Painting over chrome

[Daboss]

Gday I have a 1/6 scale tamiya suzuki katana motorcycle kit, the wheels are a dull chome to assimilate cast alloy, my problem is I want to keep the plating on the rims but paint the spokes satin black (part of my second question), so de plating the wheels is not an option,  what sort of primer will work.

2 question I am using tamiya acrylic brush paints, first and last time and I am stuck with them for this model , I need satin black for certain parts, flat cant be used as I need the texture of satin so any ideas cheers 

[DocRob]

Welcome to the forum Daboss, some difficult to answer questions you have here. I really like the Katana and have often thought about building one from the Tamiya kit.
I never primed on chrome, so I have no answer for that, but I have a recommendation for a perfect satin black, if airbrushed. Tamiya lacquer paint LP-5 has a perfect finish, I used on some car and bike kits.
What I would try to do about the wheels would be, stripping them off the chrome, airbrushing Tamiyas LP gun metal or metallic grey and paint the the chromed rim parts with a marker. For glossy chrome, there are the fabulous Molotow markers, but you need dull chrome or even bette aluminum, where I don't know about a good marker.

Cheers Rob

[Daboss]

Cheers in my time I haven't needed to use an air brush as a can would fulfill my needs, I will eventually buy a set up and learn the skills but for now I use brushes , I was sort of hoping for a cheap alternative, like a etch primer that's compatable with plastic, but if I don't have a choice well all good

With the kit it's not your typical tamiya kit, as in quality, the first job involved hours of filing and sanding the frame to get rid of the joins, and some filling,  but I don't mind that, just be aware quality is down,  the whole engine is chrome as well as the swingarm, I have been doing a lot of dechroming, but it's still a very nice kit, worth the money

[Bomber_County]

Welcome to LSM, be great to see some WIP pictures of your project, seen very few build logs on bikes. Another modelling genre to explore…….

[HubertB]

I cannot but add on to what Rob said. No primer will really adhere to the chrome. You risk some flaking of the paint very quickly.

The best solution is to strip off the chrome completely (a bath in oven cleaner containing caustic sauda would do the trick), then spray everything with black (a rattle can will do well enough), mask off the rims, spray the spokes in whatever color is appropriate, and use a chrome pen for the rims afterwards. I concur on Molotov pens, but think I have seen equivalents in DYI stores.

I wish you welcome here and all the best for your build.

Hubert