Spray On Chrome Comprehensive How To

[Ismael Alvarado]

Ok guys another customer and another How to!!

I dont know what this pieces are for but I am glad I have something to work with..

this is how they started..





I use Krylon Fusion paint, this is my glue to plastic parts, I dont need to do any other prep for the paint to stick to it and only a few dust coats are need it, you can apply one coat if you are worried about it, but I have don lots of practise with my spoons and no paint has come off as of yet..

after dust coats of Krylon Fusion


a video of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbHGHJL-fd4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI5v3u6zdu8

after 10 minutes I apply my black base coat


video of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yFNI6ip1Uo

then I do my clear coat(remember all is in the prep, you want a mirror? then at this step you need to make a mirror out of the thing, if you dont have the shine, no amount of silver will bring that shine again)





this video shows how the piece looked after it was done, sorry I didnt hava a buddy to film my painting skills!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEYsghMLG0I

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Spray On Chrome has three stages, each step as important as the rest of them, none of them are easy and if you mess in one you will not achieve your mirror like coating!

stage one is the Prep work on the piece that is about to be spray on chromed(which we already covered here)

stage two is the chemical aspect of it, the cleaning of the piece before, sensitizing of the piece and then the silvering. in this page we will cover that with videos

ok first you need degrease the piece, you can do this by spraying a degreaser or by hand with a soft cloth or something that will not scratch the piece

in this video I degrease the piece with a soft sponge because it was touched with dirty hands(hands and finger prints have oils and this will show up later if not cleaned enough) so I had to do it manualy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Sj0DIEu_g

after degreasing comes the wetting agent(not need it in spectra chrome or alsa chrome because their sensitizers already have powerful wetting agents, while the angel gilding tin for silver has weak ones, this gave me tears and headaches in the past, no nomore)

this is how the piece will behave without the wetting agent(and the chemicals will not flow as well)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f32igzfaeA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMe8d7zZd_w

after wetting agent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NJ5-m1Z1KQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMe8d7zZd_w

after you have rinse the wetting agent with Di watter let it dripp for about 5 to 7 seconds(to get excess whater off, but if you wait too long the piece may dry and that not good)

then you apply the Tin For silver(sensitizer) (the mixing of chemicals is always before you start the cleaning/degreasing process)

mixing the sensitizer with di water(3 ml per 100 ml of Di water)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lAs6wS-NDc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qXbvSwFHsw

applying the sensitizer(wait for 20 seconds after the sensitizer has been apply on the entire piece, then rinse)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jgFYWxYnus


then you start you silvering(sorry for the short videos, I was all alone this time) ...(the mixing of chemicals is always before you start the cleaning/degreasing process)

I still have some left(good enough for about another 4 pieces this large)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi4PnEXZzJk

mixing the silver chemicals with di water, mix 4 ml of silver concentrate and 4 ml of silver activator on the left side of the bottle with 200 ml of water(pour the water first, then the chemicals, this is a must) add 4 ml of silver reducer on right side of bottle(again after 200ml of Di water first)

Silver Concentrate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttneAN1vwBQ

Silver Activator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQCDvv6CdH8

Silver Reducer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWQhWfuYihU


this is how a correct silvering should look(the mixing of chemicals is always before you start the cleaning/degreasing process) ***use gloves and protective gear***

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEYsghMLG0I

next page is the third and last step!!

[Ismael Alvarado]

the last step is the top coating, is one on the most important parts of this lengthy process..

this is how the piece looks after the silver layer, and after drying it with a hair dryer

Drying with Hair Dryer(sorry I forgot to make a video of it so I am just placing this as a sampler)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmd_LLVliMQ

the dryed pieces

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE4RlTym-QI

now after one of the pieces has been clear coat it with a normal clear coat(none tinted one, I did it just to show you how it turns the piece to a yellowish tone, you can top coat it directly with a violet tinted coat)

the one on the left is not clear coat it, the one on the right has the none tinted clear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9annDufzlJk


now both cleared coat it with a none tinted clear coat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J765CQM6H-E

now one of the piece(the one on the right) was clear coated with a violet tinted clear to mask the yellow effect
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlZalAcOas8

now one of the finished piece compared to a triple chrome piece(small piece)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNzirWW2IN0

I hope you guys like it and learn from it

[erik winkler]

That is very genorous of you. Thank you for the excelent step by step.