Technical How to paint accents on chrome

My 41 Plymouth has some nice art deco highlights in the stainless and chrome. What is the best way to fill in these with paint? This would include lettering that is recessed in the chrome.

What is the best paint to use, One Shot? Best technique? Best brush? Clear coat required? Special surface prep?

Thanks
Rock

 

I use One Shot black and add a little one shot hardener rather than clear coating over it,( one shot is pretty tough stuff) and if need be, a little one shot chromaflo to thin it out, but for filling in recesses, probably isn't really too necessary especially if you don't have it on hand already. A real skinny brush, (for trim, door, window handle type thin recessed lines, I've used one of my Jeral Tidwell Mack "Slim" brushes that works well), but using whatever small brush, getting it filled and wiping it flush with the surface to remove the paint from the non-recessed areas with a tissue or q-tip and a steady hand will work too. Clean it good with isopropyl alcohol and get into the crevices beforehand, though some use brake cleaner. If you mess up, mineral spirits will clean it up if it hasn't set up yet, or oven cleaner if it has.

 

I agree with stooge.
Though instead of oven cleaner (yellow normal formula) I'd use laquer thinner or paint solvent instead. Don't want to let that over cleaner sit on chrome long, it might leave an ugly stain

 

What Stooge said , paint and wipe.

 

What Stooge said......my 41 De Soto

 

Agree with this-have done many sets of Ford hubcaps and bumper script this way,

 

So I have been thinking about this same thing except to fill in the letters on my Desoto wire covers. Will the one shot with hardener last under a little HEMI heat?

 

It will hold up fine, lots of pinstriped valve covers out there, and most paint will handle the amount of heat a valve cover sees. if it starts to look a little "brush strokey" with the big recessed letter areas, a little, (very little, like a droplet for the amount of paint you'll use for it and mix it in really well either on a magazine or a little Dixie cup ) reducer/ Chromaflo as mentioned above/ mineral spirits to thin it out will help it flow a bit better.

 

I hope this is not too far afield but I'd like to know if it would on a flat head. It is a finned aluminum head and it needs a little color. Thanks.

 

Thanks for your help. I think this looks pretty good. The long lines on the grill were a female dog to paint, until I developed a wiping trick using popsicle stick and paper towel. I may have to do the side badges over. I will get it out in the sun and see. Doing this inside is hard because of the light and reflections. It also would have been easier to do them off the car......

 

Nice.

 

That looks great!

 

Looking to do some detail painting & found MICRO paint brushes at hobby shop . Just sharing ,hope it may help . Thanks

 

Brushes work great on solid colors, but if you want metalic colors you have to mask, paint and wipe with solvent.
These are for my Oldsmobile with the same gold block.

 

Thanks ,looks great ! I'm just doing very small areas of solid black . What's the best paint for chrome / stainless , acrylic or....?

 

I did the same thing on this hood water fall on the PU. I masked off the majority of the area, sprayed it black/clear and wiped it with a tight rag with a bit of solvent on it. Next day I polish it lightly to tighten it up. This way there are no brush strokes

And same technique again on the wire covers I posted above a few years ago. I did them in white (left) and then changed them to Wimbledon white (right) to match the firewall in the truck.

 

One-shot and a camel hair brush…OT pickup