What is on your bench right now ? Share a picture :)

[DocRob]

Yesterday, I was absolutely excited about AK´s Super Chrome and other than in some reviews, mine didn´t dull while drying. I decided to do some testing, before I got serious with decaling the McLaren.

In short, what is possible with AK´s Super Chrome - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

I tried decal solutions on the left side and both harmed the surface. Same with the clear coating, which I considered before decaling, again no way. If you tack on kabuki tape, you lift off a lot of paint, no masking allowed.



But it got worse, after all that testing, I was certain, that only lukewarm water with a drop of detergent would be the way, but even that harmed the surface. The MP4/25 project is officially a fail now and the verdict on AK´s Super Chrome is: It´s the chromiest chrome around, but only usable for a Silver Surfer figure.



Cheers Rob

[KevinM]

I keep plugging along sometime one step forward  two back?I am going to give myself a C= or B on this one the problem being I used rattle can for the black (it's a big canvas).The more I add color wise the better it starts to look so the decals shall help also.I looked at many videos these planes were polished. I have a coworker who was around these planes mentioned many models flat AL his head tilted eyes moved"No,they were shinny"

[KevinM]

3 hours ago, DocRob said:

Yesterday, I was absolutely excited about AK´s Super Chrome and other than in some reviews, mine didn´t dull while drying. I decided to do some testing, before I got serious with decaling the McLaren.

In short, what is possible with AK´s Super Chrome - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

I tried decal solutions on the left side and both harmed the surface. Same with the clear coating, which I considered before decaling, again no way. If you tack on kabuki tape, you lift off a lot of paint, no masking allowed.



But it got worse, after all that testing, I was certain, that only lukewarm water with a drop of detergent would be the way, but even that harmed the surface. The MP4/25 project is officially a fail now and the verdict on AK´s Super Chrome is: It´s the chromiest chrome around, but only usable for a Silver Surfer figure.



Cheers Rob

What a bitch Rob I only use AlClad and that's it!I taped the you know what out of the Hustler and not one issue that really sucks

[BlrwestSiR]

4 hours ago, DocRob said:

Yesterday, I was absolutely excited about AK´s Super Chrome and other than in some reviews, mine didn´t dull while drying. I decided to do some testing, before I got serious with decaling the McLaren.

In short, what is possible with AK´s Super Chrome - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

I tried decal solutions on the left side and both harmed the surface. Same with the clear coating, which I considered before decaling, again no way. If you tack on kabuki tape, you lift off a lot of paint, no masking allowed.



But it got worse, after all that testing, I was certain, that only lukewarm water with a drop of detergent would be the way, but even that harmed the surface. The MP4/25 project is officially a fail now and the verdict on AK´s Super Chrome is: It´s the chromiest chrome around, but only usable for a Silver Surfer figure.



Cheers Rob

Yikes! That is one fragile paint finish. It does look nice if you can avoid touching it. 

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, KevinM said:

What a bitch Rob I only use AlClad and that's it!I taped the you know what out of the Hustler and not one issue that really sucks

I considered Alclad or Extreme Metals from AK, where I have used chrome and polished aluminum from both. Usually, Extreme Metallics are a bit more durable than Alclad, but the Super Chrome is ultra fragile. I wanted all out chrome but had to pay the price. 
Your Hustler is looking sharp with the metal finish.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Yikes! That is one fragile paint finish. It does look nice if you can avoid touching it. 

While removing the decals and polishing afterwards, I  touched the chromed body often, without leaving any prints. This seems to be the only thing the Super Chrome is resistant to.

Cheers Rob

[HubertB]

Bummer, Rob, even more as I led you on this path …

Have you tried AquaGloss ? It seems to be the only varnish that does not dull the metal color underneath ? I had good results with it on my Cutlass, including the foiled portions. But then I did use Super Chrome only on the oleo struts …

Hubert

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, HubertB said:

Bummer, Rob, even more as I led you on this path …

Have you tried AquaGloss ? It seems to be the only varnish that does not dull the metal color underneath ? I had good results with it on my Cutlass, including the foiled portions. But then I did use Super Chrome only on the oleo struts …

It just happens sometimes, Hubert. I had the Super Chrome in my shopping basket for a while anyway, but it was not available at the time you mentioned it.
I have to check, if I have some Aqua Gloss and will try it, as the Super Chrome looks too good.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

I've been fighting a stomach bug for the better part of a week so I don't want to work on anything too complicated. So I pulled out a Bandai kit, their MGSD  Wing Gundam Zero.

Being an MG (Master Grade) series kit, the parts are moulded in colour so painting is optional. I went ahead and painted everything anyways. So after about 45 minutes of clipping parts, cleaning up sprue nubs,  painting,  and finally assembly, I had the head done. 

No masking or glue was used. Which I guess is the "not too complicated" part. 

[DocRob]

I kind of finished my McLaren MP4/25. I had to remove some of the decals off the chrome and therefore, there was no option for re-decaling. The kit itself is very good, a bit soft on the main panel lines, but given the delicate shape of the car, it´s easy to build and not too fragile. The carbon fiber decals are absolutely fantastic and I guess the rest of the decals are as well. 
AK´s Super Chrome gave me headaches, being ultra fragile. After the decaling fiasco, I chrome painted the body and rear wing again and during assembly had marks all over the body. I have no clue, if the paint wasn´t fully cured after 30 hours. I painted the body for a third time and left it dry for almost three days before assembly. There are some new marks now, which can´t be polished away.
A fun project which ended very unfunny thanks to the über-fragility of the Super Chrome. The chrome look is hard to capture on photos, in reality it´s even more shiny. You can presume, when you look for the reflection of the rear wheel in the wing side on pic #2













Cheers Rob

[Blimp]

1/16 rc British Cruiser MKIII 👉

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 02:40 AM by Blimp
double posted pics

[BlrwestSiR]

The car looks good Rob. It's a shame that the chrome paint is so fussy. I wonder if you would be able to get a replacement decal sheet from Revell? 

[DocRob]

6 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

The car looks good Rob. It's a shame that the chrome paint is so fussy. I wonder if you would be able to get a replacement decal sheet from Revell? 

Thanks Carl, it´s a Silberpfeil, a silver arrow now in the purest sense . I considered, reaching out to Revell for a replacement sheet, but decided against. It´s complicated to get it to my place and I lost my patience with the need of stripping the paint, preparing for another chrome finish, ...
The project was about chrome and carbon fiber and I failed. It happens sometimes.

Cheers Rob

[FullArmor]

Clock. Probably from a T-72 tank.

[Martinnfb]

Nice!

[GusMac]

Bench time has been very limited recently as my father has been ill and sadly passed away last Wednesday. Did manage to grab some time yesterday just as a distraction from everything else that's needing taken care of and making sure mum is okay. 

Got the fuselage joined to the wings and as everyone has said, the fit is pretty stellar. No filler needed here.

The tape is just to hold a little paint mixing cup over the nose actuator which you have to install stupidly early in proceedings.