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Hey all,
I usually avoid enamels like the plague, but I really wanted to try some chrome on my dark Eldar ships. I found a product called alclad ii chrome, but everything I read about it highly recommended an enamel gloss base.

I picked up model masters gloss black enamel in a rattle can and set up a hellion sky board as a test. I had already primed almost everything in my army and didn't read about any ill effects of spraying enamel over GW primer, but one thing is concerning me. I noticed the very fine "toothing" texture from the GW primer is still present. It's not noticeable except upon close inspection, but I'm pretty sure it will be picked out in the chroming process. I'm wondering if its possible to sand or buff the enamel to smooth it out before applying the chrome. Does anyone have any experience with this?

It's only at about 24 hours of its recommended 48 hour cure, so I don't want to mess with it yet. Just curious as to whether its sandable after the cure and whether or not that will have any ill effect on the gloss factor. Also, side question, does enamel aerosol paint "need" a primer, or would it adhere to g plastic by itself? I haven't primed my raiders yet and may try it straight on if possible.

Use an Ultra Fine Grit (2000-4000) Emery Cloth..i would do a light sanding (enough to knock down the tooth) then go over it with the Crome and see if it picks up then ..you can always sand the chrome down again and toss another coat on ..

So it can be sanded, good to know. Should I sand future models at the primer stage, before I spray the enamel on, or should I just try to sand the primer itself. It doesn't seem like sanding the primer would work very well as it might just rub holes in it. I assume the enamel holds up to sanding better than primer?

Most sprays shouldn't really need a primer. I would just skip that step next time.

Will do. I hadn't even considered an enamel at the time I primed them. I like to assemble and prime my models asap, then take months putting off painting them.

 insaniak wrote:
Most sprays shouldn't really need a primer. I would just skip that step next time.

This is not true for the allclad chrome paint, nor most of the other allclad metallic paints.

They are very finely made lacquer based metallics - and give stunning results (I have used them many times) - but they can be a bit tricky.
The gloss black primer is not there just to "grab" the paint - it dramatically affects the sheen, and consistency and luster of the final finish.

I have found the best results with the allclad black primer - in two coats (just as they suggest).

Put on the first coat, let it dry 1 hour.
Put on the second coat - let it dry 24 hours.

Do not skip the second step, or rush it. Really. No, really. Its not worth the clean up later.


they are a pain to use, but no other paint comes close.

Best of luck!

Everything I've ever read about Alclad and other "true metal" finishes (easily a dozen articles/chapters in modeling magazines and books) stresses the importance of having a perfectly smooth model surface and undercoat. The authors all recommended polishing the underlying plastic with emery boards/cloth before even spraying the gloss black undercoat. Priming may not be necessary between the plastic and the first enamel spray, but definitely DO NOT try to lay down your metallic coat straightaway.

The published experts all agree with davethepak - you're headed towards a beautiful finish, but a rather laborious one to achieve.

For your current, already primed models, I'd alternate sanding/polishing and spraying thin coats of your enamel base until the finish is perfectly smooth and glossy. Imperfections are pretty easy to spot on a glossy field of solid color, so you should know when you're ready to move on to the Alclad.

Thanks for all the replies folks. Ill be sure to smooth out the enamel before adding the chrome. While I have your knowledgeable ears/eyes, I'd like to get your opinions on the next step. I'm actually going for a very dark chrome look. I bought some golden acrylic transparent "shade" gray from their new line of airbrush paints. Ill essentially be "candy coating" the alclad via the steps I saw on a YouTube tutorial with a gundam, but with a gray color. Would this achieve a darker/deeper chrome effect, or just dull it? I guess technically that is what I'm going for, but I don't want to lose "too" much luminosity. Wpuld it be better just to put a really thin coat of the chrome on?

I would apply the chrome, as normal, then tint it. Too sparse a coat will destroy the look, instead of just darkening the color. You really need a solid coat with the metallic finishes to get the proper evenness and reflectivity. Not familiar with the Golden shade grey, but gloss varnish/Future/Klear tinted with black (or blue and black) ink can be used to similar effect, leaving you with a high-gloss gunmetal sort of look. I've only ever tinted regular metallic acrylic paints this way, though, so I can't guarantee the results on a more reflective chrome finish.

I have almost entirely switched to Alclad II metallics as opposed to flake acrylics for metals (or Model Masters Buffing Metalizers). They are amazing metallics, and once you get into the routine of applying them, they are not too bad to apply, but surface prep is key.

With applying things over the metallic finish, you need to remember what you are working with. Most acrylic based paints and inks will dull the metallic nature, while real inks generally allow you to shade without dulling the metallic shine. I'll usually only use them to add weathering type effects as opposed to trying to shift the overall look. For achieving a different base color, I have been happier with just using a different base color to start with.

As opposed to using Chrome, consider an aluminum or burnt metal for a shiney metal that is a bit darker. You can go almost black using Gun Metal too if you like with things like steel and Magnesium being in between the Chrome side and the Gun Metal side. Most of those are not as reflective as the Chrome paint (you can actually get real reflections off it if you put in the surface prep), but most metals are not that shiney anyway.

Good advice all. I should have started by saying I'm trying to produce what I would think the "night shielding" of the dark eldar would look like.

I'm going to do that by having a very flat, matte black on the shield panels of the raiders and ravagers, but the rest of the ship I want to be very reflective, yet still dark to give the contrast and maintain the dark eldar "mystique". I figure the matte shield plates against the high gloss ship body would give a sort of "light negating" look to the panels, hence the night shield effect. So I do kind of still need that unnatural effect of a very reflective, yet still rather dark colored surface.

Overall the ships will look somewhat monchromatic black. "Ghosted, or blacked out" if you will. I think that's how they refer to the look in auto painting terminology. I could almost get away with just a really high gloss black enamel now that i'm looking at how it's curing on the hellion board, but I still want just that liiiitle bit of chrome for the reflective property. I watched a guy black out a chrome vehicle emblem for his car and it produced an effect I would be happy with, though, he was using completely different paints and materials, so I didnt even try to reverse engineer that one.