Chrome paint?

[Lufthans]

Hi guys,

Just got back from Reno. Besides being saddened by the T6 crash, and saddened by this being the last races there, I'm also VERY insprired to pick up the pace of my RV3 project.

One thing I really need to do shortly is work on protecting the aluminum. I do like the polished aluminum look, however I live in a wet climate, and the hangars on my home airfield aren't the most dry places on the planet either. So going full-polished is not going to work for me.

While at Reno, I've had a long talk with the guys at Scalewings, next to their immaculate looking mini-P51 lookalike. The thing is made of carbon fiber, yet it looked like aluminum. Hmmmm. Interesting.

So I've asked how they did that. Answer: Chrome paint, and a carefully selected number of layers of paint at that.

I wonder, could this work on our aluminum aircraft? Anyone got experience?

 

[AzAero]

Very doable. While I wouldn't exactly call it a "chrome" finish we recently painted some T6 and B25 freshly covered flight controls. The goal was to match the bare aluminum airframes. Conventional basecoat that has the appearance of silver without the metallic "sparkle" but not gray. Gloss clearcoat can be sprayed to give polished look or matte/satin clear for a more natural look.

 

[Brent]

Chrome paint

I have a polished RV8. I have tried ‘Chrome’ paint for the fiberglass parts, cowling and fairings. I couldn’t make it work, it went on fine and looked good for a while, but it seems impossible to touch with turning it a dull grayish look.
This doesn’t address your question I know, but it might be useful to someone. As far as my polished aircraft, I have been experimenting with different products. Nuvite is excellent, but relatively expensive. Mothers is good, as is the Purple polish.

I just do a portion every time I go to the hangar. I finally broke down and applied vynil under the wings and empennage as well as the fuselage. I think it looks very good. Much better than lying on my back polishing!

 

[koupster]

Hans,

There's chrome vinyl wrap that might be less fussy than chrome paint.

In your climate, I'd at least put down an epoxy primer first to prevent corrosion under the vinyl.

 

[Snowflake]

In your climate, I'd at least put down an epoxy primer first to prevent corrosion under the vinyl.

The vinyl will seal the surface just as well as the primer. But I would do something around the edges of each vinyl sheet, as that's where it's likely to peel if it ever does.