Kato Business Car Custom Stainless Finish


Dortoh1

Dortoh1

Member
Kato business car with custom painted stainless finish. I'm in the process of doing another one for the CB&Q and an RDC and other stainless passenger cars for the CP rail. The finish is a little time consuming so I try to to several at once. Also a link to a photo from the 2008 RPM show in St. Louis.
http://www.pbase.com/superfleet93/image/101956159
 
The finish is called Mirrachrome. It's not the easiest process in the world, but the results are great. The car in the pictures was first painted black with Model Masters enamel, then left to dry for about a week. After the black was dry it was cleared with a clearcoat specially made for the Mirrachrome. The black acts as a reflective base for the Mirrachrome. After the clear dried for about a week I sprayed the Mirrachrome. Mirrachrome is alcohol based and dries very quickly. I let it dry about an hour then lightly polished it with a very soft cloth, then cleared it with their clear. I found out when I did my original testing the only clear that wouldn't dull down the chrome like effect was the clear made by the same people as Mirrachrome. Since doing the car in the photo I have done many others, about a dozen Sante Fe passenger cars and a few for the CP Rail. I have another pile here to do along with a couple of CB&Q E-Units and an RDC. Alsa Corp, the company that makes Mirrachrome has another clear that I am going to try on the next set of cars, it's supposed to be more user friendly.
View attachment 25542 View attachment 25543
 
Mirra Chrome

I just looked up Mirra Chrome on the net. Wowser they sure are proud of it. $85 for 4 oz of chrome and $99 for a Qt. of the clear. Sure you could do a lot of cars with that but wow. Maybe I am just to cheap.

Your car does look great though. Not to bright just right from your pictures.

Scott
 
seod said:
I just looked up Mirra Chrome on the net. Wowser they sure are proud of it. $85 for 4 oz of chrome and $99 for a Qt. of the clear. Sure you could do a lot of cars with that but wow. Maybe I am just to cheap.

Your car does look great though. Not to bright just right from your pictures.

Scott
Click to expand...
kustomrides.com sells Mirrachrome/Mirraclear kits for $55 for 2oz of chrome and 4oz of clear. To give you an idea of the coverage I have used less then 2oz of Mirrachrome so far on the 15 or so passenger cars I've done. On a per car basis the price is not that bad.
 
*Great* looking cars - Thanks for sharing!

An alternative, that also requires a gloss enamel black base coat is "AlcladII". [No affiliation btw] - The car and aircraft guys use it extensively, and they have a wide range of finishes from "dull aluminum" thru to high gloss chrome.

I dunno how it compares use (or price - wow!) wise, but it looks interesting.

http://www.alclad2.com/

Cheers,
Ian
 
If anyone has the means and the time, the best way would be to electroplate the plastic, and i think it is what walthers do for their new metalic superliner
 
fast_ian said:
*Great* looking cars - Thanks for sharing!

An alternative, that also requires a gloss enamel black base coat is "AlcladII". [No affiliation btw] - The car and aircraft guys use it extensively, and they have a wide range of finishes from "dull aluminum" thru to high gloss chrome.

I dunno how it compares use (or price - wow!) wise, but it looks interesting.

http://www.alclad2.com/

Cheers,
Ian
Click to expand...
AlcadII is cheaper, but since I still have a supply of Mirrachrome I'll stick with it for now. I may give the AlcadII a try someday and see what the results are.
 
That really makes them "Pop" and realistic. I know some Airplane modelers were using something like or the same thing to get the polished Aluminum look, but I never had the need to try it, I'm just running old Heavyweights. Again- really nice job!
 
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