# Paint to simulate Mag wheels



## Alien (Sep 5, 2001)

Hi guys,

Any suggestions on paint(s) to use to simulate the look of Mag wheels??
I have wheel rims that are not vac plated and I want to paint them to look like mag wheels, like on a 2002 Porsche Carrera.

Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.

Alien (The SciFi modeler that doesn't build many cars.)


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Molotow liquid chrome pens come in 1,2,and 4 mm size tips.


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

for a raw metal look, i just use tamiya silver. for chrome, molotow.

silver (these rims were 3d printed, not kit parts)
DSCF8334 by aus_mus, on Flickr

molotow
DSCF8447 by aus_mus, on Flickr


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

For real cars, they sell Chrome paint. It is very shiny, but if you touch it or try to clear coat it, it dulls.

There is non paint chrome stuff but it's pricey.

Several videos on alsa. Never tried it though.

https://alsacorp.com/easy-chrome/


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## Alien (Sep 5, 2001)

Thanks chaps,

Chrome paint is going to be a bit too shiny but I do love those Molotow pens.

I reckon I will give the Tamiya silver, or even titanium silver, a try. I have some in my paint collection so it will be worth loading up the airbrush for a bit of a squirt.

Alien


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Molotow also comes in a spray can and Tamiya also puts out something called chrome silver.


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

I think Porsche cars don't use chrome? Like the 70's up they use alloy look, satin blacks, or gunmetal greys. I own a 1-1 scale Porsche and its rims use the alloy look.


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## Alien (Sep 5, 2001)

I ended up using Tamiya titanium silver. It produced a pretty good alloy look.

I have previously used the Tamiya Chrome silver, as well as Humbrol Chrome silver, but these are a bit too shiny for my purposes. They are not in the Alclad or Molotow level of chrome but get pretty close if you do a good airbrushing job.


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## Ole Weird Wade (Oct 2, 2019)

Lately YouTuber HPI Guy has been liking Rustoleum Bright Coat Metallic Finish Chrome for chrome parts like wheels. It looks good in the videos. I picked up a can the other day, but haven't had a chance to use it yet.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Of course one could always strip off the chrome and paint the wheels the same color as the car body.


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## Alien (Sep 5, 2001)

irishtrek said:


> Of course one could always strip off the chrome and paint the wheels the same color as the car body.


Now that's classy!:grin2:


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

But then depending on how accurate one wants to have them you'll need to paint the lug nuts. The way I did it recently was I trimmed of the end of a round tooth pick and dipped it in some Tamyia chrome silver and touched it on the lug nuts for all 4 wheels, and if you do this be very careful or you could end up with paint any place but the lug nuts!!


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## mr-replica (Sep 25, 2011)

Most newer cars today don't actually have chrome wheels, though kits often have them in chrome. A really easy, fast and inexpensive way to make them look authentic is simply use Testor's Dullcote on them, spray or brush. 

It's the same with making wheels (and bumpers) on older models that are molded in chrome look more authentic. Brushing it on from the bottle is better in my opinion because that stuff when sprayed is terribly smelly and toxic. Just use a tiny bit of Dullcote though. 

I recently did that on a '77 Camaro model, front and rear bumpers, and it looked exactly like the real thing.


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