Hi, just wondering whats the best way to darken chrome parts with a wash e.g. grilles, wheels?
Acrylics, enamels or oils?
Any techniques explained will be very appreciated.

Cheers

Do you need an overall darkere appearance or do you want to emphasize specific areas, to add depth?

Mainly to add depth, especially in grilles.
My attempts seem to flood in certain areas.

I like to use black acrylic thinned with Future. It flows great into grilles. If any of the wash get on top surfaces I didn't want, I just wipe away with an isopropyl dampened brush, cotton tip, or tissue.

For grilles I use acryllics, thinned with water or enamels thinned with white spirit. Any excess paint is easily removed, with a brush or cottonswap dampened with thinner.
In my latest build I used Tamiya smoke, thinned with alcohol. That worked fine on alu-wheels. Haven't tried it on a grill.

Thanks for the advice, I'll give these ideas a try.

Cheers

Lee,
I much prefer for recessed areas whether chromed or not to use Tamiya's Panel Line accent color wash. It comes in Black, Dark Brown, Brown, and Gray. Honestly, the Gray doesn't seem to work unless really mixed with Black. The wash is enamel based not lacquer or acrylic lacquer so a Mineral Spirit is used to remove the excess and won't harm acrylic or water based paints.


Joel