I’m thinking of finishing my F86D with a chrome finish . Will this paint harm the plastic even if I prime the kit first? Also I just bought Mr Hobby—Mr Base White 1000 What exactly does this do as the instructions are in Japanese. Thanks Pete
I would probably use something else than Rust-oleum. I think it will craze the plastic. If you want something in a spray, you can use Testors Metalizer Buffable Aluminum, along with the sealer that they sell for it.
Rustoleum makes a primer that works fine on styrene, and allows you to use just about anything on top.
I have been using ALCLAD II for a few years over a gloss black base. Look into ATK Interactive, I haven’t used this but I have seen nice results. Shawn G.
I’m always leery of these so-called chrome paint by Rustoleum. Go with Alclad or Testors buffable metallics instead. If you do decide the route of using the buffable metallics, you’ll need to get their sealer as well.
If you want a realistic metallic finish then go with Alclad hands down.
Aircraft don’t possess that “chrome” look you’re looking for. Look at any pictures of Cold War era aircraft. You’ll see they don’t have that shiny chrome finish but more of a bare metel finish. Some have panels of various shades of bare metal finish.
Bare metal airframes CAN be polished to have that mirror-like finish. I have seen a couple of squadron commander’s aircraft polished by their ground crew. Many museum planes have been restored with such a finish. Look at the “heritage” planes, especially golden age civil planes, at the Oshkosh fly-ins. Finally, back in the golden age, many airlines kept their planes so clean they looked like that. Prohibitively expensive today with big jets, but in the era of pre-WW2, planes were smaller and line boys paid peanuts. Also, some prototypes pre-WW2 were delivered to services with polished aluminum finish.