Sun Feb 19, 2023 7:55 pm by mrjim2017
SPRAY CHROME - KB5 HOOD ORNAMENT
Did a little searching and reading on what spray chrome options are available when you don't want to do the chrome plating route. Some of the chrome paints look good on the YouTube videos, but those guys are typically promoting the product which may or may not be as advertised. Some are rather pricey in my book.
So I read a modelling site how you can spray a product called Liquid Chrome by Molotow - got on Amazon. You can purchase a 30ML refill bottle of the stuff and use an airbrush to spray it on - or you can use a brush as well. I went for the airbrush because I was painting a larger object. Did not have an airbrush, so got one from Hobby Lobby having the top loader versus a siphon type.
The hood ornament on my brother's 1948 International was in poor shape - pot metal and the chrome was all pitted and in rough shape. Finding a replacement is typically expensive and probably not going to get something close to "new" and shiny looking, So I decided to see if I could salvage what I had, or if I was going to plan B and replace it with something else.
I first sand blasted the ornament to get the corrosion and pitted metal clean. I then sprayed it with self-etching primer. Heads up, paint doesn't like to stick to chrome. I may have had some old etching primer or the re-formulated stuff on todays market is junk. A body shop owner/friend said the etching primer is what he uses on chrome parts when painting them. Go figure.
So I scuffed the etching primer to rough it up and then applied a layer of epoxy spot putty to fill the pitted metal holes. Sanded the putty down - not too impressed with it, but it helped. Then I primed over that and let dry a couple weeks. Sanded the primer and had a few spots where the paint would simply fleck off from the chrome. After a light sanding, hit it with another coat of primer and let dry.
In some of the videos they spray black as the base color for the spray chrome. So I did the same thing. Uses a scuff pad to lightly scuff up the primer and laid a couple coats of gloss black on the hood ornament. Coated the ornament on top and underneath thinking I was encapsulating the piece. Let it dry. Still has some of the pit marks showing through the pain, but I am not trying to restore the ornament, just make it look good from 25 feet. I didn't want to put a ton of hours into it only to find all my time was a waste.
Let the black paint dry for a few weeks (no rush on this as I work on other parts of the truck) and sanded the black with a 320 grit paper to rough it up. Did not go crazy with sanding, just enough to take the shine out of the black and scuff the surface.
Next up was the chrome paint. Set my airbrush up to work with my outside compressor using a simple knob type air pressure regulator/gauge at the gun so I could keep the air pressure low. Filled the paint reservoir with the liquid chrome and went to town. Sprayed it just like I would with a spray can. Put a couple of wet coats over the hood ornament and it appeared to look like chrome. Waited to see if the chrome look was going to dull down as I have seen do with some of the spray bomb "chrome" paints and then they look no better than aluminum, not chrome.
The results look like chrome indeed. From what I read, you do not want to put clear over the chrome paint or it will dull it out ad then look like silver. I don't know how well this will hold up being outside. So I sprayed another panel and have it sitting outside in the elements. I will also let it dry for a couple weeks to allow all the solvents to evaporate and then try a coat of spray bomb clear to see if it reacts. Sometimes if you paint the clear over the base color too soon, it'll mess things up. So I will use my test panel and see what happens.
A tad bit blurry on one of pics, but you get the idea.