DocRob Posted Saturday at 02:58 PM Posted Saturday at 02:58 PM 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 2 2
KevinM Posted Saturday at 02:58 PM Posted Saturday at 02:58 PM 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" 6
KevinM Posted Saturday at 06:54 PM Posted Saturday at 06:54 PM 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 3 1
BlrwestSiR Posted Saturday at 07:07 PM Posted Saturday at 07:07 PM 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. 3
DocRob Posted Saturday at 08:14 PM Posted Saturday at 08:14 PM 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 3
DocRob Posted Saturday at 08:18 PM Posted Saturday at 08:18 PM 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 2
HubertB Posted Sunday at 10:26 AM Posted Sunday at 10:26 AM 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 3 1
DocRob Posted Sunday at 11:34 AM Posted Sunday at 11:34 AM 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 3
BlrwestSiR Posted Monday at 04:53 PM Posted Monday at 04:53 PM 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. 5
DocRob Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago 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 1
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