Molotow Liquid Chrome

From Tony Jacob

Hi All,

After some chat with Dave and Stuart Clark for separate reasons about Molotow pens, I’ve spent a few days testing airbrushing Molotow Liquid Chrome. Thought I’d share with you all for your personal use since this stuff is some kind of magic, and us ‘pod people’ owe you all for putting in the heap of work you do to keep us entertained.

So first up, what you probably know is that this stuff really, truly brushes or airbrushes and gives a real chrome finish (not the “it’s chrome when you dim the lights, squint, drink a few shots of modelling fluid, and use a bucket full of wishful thinking). Image 2 is Molotow Chrome sprayed un-thinned, through an Iwata with a .3mm nozzle at 18psi. SHINY 🙂

I bought a Molotow refill to try the airbrushing. I sprayed in sections on a fresh paint mule onto bare plastic and onto black lacquer primer (SMS Paints). After 36 hours I clear-coated a couple of the sections. One with Alclad Aqua Gloss, one with Mr. Hobby Super Clear III. Last I experimented with masking with Frog Delicate surface tape (slightly tackier than Tamiya tape as a disaster check).

Now the things I’ve discovered for those of us who are into shiny things:

  • Out of the airbrush, this stuff is really really chrome. (Pic 1 is a section straight from the airbrush, half over primer, half straight on plastic). Primer or not makes no difference
  • DON’T spray in mist coats like you might with other metallic paints. It results in a horrible grainy finish.
  • DO spray in a heavy, wet coat. It levels incredibly well and doesn’t seem to obscure detail even when sprayed really heavily. Must have a lot of solvent or carrier or whatever.
  • At first, I thought it was a very fragile finish since it marked really easily but it actually finishes very tough but needs a long time to cure. Don’t do anything to it for at least 24 hours (probably longer if you’re not impatient like me). Once cured it’s very scratch and scuff resistant.

BUT…

 

Just like Alclad, this stuff marks and degrades quickly when you do other normal modelling stuff to it…

  • DO NOT SAND IT… EVER. Something about the way it cures means that any sanding will immediately start lifting what is obviously quite a thin layer of metallic pigment/particles. Any sanding at all, with any grit (even 12000 Micromesh) will dull and darken the finish and no amount of polishing will bring back the chrome shine.
  • DO NOT TOUCH IT… EVER. Without a clear coat, it won’t actually fingerprint when cured. But it does seem to leave a dull spot where you touch it, as if it has instantly tarnished.

CLEAR COATS:

  • Both Alclad AquaGloss and Mr Hobby Super Clear dulled the chrome finish slightly but noticeably. In the ‘Clear Coats’ pic, Mr Hobby is on the left, AquaGloss on the right. The Alclad AquaGloss left a slightly brighter finish than the Mr. Hobby which you can sort of see from the reflections in the pic. The finish ends up more akin to a bright aluminum than chrome.
  • The clear coats both did a great job of protecting the Molotow chrome from marking or tarnishing and allows it to be touched safely without marring the finish.
  • Sanding with 2 clear coats still lifted pigment and dulled/darkened the finish.

MASKING:

  • Nope, don’t like it… don’t like it at all!! Even with 2 coats of clear, the tape lifts what looks like metallic pigment/particles as if it has somehow sucked it through the clear coat. The clear coat is still there (the finish still won’t mark from handling). It almost seems that the clear coats have somehow reactivated the Molotow and the pigment has lifted into the surface of the clear coat layers. Masking this stuff will be a nightmare although clear coats are probably the way if you can live with the less than a chrome finish and are happy doing maybe 4 or 5 clear coats.
  • Masking over an area with no clear coat didn’t seem to lift any more pigment than on the clear-coated sections.

So this stuff is absolutely brilliant for a chrome finish but pretty impractical for any larger application. Since it can’t really be sanded and sprays with an inevitably slight orange peel, it will never give a mirror finish straight from the tube. I haven’t tried thinning it but that might help. I’d keep it to nothing larger than a car bumper, wheels or aircraft oleo struts.

I also doubt that I could afford to maintain a Molotow airbrushing habit along with Mike having addicted me to top-shelf bourbon. Molotow refills cost the sort of $$ that leaves me wondering if it’s made of ground unicorn horn and requires some fancy story-telling to the wife.

Bear in mind that I don’t have the expertise of Will Pattison’s big toe and he’s done some much more ‘scientific’ stuff on his channel. Although my experiences with Molotow (or maybe my expectations) seem a bit different than his.