I thought I'd share this technique and my first experiences of using it with you all. I've seen it mentioned on here before but not in any great detail, so hope to expand on that for those that haven't used it before.

Normally it's used in conjunction with stripping the chrome plated parts that come with some kits, particularly vehicles.

In this case, I am using an old exhaust from a defunct kit.

As you can see, it already had some paint applied, which I should have really stripped first, but the purposes of this post, wasn't really needed. I just gave it a light sand with some 1500 grit wet.



First job is to prime it. I used Alcad II white microfiller primer, which is pre-thinned for airbrushing.



I'm only doing a small section of the exhaust, so only primed the area I am working on:



After that had dried, I gave it a coat of Alcad II Gloss Black base coat. This is critical to achieving the chrome look:




Next up is the Alcad II Chrome:



This step is critical to get right, and takes some practice, as you can see from the next photos. The trick is not to spray direct on, but spray it at an angle, about 45 degrees. And LESS IS MORE for this. If you put too much on, you will instantly loose the chrome effect and you will not be able to get it back without stripping back to plastic and starting again. In the photo's below, you can see for yourself the differences between the left and right pipes.







Obviously, this really was a quick and dirty test...more for my own benefit really. There should have been a lot more preperation and between coat sanding etc, but hopefully it should still give you an idea of the affect achievable with this.