Mirrored Gold/ Gold Chrome Help

[connor1886]

Hello, I am trying to get a gold mirrored chrome look that resembles the posted image. I have molotow liquid chrome and a gloss black base by Alclad. However, I do not know what to spray over the chrome to get the gold effect that I want. Or should I go another rout to get this effect.

 

[Duncanator]

You'd want to use a clear coat tinted gold (orangy-yellow) over the silver to turn it gold.
I haven't tried that with Molotow, so you'll have to experiment.

The picture looks like a vacuum-metalized part, which is tough to match for reflectivity. However, the same clear coat method is used to make vacuum-metalized parts look like gold or bronze or whatever.

 

[connor1886]

I believe them to be airbrushed, because of this picture of the byproduct of the chroming. This part was being sold and the person who was making them did not want to give out the information on how to make them. They stopped selling these in 2018, You can see that the hands have a black base, chrome, and some type of gold coating, made a candy?

 

[Clutch]

I would use Tamiya Clear Yellow over the silver.

 

[connor1886]

I found two one with gloss and one without gloss.

Tamiya America, Inc Acrylic X24 Gloss,Clear Yellow, TAM81024
TAMIYA X24 81524 Acrylic Mini X24 Clear Yellow 1/3 oz 10ml

 

[Clutch]

I think all their clear colors are gloss by default. I've never seen a dull clear from them.

 

[zorg]

alclad do candy coats, i just got some of this in, not had a chance to try them out

Element Games

Alclad II Candy Golden Yellow (30ml) - Alclad II Candy - Alclad II. Wargaming web-store with low prices, speedy delivery and excellent customer service. Specialising in Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40k.

elementgames.co.uk

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

You'd want to use a clear coat tinted gold (orangy-yellow) over the silver to turn it gold.
I haven't tried that with Molotow, so you'll have to experiment.

The picture looks like a vacuum-metalized part, which is tough to match for reflectivity. However, the same clear coat method is used to make vacuum-metalized parts look like gold or bronze or whatever.

This might help others too as I am wanting to try my hand at gold-chroming in the near future, but can ure clear coats be passed through an airbrush? Would I need something beefier, more robust of an airbrush or an airgun? I'm quite new to this stuff myself.

 

[Duncanator]

I have run the Alclad clear candy paints through my paasche airbrush, and it worked great.
I thinned them only a tiny bit - I didn't want to thin them too much.

 

[Dingo80]

I followed this guys steps in his video and my stuff turned out great.

 

[connor1886]

If I use just molotow liquid on the parts, it becomes dull like silver paint. So, it was recommended that I spray them with a glossy black to prime them for the molotow, however the glossy black loses it gloss and becomes dull. I cannot get a shiny enough base coat on my parts; It was recommended at the store to get a highly shiny clear gloss, something that looks wet. So I did some research and on one video it said that a super wet look can be done with 2k Auto clear coat however I can’t find anything that looks like and acts like that on amazon or in or local hobby store.

 

[Meerkat67]

I dont know how much this helmet means to you or what you have spent so far but have you considered actual gold plating !

If you find the correct gold plater it will not be as expensive as you may think as plating is so thin regardless of size and rising gold prices..

However if you have already done your painting route it can cause issues in plating and of course your already used pocket of change in bought paints..

Zinc/galvanized coatings i believe can help gold platers

What materials is the helmet made from?

 

[Dingo80]

If you can afford it and find a decent plater, I definitely recommend Meerkat67's option, nothing beats the real thing.

Thank said, the material you've made the helmet out of might be the base cause of Molotow giving the results it has for you. I have not needed a base coat of paint for any of mine, I have simply needed it to be as smooth as possible. Molotow has actual metal particles in it that self level to give it that mirrored effect.

Several questions come to mind along that route:
Q - How smooth is the surface before using the Molotow?
A - The surface needs to be glasslike smooth for best mirrored effect, color doesn't matter. If it's not super smooth, you'll still get a nice Chrome look, it just won't have that crystal clear mirrored look (the reflected shapes will be fuzzy).

Q - Are you using a paint brush, airbrush, or HVLP paint gun
A - Brushes are fine for small pieces the size of your fingernails, or slightly bigger. Airbrushes are good for things about the size of your fist or long skinny items that only need that first pass. Anything bigger requires a small to large paint gun with a wide spray nozzle. The Molotow is alcohol based and dries so quickly that a second pass will give overspray that flash dries the alcohol giving it the foggy look. *small side note, because it's alcohol based, you can add IPA to it and nearly double the amount of Molotow paint, but it dries even faster when you do this

Q - How long do you let the Molotow set before you touch it, let along add top coats
A - I typically let mine sit for 24-48 hours before I even move it. If time allows, I will let it sit for 5 days under a bowl to keep dust away from it while it cures. At the end of that curing time, I then do the Aqua gloss as a mid coat (the mirrored effect does get foggy during this stage), and then once that is dried to a degree, I use the 2k clear coat to seal it and bring back the shine.

Here is the 2k I use and ordered off Amazon and when properly sprayed and cured, it has a glass like smoothness to it (that "wet" look you are looking for) Finish 2k Clear Coat

Out of habit, I do use a high gloss base coat one items that are small with details I can't sand completely smooth. Here is the high gloss brand that I use as a base coat, before applying my Molotow High gloss base for Molotow

 

[Dingo80]

While this piece isn't using the Molotow Chrome, it is using that Finish 2K clear coat. This is 24 hours after spraying it with my airbrush (I had to go really slow as the 2K is thicker than the airbrush is really designed for). As you can see, it has that wet look because it self levels and gives that very smooth layer needed.

 

[Dingo80]

Here is a video on a statue I did about a month ago using Molotow over that black high gloss I just posted a link to, then aqua gloss, and then that Finish 2K clear coat.

If you look at his legs, they have that 98% chrome mirror finish like the real deal. The rest of him is slightly foggy compared to that because I don't have an air compressor anymore that's strong enough for the paint gun I have, so I had to do this using my airbrush and, well, the overspray dried areas faster and toned the mirror effect down.

 

[LOM]

Heh - that's a neat Bionicle mask. Haven't seen that one in gold before.

Assuming you're trying to replicate that mask specifically, I'm fairly certain you can get custom chromed Lego parts at a few places for a decent cost. (This site and this site come to mind) I'm not 100% sure if they both do gold or what it'll run you, but that might be an option if other methods fail to get a good result for you.

 

[zorg]

 

[connor1886]

I was able to get it to work on another part, by just coating the new part in a water-based polyurethane, so that it was smooth and glossy. Then I sprayed molotow at the lowest air presser that would allow it to flow from my brush and let it rest for 3 days and then used a tamiya clear yellow. Even the panthers on the piece are intact as well.

 

[connor1886]

I would not know where to look from an individual that plats plastics, in the united states. I have spent $88.34 on this test of mine, I tested other chrome products before finding Molotov. I already have the equipment and can reuse most of the stuff.

 

[connor1886]

I am going to uses the Molotow on the 28mm ROM that I designed and had printed. So nothing going to waste.