautiful in person.

 

[E-Wan]

+1 for Creations N Chrome. I had a resin lightsaber chromed by them and it looks incredible. People at Comic Con thought it was a MR.

 

[protokev DMD]

+1 for Creations N Chrome. I had a resin lightsaber chromed by them and it looks incredible. People at Comic Con thought it was a MR.

been looking to get them to do a MIB J2 myself. I take it you prepped the saber up to where it needed to be then sent it off?

 

[E-Wan]

been looking to get them to do a MIB J2 myself. I take it you prepped the saber up to where it needed to be then sent it off?

Yeah, I went through several applications of filler primer, gradually sanded up to about 1000 grit for a nice clean finish. Not sure if that's entirely required, but I followed the general rule of "if it looks crap before being chromed, it's going to look like shiny crap after."

 

[Propsjonnyb]

Chrome plating resin is difficult , but not impossible , and it can be done in a garage workshop with care as the chemicals involved are toxic, however having said that , I have chromes a lot of resin and other metals that are not normally chromed. Chroming resin is a two stage process as you have to lay down a copper coating first , then you can electroplate the chrome finish on the the copper piece . Caswell do an excellent home based kit that you can achieve good results with it will not be absolutely perfect , but if you take care and lay down a few coats then an excellent finish will be yours. It's not a cheap process , but then again it's not that expensive against having to go to a specialist

 

[dialswiftjustice]

Hi there, can sintra plastic be chromed? I've made some armor pieces for the new 52 Dr fate, and woukd like the most mirrored gold finish possible!

 

[arctrooper]

I found this one brand, Spaz Stix, the guy at the shop swore it was the greatest chrome paint he'd ever seen. Honestly I couldn't tell you it's full capabilities, as the pieces I did it on had serious issues after the black undercoat reacted poorly to my primer. But from the little that I've worked with I've learned that it's easy to work with, hard to mess up, and is more durable than Alclad. Oh, and it comes in two forms. Aerosol can air air brush bottle.