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Flyscriber Your vid was one of my main motivations to build the blaster in the first place! You really did some magnificent work there. I'll be posting updates on my build soon, I just wasn´t that happy with my original paint job so I started to paint it all over again.
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Vex666 Looks pretty good so far! I also decided to switch to matt black, It's not accurate but I think it looks the best. I'll be posting new updates soon.
That's a great compliment, thanks for checking it out.
I have made and painted about 20 blasters of various types, there are a few ways to get it to look about right.
I start with a super gloss automotive black, then mask off the front barrel area and do the main body and trigger guard in Tamia silver chrome. I then mask off the scratches using latex masking solution, super subtle on the edges only using the edge of a cocktail stick. Then I hit the silver area with a satin black, keeping it translucent using an airbrush, thin layers until you like the look of it. I find solid colours don't have the shine from the silver showing though when the light hits it.
As for the hydrochrome, its a different animal to use altogether. It uses silver nitrate in solution and an activator, mixed through a two nozzle spray bottle, onto a wet base coat solution. Before chroming the whole thing needs to be primed in Two Pack lacquer, as normal paints will react with the chemicals and give strange results.
Here is a video showing the system.
The difficulty with it, is keeping the chemicals, air and rinse water super pure. There can be zero conductivity in the rinse water or the system will not be up to scratch, also there must be zero moisture in the airline. I tried many times using different moisture filters, base coats and got some nice finishes, but never a true chrome due to the spray being too focused through a hand held spray bottle (if you apply too much silver nitrate solution to the same spot it will oxidise into a nickel or burnt stainless look) and contaminants in the airline will also have an effect.
It is however, (even with its more nickel look), the best looking version of all the blasters I have painted so far, purely because it shines like metal, and actually feel cold to the touch.
I am planning to do some more in this way soon, but I will definitely get the company to do the chrome system.
As a side not, I have just finished a blaster using a metal spray as a base coat from the same company. It replaces he silver in the painting order and there is no need to mask the scratches, as they can all be done after the satin black by carefully buffing he edges using super fine ire wool, and it looks fantastic. It also goes on thicker than normal paint, but when buffed seems to self level and fill in small surface imperfections, so I guess it acts like a primer filler as well as a buffed metal look.
I am going to experiment some more with this. its great.
Here is a link to the metal veneer spray I used.
http://customcreationpaints.co.uk/liquid-metal-paint/Liquid-Metal-Rustique?product_id=177