removing chrome plating

i have no idea how to do this. would anyone like to share any techniques on how to remove the chrome plating from a set of wheels? thanks!

spray primer??
i dunno ... but i am gonna try that though

Soak it in household bleach overnight. If it's concentrated a few minutes will do.

Liquid plumber(or whatever it's called, the liquid you use to open drains/plumbing) removes plating easily in minutes(or even seconds) and leaves plastic unharmed. Or atleast it has never attacked plastic when I've used it... Better try it on some plated sprue first.

-Mikko

Originally posted by sausage
Soak it in household bleach overnight. If it's concentrated a few minutes will do.

What he said! ;)

Bleach and ammonia work but they do not remove the clear coat under the chrome. Some paints sprayed over the clearcoat can have a reaction, I know in particular Testor's Metalizers do. Try using EZ Off oven cleaner it removes the chrome and clearcoat in about 10 minutes.

SIMPLE GREEN CLEANER

I use Fantastik spray cleaner, but like 935k3 said, some model makers put a clear coat under the chrome, It seems American kit maker's do and Japanese kit makers don't. To remove the clear coat just use the usual paint stippers safe for models.:)

i took your suggestions and used chlorine (it was readily available to me) to strip the chrome plating. took about two weeks but it finally came off. since this was the revell itr rims i'm working with, you were right about the clear coating on the wheels, veyron. so i decided to use lacquer thinner to remove the yellow 'clear' coat left on the rims. i normally use hobby thinners for thinning paints for the airbrush and regular hardware grade thinner for cleanup. being careless, i used the wrong unlabled bottle (my own damn fault!) and within minutes, the plastic began to melt! waaahhhh!!! no more wheels for my itr!!! :mad: sniff sniff....

anyone want to share a set of itr rims to a down and out modeler?

a.

Originally posted by appleseed
i took your suggestions and used chlorine (it was readily available to me) to strip the chrome plating. took about two weeks but it finally came off. since this was the revell itr rims i'm working with, you were right about the clear coating on the wheels, veyron. so i decided to use lacquer thinner to remove the yellow 'clear' coat left on the rims. i normally use hobby thinners for thinning paints for the airbrush and regular hardware grade thinner for cleanup. being careless, i used the wrong unlabled bottle (my own damn fault!) and within minutes, the plastic began to melt! waaahhhh!!! no more wheels for my itr!!! :mad: sniff sniff....

anyone want to share a set of itr rims to a down and out modeler?

a.

Which set, and where do you live?

Originally posted by Veyron
To remove the clear coat just use the usual paint stippers safe for models.:) :uhoh:

Lacquer Thinner != Safe for models. :o

Would have been better off with the usual suspects listed in the FAQ: CSC, brake fluid, etc...

hey jay he said that he picked the wrong bottle :p

c'mon jay, what's that all about? i used sunnyside lacquer thinner found at a regular hardware store. this stuff is not safe for plastics as i found the hard way. looking at the originall packaging, it reads "specially formulated for use with the finest lacquers and epoxies". this should have given me an idea of how corrosive this stuff is. trying to be efficient, i ususally pour some in one of those glue bottles. this time i just happen to pick the wrong one...

a.

Originally posted by appleseed
this time i just happen to pick the wrong one... Granted, but I'm scared to use any "hobby thinners" because none of them really say what's in them... (alcohol, for example, is easy to figure out, but who knows what they add to it...)

Originally posted by jay@af
Granted, but I'm scared to use any "hobby thinners" because none of them really say what's in them... (alcohol, for example, is easy to figure out, but who knows what they add to it...)

I think they add a bit of lacquer thinner to Model Masters Enamel Airbrush thinner. It took the Tamiya lacquer spray paint clean off my Subaru. :mad:

i use mr. color thinner to strip stubborn paint sometimes with excellent results. it gets expensive to do this though as this stuff costs quite a bit in the states.

you're right though... check out what this thing contains (from the back label):

CAUTION: CONTAINS tOULENE, ACETONE, ETHYL ACETATE, ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL AND PETROLEUM DISTILLATES. Keep away from heat, sparks and flame. Vapors are given off rapidly during use and may ignite explosively:eek:

learned my lesson! maybe i should get rid of this thing... very hazardous to my health!

a.

daggerlee, thanks for the offer. i sent you a pm.:)