flion

flion

Well Known Member
I'm getting ready to start on a -10 and I'm already planning the paint scheme. This time, I want to do something like a C-170 - polished with trim paint. (That's not exactly the look I'm going for, but you get the idea and the recent article in Sport Aviation makes a good visual aid.) Unfortunately, the broad expanses of composite on the -10 make it difficult to do this, so I was thinking of trying to chrome my composites. I know that the plating/chroming process has gotten much better of late. That said, has anyone dealt with any of the companies doing this kind of work? Any that you would recommend? For this kind of work, quality is more important than cost. I'm also going to be checking some car customization sources because I know that they've been doing this for some time.
 
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My plan is to polish the fuselage of my -8, and paint the canopy skirt and cowling with chrome paint to match. From my research, Alsa Corporation has the best product--Mirrachrome. I've talked with a custom chopper guy who said the product is great, and they have some good examples on their site.

http://www.alsacorp.com/products/mirrachrome/mirrachrome.htm
Here are a couple of them:
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Chrome your airplane!

OK...I am going to talk the other side of this.

Have you ever flown for any length in a highly polished airplane? When the sun is just at the right angle, you'll get a severe sun burn in no time.

Have you ever parked next to a highly polished airplane?
It is not a happy experience.

Chrome or Faux Chrome is just going to make the above worse.

Some chrome (and why not add some gold leaf to set the chrome off) is fine. All chrome with just a little paint trim would be not fine.

Lastly, the amount of work required to keep a polished airplane looking good, is significant. However, if your goal is to have a plane to take to fly-ins and wow the other guys, then chrome would do that!

Tom
 
Tom, I pretty well agree with you for my -6A but I think the -10 will be manageable - especially with some strategically placed trim. As for the work involved, we have a guy out here who has a polished 140 under a shade and it looks beautiful with minimal polishing (usually just a couple of times a year). Those are work-intensive sessions but worth it. Anyway, this thread was not intended to be about the pros/cons of polishing/chroming but more specifically about how to get it done satisfactorily.

Chrome paint is an option but I haven't seen a paint that really looks good next to polished metal. That's why I'm investigating who the good plater's are.
 
I'd also wonder...how well would "chrome" paint match polished *aluminum*?

I'm also shooting for a polished aluminum plane, and trying to work out the best approach to painting the fiberglass parts, so if you find any info, I'd sure like to know about it.
 
Mirrachrome

I have used mirrachrome on the tail intersection fairing on my RV-8 to match the polished aluminum on the rest of the airplane.
It's close but looks more like stainless steel. Mirrachrome can be applied with a normal spray gun.
The paint that looks like polished aluminum from ALSA neeeds to be applied with special equipment.Check their website for more info.
Another thing I noticed is that the surface of the part to be painted has to be free of any blemishes and absolutely perfect.
Every miniscule imperfection can be seen after spraying this finish on it.
 
Thanks for the feedback on using the stuff--I wondered if it looked truly like polished aluminum. The F-86 example looks good, but not quite as shiny. For the polished aluminum like finish I'm hoping when the time is ready I can find a custom bike shop locally with experience who can do my cowl and canopy skirt. But to me, even the polished stainless steel look is better than silver.
 
Wasn't there a picture of a guy who was doing his own cowling in aluminum? That'd be pretty cool, albeit no doubt very expensive to have someone manufacture :)
 
Yeah and, for a -10, you'd also have to do the fuselage shell - not only daunting but I'd worry about the structural mod. As for the finish of the parts (thanks for the feedback, Ernst) you have to do that with chroming, too. Chrome plating will not fill pinholes and such, which is part of the difficulty and expense. The other difficulty is making the chrome stick, which is why I'm asking around about shops. The old technology was pretty hit-or-miss (remember the old model kits where the chrome would be peeling away from the plastic?) but the new materials and techniques are supposedly very good - if done right - which is why the automakers have been able to include more plastic parts. I'm resigned to the difficulty of preparation but I want a durable finish.
 
A possible alternative. If you are good...and I mean if you are very, very good you could apply "Flite Metal." An RC guy developed it. Some of those RC guys can work magic with the stuff. It is a special aluminum foil with a killer adhesive backing. Once it touches the surface of the fiberglass, that's it. If it is even slightly off and you try to shift it around, it will stretch to ruination. What little Flite-Metal I did manage to successfully apply looks fine in the area I put it and Flite-Metal polishes up as well as any aluminum surface because it is aluminum.

http://www.flitemetal.com/

My hat is off to anyone who is skillful enough to professionally apply this material to large curved surfaces like the wingtips or empennage fairing.

2hgfwp5.jpg
 
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Chroming plating fiberglass and more!

If you didn't find any place this should help! :)
http://www.onemagictouch.com

coat any type of material (metal, wood, glass, plastic, stone,

fiberglass, ceramic, even fabric, etc.) with a mirror-finish, silver-metal

coating that exactly duplicates chrome plating or colored chrome finishes.

can color the chrome finish in many different standard and custom blended colors

and even duplicate polished gold, copper, bronze and brass finishes.

Multi-colored chrome fades are available as well.

This finish is not a spray paint or vacuum metalizing.

This finish is the combination of special catalyzed base coatings;

a silver metal deposition (similar to the material used in mirrors) and a protective acrylic urethane top coat

(similar to the industrial clear coat on your car).
 
How much to do a fiberglass RV7 spinner in standard chrome color? and what kind of prep (pin hole filling) needs to be done first?

Bevan
RV7A
 
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Chroming your spinner

Hi there, Your looking around $175 TO $200 and we would do the prep for you. Is there anyway you can send me a pic and size? If you can send it to [email protected]

Thanks again!!
Murray
 
I think we need someone to gold plate their entire aircraft. That would be sweet!

Wouldn't have to worry about rust
 
Melted windows

I know of at least 1 RV10 that had it's windows melted from the reflection from the wing. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself.

Gary Specketer
40274 Flying
 
OMT Chroming said:
If you didn't find any place this should help! :)
http://www.onemagictouch.com
Click to expand...

Thanks, you were one of the vendors I was going to investigate when I got that far. Good to know that you have an interest. I had a couple of questions. How repairable is the finish should it (Heaven forbid!) get dinged? And, how well does it adhere to the underlying fiberglass, either epoxy or poly type? And, since you mentioned other finishes, have you ever matched polished aluminum?

Gary, I also know about the RV-10 but 1) I am not planning a completely polished aircraft and I don't expect problems from the surfaces that are shiny and 2) while not as intense, I think even a white gloss surface could cause similar problems. The real solution may be to employ wing covers which, since I hope to achieve a show-plane finish, I expect I would use anyway.
 
FresnoR said:
I think we need someone to gold plate their entire aircraft. That would be sweet!

Wouldn't have to worry about rust
Click to expand...

That would be sweet! LOL
Here is a little about me and what I do..:D
What I been chroming is a lot of fiberglass pants and in color chrome also. I can chrome almost anything, I been doing it for 4 years now. We do a lot of aircraft,car, motorcycle, and boat parts also. So the main thing I been wanting to get into is aircrafts mostly I always loved aircrafts my uncle in W.V owns a small air port and I am still trying to talk him in on letting me pimp his plane! lol
The closest thing I have to a airplane that gets me about 5000 feet in the air is my powered parachute one day I will be there! :D
 
flion said:
Thanks, you were one of the vendors I was going to investigate when I got that far. Good to know that you have an interest. I had a couple of questions. How repairable is the finish should it (Heaven forbid!) get dinged? And, how well does it adhere to the underlying fiberglass, either epoxy or poly type? And, since you mentioned other finishes, have you ever matched polished aluminum?

Gary, I also know about the RV-10 but 1) I am not planning a completely polished aircraft and I don't expect problems from the surfaces that are shiny and 2) while not as intense, I think even a white gloss surface could cause similar problems. The real solution may be to employ wing covers which, since I hope to achieve a show-plane finish, I expect I would use anyway.
Click to expand...

Hello,

I have did many fiberglass and epoxy parts and poly type with no problems of it adhere to any of them. Things we have problems with we will use a epoxy sealer and then start are process and works out great!

Far as it getting dinged you can say its like a car finish it can scratch and if hit hard enough yes it could chip the chrome.

I have never tried to matched polished aluminum sorry!


If you guys want I can put a video up so you see the process of it being done to give you a better idea. Let me know your thoughts on that. Thanks!


Please let me know if this helps. Thanks so much for your interest!
 
Paint to match

House of Color makes a chrome paint that matches real well, with a light color primer.
 
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