Mr Paint - Review

[BarryW]

Interesting. While browsing the Uschi van der Rosten site I came across a powder which when buffed on gives a chrome finish:http://www.uschivdr.com/products-in-detail/polishing-powders-metallic-pigments/

John's shop sells it:

http://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=uschi metal polish

Given my failure (so far) to get Alclad II to give a good chrome, I will try this powder. It seems to me that a buffing process with a cotton bud would be much more controllable than coats of paint that have to be applied in a certain way.

Steve - have you tried the Humbrol rattle can and Gunze buffables? I used these on my Ki61 and they produced an excellent metallic effect. I did do a thread last week with some pics.

[Guest]

Steve - have you tried the Humbrol rattle can and Gunze buffables? I used these on my Ki61 and they produced an excellent metallic effect. I did do a thread last week with some pics.

Thanks. And your thread last week was very helpful. I have ordered from John the Uschi van der Rosten chrome paint. I will also test the Gunze buffables. My interest is in chrome and brass finishes whereas Humbrol's site states that their metallic spray cans are for aluminium or steel only.

[Guest]

I have now tried the Uschi van der Rosten "Chrome-Type" polishing powder, item no. 4008, 25 mL, from John's shop, shown below. I airbrushed a sample object with Tamiya gloss black Synthetic Lacquer TS-14 (a spray can). The paint surface had a few defects so I sanded it with several grades of Micromesh then polished it with polishing cream to get a high gloss. Having masked part of the object I put a very small amount of powder on a cotton bud and rubbed the object gently. Not much rubbing was required and the shine appeared immediately. The cotton bud easily got into the angles caused by the fins. (On my first attempt on another part, not shown, I applied the powder only 24 hours after the paint and found that the surface was slightly scratched and in the direction of rubbing, probably caused by the powder particles.) This time the object (shown below) was left for 48 hours to harden, partly on a radiator, and no scratches appeared after the powder was applied.

It is always very difficult to produce a photo of a very shiny object which shows it as it looks to the eyeball, especially if it is chromed, and these photos do not do it justice although a movie is always better than a still photo at displaying shiny objects. In the images the large horizontal oval bright spot is much wider than in the original, is much less intense, its reflections are not as bright and hard as my chromed object (they look like white paper in the images), and the interface between the reflections and the black are not as sharp. Also, the scratches and other imperfections that you can see are due to the object before applying the powder. The edges of the fins show a dark stripe but in fact the shine extends right up to and on the edge.

However, when looked at by eye in various lights (daylight, general room light, under a more concentrated desk lamp), the result is definitely a convincing chrome.

The powder could be used for quite large parts, and also for small ones, especially those with a complex surface like a 1/16 car door handle or window winder for which Bare Metal Foil would not be suitable (because of the complex surface). I think it could be used for the window and windscreen chromed trim of the many civilian car models shown on this forum, even in the smaller scales, but the trim would need masking around it. A good thing about this product is that its application is simple and fully controlled (unlike airbrushing), there is no need to clean an airbrush, and its inexpensive.

Click on each image to get the movie (top) and the still (bottom). {Message Edited}



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[aaron]

OMG Steve, in the video that looks like cold steel.