A 'low-impact' method of 'chrome plating'

Cool tip. Thanks for posting. Looks like a great way to brighten up some passenger cars.

Pete

Yes.  $24.95 on Amazon for 100 ml.  I may try it - getting tired of polishing the nickel silver.

I did pick up a bottle of Alclad II - 1 oz for $8.00, so roughly the same price - but haven't tried it yet.  This stuff looks like the answer!

bob2 posted:

Yes.  $24.95 on Amazon for 100 ml.  I may try it - getting tired of polishing the nickel silver.

I could not find it. May we have a link or a more complete description, please?

Molotow Liquid Chrome Marker Set

I was thinking more along the lines of this one, but it's nowhere near 100ml.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01MR2KER3

The only one I have found are the 30ml refills for airbrushing. The markers might be useful for doing chrome bumpers on vehicles or similar. 

My MTH Texas Special set is a perfect candidate for this stuff. 

Pete

I have ordered both the refill and a pen to try out. The pens look like they might be useful for small detail parts. Incidentally I have got reasonable results with very small parts using a silver leaf pen from, I think, Krylon. But with very small parts reflectivity is not such an issue.

The Molotow product looks like it might be a game changer; in the second video it certainly looks like liquid chrome/mercury when poured out or in the airbrush cup. I have tried just about every reflective "chrome" paint system for models with mixed results. Alclad II chrome gives the best results but it is so easy to go wrong especially if you spray too much of the chrome over the black base coat. 

The videos don't explain, and I have not found out from anywhere else, what is the best psi for spraying Molotow. However the video references to "wet" coats suggests that in fact this might be easier to apply than paints which need a reflective undercoat.

Mention of a Texas Special set reminds me that I have two sets of E7s which could do with chrome treatment of the fluted panels on the sides. I have not tried this yet but an alternative to paint for panels (even if they have some texture) is the old model car product, "Bare-Metal Foil" still available here: https://www.bare-metal.com/bare-metal-foil.html. I have used the super bright chrome foil and it duplicates the finish of polished metal because, well,  it is metal.

BTW I really did like the second video even though the "dude" seems to be stuck in a Wayne's World timewarp. Party on Garth!

I've had a chance to experiment a little with this and apart from being easy to use it does produce a "chrome" finish on plastic parts that is easily as good as Alclad. It's as reflective as metal foil, in other words like a chrome finish but not perfectly mirror-like. 

Surprising thing is that this is an ink, not a paint. Don't ask me for the technical explanation but it's alcohol-based and all the advice I have read is that it needs a fairly long time to dry (basically a full day) before you can safely handle the painted part. Unlike other imitation chrome finishes it will take a clear coat without compromising reflectivity. 

My photos don't do it justice because they don't show the reflection very well but just to illustrate, I poured out a bit of the refill on paper and then used one of the pens on a very small part (a 3D printed diner kitchen faucet that I had already given the Alclad treatment). The finish after applying Molotow was in fact better:

I have not tried airbrushing it yet but by all accounts you use fairly low pressure (10-15 psi) and it needs no thinning. The German maker also produces spray cans but they don't appear to be available in the US. It appears that the full range of these paints are used by taggers/graffiti "artists," which did not endear the maker to me but for my purposes this is a great product.

Many thanks to the OP for bringing this to attention. It works.