i believe its straight molotow chrome decantered into an airbrush, no thinning needed. the gold was the alclad clear mixed with a gold dye and sprayed over the top of the original chrome ink.
molotow liquid chrome pens and spray paints
- Thread starter lovecraft
- Start date
I did use some lacquer thinner on the Flash wings, but honestly I couldn't tell you in what proportion. Maybe 1:1? The mix is very forgiving so that's certainly not a rigid guideline. It will airbrush just fine with no thinning too, but it's a little heavier/thicker that way.
FellowBuilder
New Member
I don´t know if anyone has mentioned it here, but Adam Savage also used Molotow in his Blade Runner Snub Nose build and it looks great!
Just to ad my experience: Appearance of Molotov +Alclad ALC-310 Gloss Klear Kote is very similar to ALC-105 Polished Aluminum + ALC-600 Aqua gloss. Black gloss surface beneath both.
Even dried perfectly and coated the Molotov will not stand up to handling. It just stays soft somehow and you need a certain thickness for the chrome effect to kick in. Coating will dull it slightly. Mechanically much better is the Alclad polished AL and Aqua gloss solution. Looks nearly identical. Only caveat is the price per square centimeter. A 1oz. bottle of polished AL can only cover a 20x20cm area convincingly. Superior results for a price. And you cannot use the Klear Kote on the polished AL, you need the Aqua Gloss.
Even dried perfectly and coated the Molotov will not stand up to handling. It just stays soft somehow and you need a certain thickness for the chrome effect to kick in. Coating will dull it slightly. Mechanically much better is the Alclad polished AL and Aqua gloss solution. Looks nearly identical. Only caveat is the price per square centimeter. A 1oz. bottle of polished AL can only cover a 20x20cm area convincingly. Superior results for a price. And you cannot use the Klear Kote on the polished AL, you need the Aqua Gloss.
Was your gloss black layer fully dry, and what kind of paint was it and the underlying primer? A gloss black layer is unnecessary for the Molotow and I would be worried about paint interactions/incompatabilities. That might be the source of your softness particularly if it was enamel (Krylon, Rustoleum) paint or primer topcoated within 48 hours to a week of the underlying layer's application. Enamel dries very slowly and putting lacquers like the Klear Kote over it is risky.
True Molotov doesn't need it. It looked best on Gloss Black base ALC-305 from Alclad for me when airbrushed for a thin layer. That black is applied very thin with an airbrush and super solid. Tried many surfaces including none, just 1000 grid wet sanded. Molotov's look is fantastic, but what ever I do it will stay somewhat soft. Dried in my oven at 114F overnight let it sit for a week etc before coating it. Without sealing it is completely useless even after weeks of drying it will become grey at the slightest touch. I got very close and thought I had it solved for my Memory orb build by drying it in the oven and coating with Klear Kote, but in the end parts that get handled with some pressure show that it is not truly hardened. I will keep parts that are not touched that much in Molotov, but for buttons and parts that are more exposed to mechanical stress the Alclad route seems best
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mattycsi
Master Member
That's a really nice finish. What yellow did you topcoat with?
mattycsi
Master Member
I've been having a play with getting a good gold effect. I think this combination came out best.
And next to my wedding ring for comparison
That's molotow sprayed at approx 17psi with a fine top coat of Tamiya clear orange x-26. The clear orange was thinned with Tamiya acrylic thinners x-20A at about 1:1, sprayed at the same psi. I was pushed for time, so it was a quickly run test, I will refine it a bit and take a bit more time.
And next to my wedding ring for comparison
That's molotow sprayed at approx 17psi with a fine top coat of Tamiya clear orange x-26. The clear orange was thinned with Tamiya acrylic thinners x-20A at about 1:1, sprayed at the same psi. I was pushed for time, so it was a quickly run test, I will refine it a bit and take a bit more time.
Pumpkinhead
Active Member
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Check out this video, Adam mentions a system to effectively top coat Molotow chrome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XB4Be6TjHU&t=1345s
Mr Mold Maker
Master Member
This isn’t over Molotow but I figured since the convo has shifted a bit towards top coats it would be appropriate.
I am a fan of a deep rich gold tone, I feel like it reads better than the brighter yellow as well as being a better base to start weathering off of.
It took a lot of experimenting but I’ve found out the trick to a nice gold is adding green. Seriously.. green. Starting with a yellow candy, maybe 8oz or so, mixing in a drop of red, and two drops of green. The green dramatically shifts the tone towards the richer gold. If you just use yellow, it always reads to me like those plastic chromes.
This is 2K clear tinted with So Strong pigments. I want to say it was two wet coats. If you add more coats it gets darker, less coats, it stays lighter.
I’d be curious to see how 2K reacts to the Molotow. I’d do it myself if I wasn’t out of the stuff.
I am a fan of a deep rich gold tone, I feel like it reads better than the brighter yellow as well as being a better base to start weathering off of.
It took a lot of experimenting but I’ve found out the trick to a nice gold is adding green. Seriously.. green. Starting with a yellow candy, maybe 8oz or so, mixing in a drop of red, and two drops of green. The green dramatically shifts the tone towards the richer gold. If you just use yellow, it always reads to me like those plastic chromes.
This is 2K clear tinted with So Strong pigments. I want to say it was two wet coats. If you add more coats it gets darker, less coats, it stays lighter.
I’d be curious to see how 2K reacts to the Molotow. I’d do it myself if I wasn’t out of the stuff.
This is what I followed but only looks good and only stands up to occasional or light touch unfortunately. Big improvement compared to no coat but not sufficient for buttons for example.
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ah seen, thanks.
HopeOfTheFuture
Active Member
Have ordered some Molotow liquid chrome. What's the best to do when using this? First apply a gloss black primer? Or just use the marker/airbrush to apply liquid chrome without primer?
Use any suitable primer. Molotow needs to go on thick and wet for the best chrome look. The primer will be completely covered. The gloss black is needed for Alclad because you mist it on and don’t cover completely. You use the gloss of the base coat to boost the shine of the Alclad, whereas Molotow shines by itself.
Also, spray with low pressure or you will get white “fogging” in the Molotow chrome.
Offhand, I actually don't know, I'm sorry. I usually go by feel alone using the small manual regulator on the airbrush connector. I suggest taking it down until it starts to "spit", then go up a bit more. And spray fairly close to the object to keep it wet. It's a bit tricky to get it right at first.
