I agree; real metal looks great. My favorite "chrome" stuff is white metal polished with silver polish.
My hubcaps have turned into a science experiment. I have two sets, so this is a chance to do a little testing.
Before I took CrateCruncher's advice and tried the heavy foil, I had one Alclad'ed set and one set with Dupli-Color Chrome (also over Alclad gloss black undercoat). To my surprise, the D-P set looked much better, more evidence that my Alcladding skills aren't so hot.
I have some of that chrome tape they sell at Pep Boys. It's thicker than BMF and it looks very similar to the stovepipe tape in CC's photo. So I tried it like you said - about ten times on the same hubcap. No matter how I pulled and stretched it, it either tore or wrinkled around the edges. (These hubcaps are small and very curved; they are almost little hemispheres. I think the radius is much smaller than your screwdriver handle.)
But finally, it WORKED! And it looks pretty darn good.
I finally figured out that, after stretching it as much as possible, my burnishing tool (a metal crocheting thingy) could be used to rub the foil toward the edges and eliminate the wrinkles. Then, after cutting off the excess, I used Tamiya Fine compound to polish the cap. It's not all that smooth, but it sure is shiny. It has an actual mirror-reflective finish. (I'm going to take CC's suggestion about sanding to see if it can be smoothed out a bit.) So the thick foil looks better than the Dupli-Color. Which, like I said, looks pretty good.
The only problem is, it might take me ten more tries to get another one right! Lord, give me patience.
Back on the liquid chrome front: A few days ago, Burbank House of Hobbies, my LHS, showed me a bumper/grille that's been chromed with Spaz Stix. Wow! This thing is incredible. It's by far the most realistic rendition of chrome I've ever seen, short of actual plating. And the part is very complicated. I ordered some, and plan to give it a try on one of those sets of hubcaps.
So when I get the SS, I'll try it on whichever is the inferior set at that point. If all goes well with the heavy foil, that may be the D-C'd set. Ultimately, the set that looks best will be the "winner," at least for this application.
After seeing that bumper/grille, I have a hunch that Spaz Stix is going to be my "default" chrome for pieces that are too complicated to foil.
Many thanks again. I'll keep at it and let y'all know how things go.