If you are reading this now, you have obviously seen our '71 Chevy cover truck with its incredibly realistic painted trim. Yes, it's all paintwork, and it is captivating because all of the details were applied in just the right way to create a lifelike characteristic. The main thing to remember is that the original trim on these trucks qualities and reflects everything in front of it. Although '67-'72 Chevy trucks did not originally come with chrome trim, the owner wanted the look of chrome that is found on the trim of other factory sport trucks. This technique works well in either circumstance. When painting it, you have to add in the reflection elements of sky, light source, horizon line, and surrounding objects.
The artist responsible for laying down this paint scheme is none other than Pat Maxwell of Maxwell Designs. Pat has been spraying graphics on vehicles for several years and has perfected his talent in that time. Since he is very skillful at paintwork, this type of simple design is something he could have done in kindergarten. He explained that you will see a lot of this chrome effect in his various work, but this one just happens to have more of an impact because it replicates the factory trim.
While we were out at Kustom Werx Autobody for this month's cover shoot, we had Pat show us how this chrome look was achieved. It's amazing how the effect appears when finished, but we soon discovered that it is a relatively simple technique to perform. When completed, this style of paintjob also has some hidden benefits when it comes to washing your ride. If you love the original trim look and are a detail freak about keeping your truck clean, you will find that real trim collects and drips water on your freshly washed body panels. Another benefit comes apparent when you don't have to wax and buff around those intricate emblem details. It's definitely a cool trick to keep in mind for any truck build, so read on to find out how you can master this effect.