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De-Chromed...but what about the undercoat?


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In the past, I used bleach to remove chrome from model car parts. After that, I used Scalecoat's paint remover to strip the glossy undercoat the kitmaker put on the plastic, presumably to act as a base for the chrome. The latter task was a lot more work than taking the chrome off.

Recently I've been reading or watching tutorials on stripping chrome, to see what people say about removing that undercoat. Some folks remove it with various chemicals (for example, oven cleaner) while others suggest just priming over it.

What do folks here think? Do they find that chrome-bearing undercoat can be painted over, or that it somehow interferes with coats of paint? I've got an old Monogram Packard with spoked rims, and I'd like to do as little rough scrubbing on them as possible.

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You left out a bit of information, What do you have planed for the final finish?

If you plan on re-chroming, then I'd just spray them with Tamiya Gloss Black TS-14 then Alclad Chrome and be done with them.

I think if your looking for another chrome finish, the less you do to it the better off you will be, if you start stripping off the barrier film, then you're in for allot of tedious clean up work, then any filling of imperfections covered by the film. If you primer over the film, that's another layer of paint (again assuming your going back to chrome) along with the gloss black you'll need to add.

Basically keep it simple, and don't cause yourself allot of headache.

Curt

Edited by Netz
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Sorry for the belated reply. Busy at work. Anyway, I plan to refinish the parts in a chrome-like finish, probably Alclad. I'm really looking to discover whether that barrier coat under the original chrome will interfere with subsequent coats of paint, of any kind.

I'll run some experiments on sprue, and see what happens. Thanks!

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Within the past year, I purchased a 1/144 Fine Molds Millenium Falcon off of eBay that had a chrome finish which I didn't want. The chrome stripped off easily enough (I tried a number of products - can't remember exactly which ones - but it took awhile), but in the end, the chrome came off, but I was disappointed that the undercoat remained. I asked the same question, couldn't find anything to take off the undercoat - and primed it with Tamiya primer. Worked fine - but that undercoat does leave a layer of thickness that slightly detracts from the fidelity of detail. If the part was going to be painted - I don't think it's too much of an issue. For bare metal - it'll probably be noticeable.

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  • 3 weeks later...

RollcageandBrakeRotors.jpg

I like to use Super Clean, available at Wal-Mart, to de-chrome parts and there is no under coat. The tree with the parts still attached had been de-chromed which are parts for a 997 Porsche. Another great use of the Super Clean is that I also use it to take off the mold release for all my resin kits and parts. You can find some You Tube videos about this product removing chrome paint from model kits and Hot Wheel cars. You don't even have to agitate the parts for it to work and it cleans them up pretty quick. Good stuff. Hope that may help you.

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  • 6 months later...

I also remove chrome and redo it in Alclad after the appropriate bodywork/filling/sanding/whatever. I use a little airtight plastic container with a lid and a little bleach. It's a LOT less caustic than Oven Cleaner.

Suits me fine as long as the lid is kept on; when it's time to open, I just crack the corner open and start running water in slowly to dilute it, drain it, repeat, until it's mostly just water.

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