A: You’ll want to completely sculpt your figure first, getting him as smooth as possible. Any little bump will show up like crazy once chromed, so you might consider using a fine grade steel wool to polish your piece before you prime him.

Next, I would still go ahead and give the figure a light, but solid coat of Krylon’s spray Primer Grey. Give that plenty of time to dry, and then give the figure a solid coat of Krylon’s Spray Flat White. This will help the chrome be more vibrant once applied.

I think I found my chrome spray in K-Mart? Maybe it was a Michaels or Rag Shop. Anyway, it was listed specifically as “chrome” and not “silver”. Test the spray on a junk figure first, just to make sure it’s the look you’re going for. You should find that a little spritz of the spray actually provides a lot of coverage. Avoid heavy buildups, though, as that will lead to other issues down the road.

Spray one side of the figure completely with the chrome and let it dry thoroughly. I can’t stress this part enough. If you handle it too soon, your fingerprints will leave indentions into the spray, and you’ll never get them out. And honestly, I would suggest having the figure stand upright when you spray him. There’s a chance that if you lay the figure down to spray, the underside might stick to your work surface.

After you get him completely coated with chrome spray, that’s pretty much it! You don’t really need a top coat, as a Matte finish will dull the luster while a gloss coat might react weird and become tacky.

The only real problem of working with chrome is since the figure is so shiny, you really can’t handle him too much anymore. Take a good look at Captain Atom’s thigh and you’ll see where my thumb accidentally left indentations. The chrome will also attract fingerprint oils like crazy, so it’s best to avoid handling the figure as much as possible. Despite all of this, adding chrome to a figure will certainly make for a striking custom on the shelf.

Hope this helps!

Matt
aka Iron-Cow