I've not long sprayed the chrome grille surround in black magic. I'll be fitting it this weekend after finally polishing it up properly. I have 2 brand new Skoda badges (1 for grille, 1 for boot), however I'm of the opinion that the chrome parts on them make them too bright and stand out too much. Tried to sort some smoked badges, but it's not an easy job unfortunately.

 

Hence I'm now wondering if anyone has tried some of that tint spray that's normally used on lights as an alternative to smoking the badge? Can this spray be used for this is the main question? I presume it's designed to work with plastic?

 

I've never used the stuff before so need a bit of general info on how good the stuff is and how to apply etc...

 

I definitely want to smoke my badges if I can, as I've bought tint sheet for my front lights, so don't want the badge standing out a mile!

 

Cheers guys :-)

Thought about a sheet of vinyl over the badge mate?

I tried it on one of my old badges with tinting film, it was quite fiddly but I never finished it because I had new badges to go on anyway.

I've used tinting spray plenty of times for mates etc.

It's just like lacquer. Light coats then build up. I should think 1-2 coats would be enough for the desired tint your looking for

Yeah had a think about the vinyl I'll have left over from the lights, but then I had a feel of the badge and realised it was raised in several places. Hence it would be a pain to get all the air out I reckon.

Have you used the spray on badges before? It's cheap enough at least...!

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Yeah had a think about the vinyl I'll have left over from the lights, but then I had a feel of the badge and realised it was raised in several places. Hence it would be a pain to get all the air out I reckon.

Have you used the spray on badges before? It's cheap enough at least...!

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I think your best bet will be the spray before. Can't say I've used it on badges or anything like that though mate. It should be fine though as it's only lacquer?

Maybe try it on one of your old ones first. And maybe a few coats of clear coat after wards for protection against stone chips etc

Bit of a curve ball, but what about some flye-eye?

It certainly makes lights look smoked but may be too 'obvious' on an isolated badge?

Just a thought.

What about Plasti Dip? You can spray the badges what ever colour you want, then if you decide it's not the look you are after you haven't wasted the original badges!

Bit of a curve ball, but what about some flye-eye?

It certainly makes lights look smoked but may be too 'obvious' on an isolated badge?

Just a thought.

That is covering areas of the badge rather than just tinting it mate. Works well on lights though.

What about Plasti Dip? You can spray the badges what ever colour you want, then if you decide it's not the look you are after you haven't wasted the original badges!

This would cover the whole badge rather than making them look 'dull' (tinted)

If you got some tint film and heated it up enough you could just press the badge into it and it would mould around the badge. Then just trim the edges?

Cheers for the suggestions guys. As Dan said, I'm after just darkening my new OE badges slightly, as they're very light and shiny when placed alongside my newly glossed grille...

 

Hence I purchased some spray tint today. Will have a practice on the old badge and then have a go! You can remove the stuff if you don't like it, so not much lost...

Cheers for the suggestions guys. As Dan said, I'm after just darkening my new OE badges slightly, as they're very light and shiny when placed alongside my newly glossed grille...

Hence I purchased some spray tint today. Will have a practice on the old badge and then have a go! You can remove the stuff if you don't like it, so not much lost...

Nothing ventured.....nothing gained as they say!!

Tint arrived when I was at work today.

 

Luckily I'm on half-term, so I finished early and went down to my unit to carry on.

 

Gave the 3 badges (2 x Skoda front/rear, 1 x new style Octy grille badge), gave them a light wet keying with 2000 grade wet and dry, then a light coating of the tint spray. It's had a marvellous effect! Just how I want them now :-)  I sprayed about 3 coats of clear lacquer on top just to seal it up properly. I'll rub them down in a couple of days and polish back up before putting all the parts back on the car at last!

 

100% the best way of tackling this. Much much easier than fiddling around with a vinyl I suspect...

 

Will add pics when it's all done and the car is clean again :-)

Here's a snap of the end result. I'm really chuffed with both badges :-)  Newer style Octavia badge for the grille.

 

Both freshly painted.... slats in satin black, and surround in Black Magic. Bit dirty in this pic, but you get the idea ;-)

 

 

Now to fit my headlight vinyl...

That looks really good Alex! Professional job that grill surround is!