Decided to try the Metalizer on the plug again. First I sanded the room, then applied fine modeling putty and left it to dry. Then it got sanded with 600 and 800 grit wet and dry paper, followed by a coat of acrylic primer spray. When dry the primer was sanded with 800 grit paper and then given a coat of Peugeot Steel Grey spray paint.
Once the final paint coat was dry the powder was applied. Here it is with the upper right quarter of the rim without powder, the rest looks a little dull at this point.
Then the powder was rubbed with a buffing pad for about a minute.
And buffed a bit more in circular motions to try and avoid streaking.
The powder really shows up the scratches and pits that were still present even after all that sanding earlier. It's very unforgiving.
Here it is next to the two Force FX hilts to compare with the chrome handles.
Finally the centre area was painted black and mithril silver.
Much happier with this, it's still not a mirror finish but at least it now looks like sightly worn chrome.
Edit: tested on various base coats, which are all spray paints I had kicking around in the garage, on a piece of plastic pipe to see which gave the best finish. From left to right they are gloss blue, steel grey, grey primer sanded with 800 grit, satin black with clear lacquer, satin black, grey primer sanded with 600 grit, unsanded primer, and bare black plastic.
The picture isn't great, but it does show how the Metalizer looks quite different depending on the base. The black with clear lacquer is the nearest to chrome which is probably down to the lacquer giving it a smooth surface, the gloss blue is almost as good which is surprising I'd expected the steel grey metallic to be shinier. Raw grey primer is the worst finish, and the sanded primers and satin black are also pretty bad.
Dan