It's all about BLING!

[Candyman]

Or...How I Chromed My Elise 2000..

This time I decided to go basic on the pattern and nuts on the color. Or lack thereof. This is a 200mm HPI Lotus Elise 2000. The body is done almost completely in Alclad II Chrome.

Here's the side:

And the top:

I also decided to do a carbon fiber effect on the rear spoiler and rear window visor:

It also comes with it's own light buckets which I did in carbon fiber, too:

I like this. But I did learn a few things about painting with chrome from this.
1.) Wash the body. Then apply window masks and any pattern masks you're using. Then wash the body again! Any fingerprints or smudges you get on the plastic while masking WILL show up in the chrome. Mistake #1.
2.) Make sure that you get complete coverage when you spray the chrome. Even the tiniest breaches in the chrome will show through as black when you back it. Mistake #2.
3.) Let it dry for quite a while after you're finished. Even the day after, the black backing was still tacky and you could wipe the black and chrome right off.
4.) And this is a general warning, but moreso with chrome. Get a good respirator when painting. This chrome smells VERY strong. And I'm sick of blowing black boogers out of my nose after I'm done painting. The simple fiber respirators that I got for $2 at Ace Hardware didn't stop the paint.

Hope you like it!!!

 

[Smurfola212]

Thats PIMPIN FO SHO! lol strait up mah homie. Thats a NICE shell, I havent seen anythin so bling blingin in a long time. All you gotta get is alum rims, or spray the spokes of ur wheels silver or chrome then you will be ready to be the center of attention at the races, or just bashing cuz ur car will just be a FLASH. Literally. Nice job

 

[indyjohnny]

That looks sweet.. that carbon fiber look really sets off the chrome.. Great job!

 

[wdavidhicks]

That's just too cool. Nice work, Candyman!

 

[NCNitro]

Once again another fine Candyman paintjob! Nice job man!

How many bottles of chrome did you use to do the entire body? I want to do a Daryl Waltrip chrome monte carlo for my RS4 3.

 

[bmoc2008]

That is a bad ass paintjob great jorb man

 

[Candyman]

Thanks for all the props so far. It was a bit of an experiment that came out really nice.
Smurf, I was thinking the same thing. Some chrome or alum wheels would have been a great touch.
Nitro, I only used 1/2 of a 1 oz bottle for it. If I were to do it again, I would lay one more coat so it would still be less than one bottle.

 

[Team 17]

Looks great!! I had plans of painting my new body chrome as well. At least now I know what it'll look like.

 

[RAMTech-RC]

Thats awesome. I like the carbon fiber look on the wing and spoiler. Very Nice.

 

[ImBroken]

That came out fantastic man... Chrome, when done right, is killer... Just takes a good cleaning, the right pressures, multiple even light coats and a whole lot of patience between shoots...lol
I've done the carbon fibre effect myself, but yours looks excellent. What (exactly) paint did you use on the carbon fibre, besides the black of course ?
Beautiful job......

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

That is total nuts! I love it!

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: 3 out of 3 from me!

That is boogie woogie bling bling!

 

[Candyman]

Originally posted by ImBroken
That came out fantastic man... Chrome, when done right, is killer... Just takes a good cleaning, the right pressures, multiple even light coats and a whole lot of patience between shoots...lol
I've done the carbon fibre effect myself, but yours looks excellent. What (exactly) paint did you use on the carbon fibre, besides the black of course ?
Beautiful job......

Thank you very much. Yeah, chrome is more patience than anything. This is the first time I used it so it was a learning experience. I had the body for like 3 months before I decided what to do with it. I figured all chrome would just rule. So far, I guess it does.
For the carbon fibre I obviously used black as one color. The other is just a mix of Faspearl Silver and Faspearl Charcoal. I was going to use straight Charcoal, but you really couldn't see the difference between it and the black. So I cut Silver with it and got a better effect.

 

[dcracer]

VERY NICE WORK :whhooo: :whhooo: :thumbup: :thumbup: :dancin: 8-0 :bow: :bow: :bow::w00t: :w00t: :worship: :worship:

 

[ImBroken]

The last 2 times I painted the carbon fibre effect, I used the Faspearl charcoal & it didnt show up all that well like you said... I'll have to try adding the silver... cool, thanks.
I'm currently ordering the chrome tints to try out on my new lid... can't wait...

 

[mjime714]

Candyman! OHHH man-o-man! That thing is SIK! Props on the sweet lid! I hope that is a shelfer because that is too nice to get all oily and scratched. Now all you need are some nice schumac. wheels instead of those dull grey jobs from HPI and you be set!

 

[Walkman2003]

Wow that looks sweat....

 

[bmoc2008]

how did u do the carbon fiber look i am not sur how to do it

 

[Candyman]

The carbon fiber is pretty simple. The first thing you need to find (the hard part) is some of that non-slip shelf lining stuff. It's like a tacky foam mesh stuff. And you have to find the right pattern. It has to be the checkered pattern. I found mine in the kitchen section of WalMart. Cut a piece of that big enough to cover the area you want to do with a little extra around the edges. Tape it in place so that it's nice and tight to the piece. Lay a few light coats of black with the mat in place. Let it dry good between coats. After 2 coats it should be dark enough. Take the mat off and you should be left with a black checkered pattern. Then back it with a mix of charcoal and silver and there you have it.

 

[mcvickj]

WOW!! :OMG: I can't believe I missed this thread. That is a sweet looking body Candyman. Two thumbs way way up. :thumbsup:

 

[Candyman]

Thanks everyone. I was looking over my shop the other day when I finished it and it's hard to believe that's only the 4th body I've done. It seems like I've done many more. But now I have a F-350 on the bench that is about to undergo the treatment. Just have to think of a good scheme...