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Model Making


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dyrodium
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Model Making

Hai Guyz Very Happy
I've googled for ages, with no success... I need to be able to give a model i'm making a near mirror metalic reflective finish, the catch is it's made from this soft utherene cast like material, forgotton the name, looks like mdf but doesn't split. It's easy to get smooth, but what resin/laquer could I try to use to get that look, if it's even possible? Confused Thought maybe someone might know. Smile
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Post Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:02 pm 
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Nick
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That's a tough challenge! You need something like electroplating; I would try to find out how consumer gadgets get a shiny coating on plastic parts. Googling "plastic electroplating" brings up a ton of links!

Post Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:30 pm 
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Spockie-Tech
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Vacuum deposition is the tech I think

Try googling "Plastic Chroming"

If you find someone who does it locally for small runs, let me know please, I have some items I would like to get done too, but its too small an order for most of the places to be bothered with I would imagine, some bezel surrounds for nixie tubes
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Post Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:16 pm 
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Glen
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a few guys have spray painted there plastic pocket bike fairings with chrome paint. it comes out looking pretty good.



still no idea what the material your talking about is Laughing
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Post Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:21 pm 
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Nick
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For a home-grown option, Bunnings sell a product called "liquid Glass". It is a 2 part resin meant to give table tops a smooth & shiny surface. You could pour on a layer or two of that, then spray paint it with chrome paint. Do a test first to see if you can add a top coat of the Liquid Glass for a extra shine and toughness.

Post Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:36 pm 
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Glen
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that sounds almost too easy nick Surprised out with the 1200 wet and dry angus Laughing
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Post Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:42 pm 
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Spockie-Tech
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Re Chrome Paint

My experience with it in the past is that it looks reasonably good when first painted (still not highly reflective like chrome though), but left to itself, it quickly goes dull and just looks like silver/grey paint.. a layer of clear *might* help stop that.
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Post Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:52 pm 
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dyrodium
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hmm I'll try to get my hands on that stuff Nick, sounds like the ticket to getting a smooth surface! I think chrome paint might well do it in that case, it only needs to look good for about a week.. Smile
The material is this:
http://www.designophy.com/uploadedimages/tmn/2009/01/20/12.jpg
They're a polyurethane based block material, under a variety of brand names. Smile
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Post Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:04 pm 
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chrisjon65
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You could spray it with Polyurethane to smooth out the imperfections
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Post Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:12 am 
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dyrodium
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I ended up fine polishing PVC rod and using chrome spray paint, came up rather nicely actualy! Very Happy Very Happy
Used ali for the centerpiece though, nothing beats a metallic finish than real metal...

Now onto another annoying question, probably Chris will be able to help with this one, I need to get hold of some wood veneers, make a models material look like woodgrain with a thin overlay of real wood. Apparently you can get it down to paper thickness or something, if I could find a non-useless Australian company that is... Confused Very Happy
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Post Wed Sep 02, 2009 10:00 pm 
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Fish_in_a_Barrel



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Bunnings sells wood veneer, I think $40 for a 500mmx500mm sheet.

My dad used balsa wood when he needed cheep wood veneer. It worked fairly well.
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Post Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:07 am 
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Valen
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how real does it have to look?
you can get "contact" in wood grain if you want it, its just printed. should be a few $
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Post Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:24 am 
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dyrodium
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Ended up using balsa wood for time reasons, plus it was $2... Laughing
Not quite finished, needs a screen still. This accurate sh*t is so hard.... Rolling Eyes


PS, I stole the lens. Laughing
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Post Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:50 pm 
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