Handy house hold chrome killers?

[mykturk]

Looks like we may be "snowed in" for a few days here and so, I'm inclined to advance a project or two... However, one has a gob of chrome that would be better stripped away. Soooooo, what might I have around the house that will knock the shinny stuff off in a safe and timely fashion? There must be something!

[RatRod]

Mike, I always use Easy-Off oven cleaner to strip chrome. Sometimes you have to repeat the process to get the yellow undercoat completely off. Bleach works too, but doesn't get the undercoat off at all, so you will still need Easy-Off. There ya go man, hope it helps.

[johnbisci]

SuperClean in the purple jug. Used to be Castrol SuperClean. 1) Always wear gloves! This will remove the chrome and not harm your plastic parts but it WILL eat your skin! 2) Place the parts in a sealable plastic tub. Works better and the SuperClean lasts longer than if you leave it out to evaporate.

[ironheadchopper]

Windex works ive used it a lot.

[mykturk]

Well, I've got bleach and some windex, no easy off and no way to the parts store... So, do I soak the parts in the windex or bleach? Spray it on and let it sit? This will sound crazy, but I've never stripped chrome completely off anything in the past, just skuffed and shot over it or simply scrapped/sanded away where I was gluing a part. This project will have zero chrome when finished but has lots now (It's starting as a Red Baron, using the helmet, tank, rear end, radious rods, wheels, etc.), and I'm thinking the finish (Flat olive drab) will come out better over plastic alone. Detailed instructions for using what I have handy, I'd like to have paint on it this evening.

[Starry Eyes]

Castrol Super Degreaser or Wal-Mart's brand "Purple Power" works extremely well Mike ... that's all I've used for my Alclad work ..

[ironheadchopper]

Soak it in the windex it will take some time.

[Bert]

Seems like I remember 409 taking chrome off. test a piece you don't want first. I know 91% alcohol will remove the gold off of chrome plating. However I don't know if it will remove the chrome if soaked longer.

I know you can't get to the store, bheck to see if you have any Wesleys Bleech-White tire cleaner. It works well. Simple Green works to.

OK, good luck with the projects. ;D

[peteski]

OK,
here is a quick tutorial on model "chrome". In most cases it is not really chrome at all. It is aluminum. The "chroming" process is called vacuum metalizing.

It starts with bare plastic parts. Parts are sprayed with a high gloss clear lacquer to make them very smooth and shiny (just like real chrome). Next, those clear-coated parts are placed in a vacuum chamber along with a piece of aluminum. Then after the air is pumped out the aluminum is vaporised (using electricity). That deposits a very thin layer of aluminum on the plastic parts without melting them. At that point the parts have that shiny "chromey" look to them.

Visually they now look like they are chromed. But aluminum in such a thin layer is very fragile and vunerable to scratching or chemical damage. Even the salt in someones sweat who touched the parts would eventually eat away the aluminum coating. That is why right after the parts are taken out of the vacuum chamber they are again coated with a very glossy clear coat. That protect the aluminum from handling damage.

As far as removing this "chrome" coat goes, any caustic (acidic or base) chemical will eventually etch away the aluminum layer leaving the clear-coated plastic.

That is why anything such as vinegar, windex (ammonia) Easy OFF oven cleaner (lye or sodium hydroxide) or CSC Purple Power (lye) will all eventually remove the aluminum layer.

The stronger the chemical is the faster the process.

However to truly get to bare plastic you also have to remove the clear base coat. In that case some chemicals are better than others. CSC or Purple Power has certain additional ingredients to remove both the aluminum layer and the clear coat.

In very rare instances (notably, Trumpeter kits) actually use chrome (or similar very hard metal) to obtain the chrome finish on plastic. I believe that those are electroplated. I have not found a way to chemically remove that chrome (as chrome is resistant to most chemicals). Even scraping the chrome with a sharp knife is difficult. Fortunately most model manufacturers use the vacuum aluminum deposition method.

[scurvy]

Listen to this peteski fella - he's got brains in his head!