How to paint "chrome"
drotigel
Posted 3/5/2006 8:04 PM (#180947)
Subject: How to paint "chrome"




Posts: 3


I’m wondering how I would go about getting a chrome finish on a lure. In the past I’ve tried to use spray cans that claimed to be “chrome” but there were noting more than silver paint. I’m now the proud owner of an airbrush and as soon as the compressor gets here the garage will be filled with fumes! I’ve seen several pictures and lots of posts about “chrome” on this forum, but I can’t seem to find any information on how to go about getting a “chrome” finish.

Thanks, Dave
Snowcrest 6
Posted 3/5/2006 8:29 PM (#180951 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"


Knowing Stan - his "chrome" paint costs about $200 per ounce, or more - and took many, many hours to come up with.


I wouldn't expect a trade secret to be divulged in a web forum...some things you just have to experiment with and hope for the best.



B



muskynightmare
Posted 3/5/2006 10:44 PM (#180962 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"





Posts: 2112


Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water
Not that I've tried, but..................................
How does someone go about making a mirror? You paint glass a silver color, then paint it black. Same effect as a chrome pattern? I would think that maybe, and I may be way off on this, If you spray down black and then go over it with silver, maybe you would get similar results. I do not have the time to try this myself, but that's what I was thinking when this chrome thing came up.
Riverman
Posted 3/6/2006 7:02 AM (#180977 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"


I had a guy write me once tell me how he did it but I dont recall exactly what the name of the paint was. He was using a black paint and coming over the top with a paint that was specifically designed for a mirror-like finish. I wouldnt assume the costs is all that high...look around, u will find what u are after.

jed v.
John23
Posted 3/6/2006 9:12 AM (#180998 - in reply to #180977)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"


My guess is that the black base coat would have to be completely flat/matte. Personally, I'm not a big fan of chrome unless I'm pike fishing so I'm not likely to try to paint it any time soon.
Stan Durst 1
Posted 3/6/2006 10:02 AM (#181007 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"





Posts: 1207


Location: Pigeon Forge TN.
"B" ( Snowcrest 6) is the warmest.
This is a venture that has been very time consuming and exspensive to produce. There are specific processes that must be followed to the "T" or you have a disaster and a piece of junk that looks like you dropped it in a bucket of acid. Beav and I teamed up on this because it so happened that we had the idea of "what if " at the same time. We have dedicated and merged our time and resources to get this to work, and it is not cheap believe me.
The cheapest way for you to obtain results would be to send it to Beav or myself .
We both always try to help with painting advice for people but there are some things you just can't let go of.
I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that Beav and I will have to retain our trade secrets on this one, we have worked to hard to get this right.
Anything else I can help you with I will try.



Beaver
Posted 3/6/2006 12:43 PM (#181031 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"





Posts: 4266


Well put Stan.
Neither one of us wants to come off as aloof or holier than thou, but when Stan and I talked about this for the first time last year, we brainstormed and bounced different ideas around and thankfully one of us had a place where they could actually do the experimenting. I, unfortunately, don't have year-round painting facilities so Stan got to do the trial and error end of the project.
As we've said before, it looks good now, but we still have a year of fishing ahead of us to see if what we've come up with will stand the test of time, and we're confident that it will. Otherwise we would have given up before this stage of the game.
You can take a can of black paint and spray it on something and then spray silver over it and try to get something that looks like chrome. Now try it with every other color of the spectrum and get it to stay on a fishing lure that is designed to be eaten by a toothy critter and see what you get.
How many of you have had chrome Rapalas and Rattletraps last for more than a few fish?
That's what Stan and I are attempting to do. It's just another color, or variety of color, and color doesn't matter to the fish anyway. That's why all lures should be black, right?
Some guys will like what they see and some won't. We are just trying to do something new and different, and inovative, which is something that happens in the muskie fishing industry on a yearly basis. So far we have heard from enough interested parties to make us think that the time that we've put into this so far has been worth it.
There really haven't been a lot of posts about chrome. I think that there have only been a few, and those were pictures that Stan posted just to show some of the successes that he began to encounter. I do think that those post have just triggerd an awareness and an interest. Lord knows that the bass, walleye and salmon fishing worlds are full of chrome lures, why not the muskie world? That's what we set out to try and achieve. Stan is correct, and both of us have emphasized that what we are doing is very time consuming, and isn't easy. We've tried shortcuts and wound up with crap on the paintroom floor. I'm not even painting yet, but I have a special section of my painting room that is for chrome lures only. I'll probably do more of my regular patterns when I get started, but once I get a batch or two done, I'm going to do some experimenting that Stan and I have been talking about recently. I'm sure that he'll be busy filling orders.
It's been great doing this with Stan, because we have two completely different styles when it comes to painting, so we are both excited to see the results that the other guy gets. Also, Stan does his custom painting that he has done for years, and I have lure bodies laying all over the house in different stages of preparedness because I also make lures. It's great working with him, because I can send him my lure bodies when I am not able to paint. If I can't paint them, I can't think of anyone else that I'd rather have doing it. It's been a great experience and a fun and educational partnership.
We will all see as the season goes on, just how far we can take this.
Beav
ShaneW
Posted 3/6/2006 1:06 PM (#181035 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"




Posts: 619


Location: Verona, WI
Beav and Stan,

Have you guys done any tank testing to see what chrome looks like in water with color in it? I have played with this a little but always get stuck on the fact that chrome needs reflected light to show (otherwise it's just gray). I am curious as to what chrome looks like in clear, green, or brown water. The results could be dramatically different depending on the water you fished.

Shane
Beaver
Posted 3/6/2006 2:29 PM (#181049 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"





Posts: 4266


Time will tell.
I'm sure that there will be better reflective qualities in clearer water. What happens in different types of lakes is going to be learned at a different date.
I know that I consistently catch walleyes and bass out of The Mississippi River on Chrome/Blue Rattle Traps and on the Chrome Shad Raps. The water there is anything but clear, but the fish definitely like those colors, and at times that is all they will hit.
Look at the pictures of the wood lure that Stan painted. It has been "chromed", but does it look like a bumper on a car......no, wait....those are plastic....how about a new trailer hitch ball? When people think chrome, they think of that silvery coating on metal. That is one-dimensional. What we are doing is applying somewhat the same principal to all the colors of the spectrum......kind of. We'll have to see as new patterns are developed. Take a look at the wood lure and see how the reflective quality of the colors is enhanced. I'm sure that in clearer water or on sunny days the effects will be closer to optimium, but that's not to say that it will lose all of it's qualities in other waters or light conditions.
I'm looking forward to the field part of the experiment.
Beav
Stan Durst 1
Posted 3/6/2006 4:34 PM (#181063 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"





Posts: 1207


Location: Pigeon Forge TN.
I'm going to keep this short as I have not had much sleepover the last few days.
My wife thinks I am crazy cause I have been playying in the bathtub with the chrome colors. Even with artificial light they look good. Out side in the sunlight , when it shines) it looks real good. I have not been able to get to the lake ( even though I live right next to it) or the river to try it outas yet. But I have fished chrome plated walleye lures in the river from time to time and they worked well. So I can only imagine some very good results from this new stuff. If not than it is back to the drawing board.
Pictures do no justice to the design of the colors. You have to see it in person to relish the idea and concept of what we are achieving so far.
Sorry, but I have to get off here for now.
Thanks,
Muskiefool
Posted 3/7/2006 4:12 PM (#181231 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"





drotigel you have a PM LOL hope it helps
RiverMan
Posted 3/8/2006 2:06 AM (#181290 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"


The name of the paint that guy told me about with an incredible chrome finish was called "mirror coat"...finally remembered what it was. You might do a search on it and see what u can come up with.

jed v.
aloof
Posted 3/11/2006 9:23 PM (#181856 - in reply to #180947)
Subject: RE: How to paint "chrome"


Do some research, talk to people that do chroming for a living(ie custom car people). It's not an easy or super cheap process,but it is not to hard. The only problem that I had when I experimented with it a couple of years ago was that the chrome would peel off easy. I also had a problem with finding a clear that would adhere. That was a while ago though and I am sure that others have put more time into figuring out those problems than I did. Good luck!