Simulating Cad Plating

I made up a "Cad-type wash". This basically is thinned chrome paint applied to a rag and rubbed in to match cad plating. In this case, I wanted to simulate aged cad plating, which is silver but somewhat flat compared to new cad or to chrome.

1. Dipped a soft rag in paint to partially soak with thinner.
2. Spray Chrome paint onto the rag until that same spot that had the thinner takes on the paint and it mixes with the thinner in the fiber.
3. Rub and improvise until it looks right 

The results are mixed. It is not as perfect as nice, aged Cad plating, but it beats letting the metal rust and it beats plain silver hobby paint. The silver finish is a little strong right now, but I'll come back after a week or so with a dry rag and "wear" the finish so that it looks like aged Cad. So far, it looks like the picture below, but once "aged" a little more, it will match nicely.

I got a nice little space heater for the shed as a Christmas gift, which has really come in handy. Tonight I made a little use of it, along with my newly repaired work lamp.

I finished the rub by "aging" and adding texture to the color, to simulate old Cad plating.

As you may have seen in the previous entry, the silver paint went on thin, but still quite smooth and sort of obliterated the texture of the bare metal. This is one of the tell tale signs of spray paint. However, I had to wait for the paint to dry to "age" it.

The aging is not scientific at all, but is more a nebulous art. You basically take a soft cloth, or even a paper towel, and rub the part until you get the desired look. The more you rub, the more "worn" the piece will look. Remember to work with a careful hand and go slowly.

The results are not bad- the rubbing removes the brightest, while leaving the silver color in the low spots. In this way you polish, texture-ize, and age the part all at once. If you rub enough, eventually some spots dark as you get closer to bare metal. You can simulate a worn "relic" look if you know where to hit. If you want to do the "relic" thing, you can hit the high spots, and spots that stick out, as well as those that would rub in the course of normal use.

This is a preliminary result. I'm going to leave them until I put the fenders onto the bike, to see how they compare to the other parts. I think I may have to do one more brief pass on them, but I'll wait for the finishing touch to blend it in while on the bike. For now, I've regained a nice, aged texture without all the rust and tarnish. Also, the active rust is gone, so the part should be protected from further degradation for the most part.