Everyone knows these things are rare as rocking horse poo, so today while the misses was out I turned the kitchen into a workshop (as you do) and had a crack at making them using aluminium impregnated resin.

This is my first attempt... Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3

Gave it a quick rub down with 1200 wet&dry and a few minutes with autosol before the misses was due home and I had to put the kitchen back together!

I'll be playing around with these again tommorrow to get rid of the imperfections and try to get the colour right

They look great! A little more gunmetal than aluminium but the shape and finish look perfect

Do they have to be aluminium ?
Why not paint them to the colour that suits the car

they look good . will they polish up ok ?

Been experimenting with the resin/aluminium mix, but getting the brushed aluminium look I really want isn't happening at the moment!
After 10 minutes with the autosol they look quite dark, a bit like anthracite.

I don't really want to paint them, but that said, I did try Halfords 'chrome' out of curiosity... To my surprise they don't look too bad!
Chrome1 Chrome2 Chrome3

Still playing ...

Wow they look great are you taking orders ?.

they sure do look very nice indeed.
how are these fitted? are they placed above the lights and outside the car? cause I have yet to remove one of the taillights but I can't really see any other way how these are supposed to be fitted.

If you are taking orders I'm interested.

The shape you have looks spot on for simple press fitting over the light (plus a little glue). Great job

If I can perfect them and make them up in a reasonable time, then yes!

Mark's right. These are based on the aluminium rings that simply press onto the light.
The one's I had were held on with a light smear of silicone sealant rather than glue so they could be 'teased' off. I only have two originals though, hence me making them!

Thanks for the positive comments

i see, well count me in for 4 please <whinks> no pressure

Interesting project "not so" workshy!
Suggest quite a few (me included) would be interested in buying a set if you can successfully conclude the R&D!

And me!!! They look fantastic!!

I had this type from an early Group Buy, but eventually one fell off. Nigel kindly supplied me two of his, but these are thinner and sit differently on the lights. So I now have 2 thick and two thin rings I think the fatter ones you are modelling from look best (IMHO)

well done they look great

top job count me in for a full set if you go ahead pal

I'm interested too!

Me too!

I've got these to look really good now... Not 100%, but really good!

I'm not convinced resin is the best material to use and want to get them bang on, so still experimenting

Update about the rings...

Finally got these resin rings to look amazing! ...Only to find that they slowly shrink by about 2.5mm so they don't sit flush to the back of the light So, knocked that on the head!

However, not to be beaten, there'll be an ALUMINIUM version of these rings coming soon (I know, should have done it properly to start with!)

If you decide to make a batch of them I'll definitely be interested.

Let us know how you get on.

Great effort count me in if you start selling em mate

same here

maybe we should start making a list so Workshy has a idea on how many he'll be needing to make :-)

What resin were you using?

Count me in.

They won't fit an m3 technics .

Polyester and powdered aluminium mix.
As well as the shrinkage it was a bit brittle too so may have eventually cracked.

I'll make at least 10 sets available and see how it goes from there.
When I've a sample made up I'll post pictures... Be the end of the month probably

Lol, for my dad, he's wanted some for years!

Excellent. If they fit well and are of good quality I'll certainly be buying.