Chrome plating services

[Nitrobarry]

I see that Chrome tech is done. Anybody else out there doing this? Also, I read somewhere that you can use gloss white under Alclad to get a less "dark" chrome appearance. Comments?

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Nitrobarry
did it twice

[Russell C]

47 minutes ago, Nitrobarry said:

I see that Chrome tech is done. Anybody else out there doing this? ....

I bookmarked this contact post for George Hernandez' services, he might have more recent updates on pricing: 

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

5 hours ago, Russell C said:

I bookmarked this contact post for George Hernandez' services, he might have more recent updates on pricing: 

 

Anybody had any luck lately with GT Kustom Khrome?

I have been hearing not so flattering things about the service.

I know for a fact that the product is fantastic as the plater that he uses is the best, but I'm hearing that patrons parts are taking months to be returned, if not forgotten about entirely.

I personally have tried contacting George via email numerous times over several months and have never received any response whatsoever.

Not a good sign if your thinking about sending out your precious vintage parts to be re-plated.

 

I had some inside information about the possibility of a new plater coming on line in the near future, but I have not heard any updates over the past month or two.

I sincerely hope that the individual who was thinking of taking this venture on is still on track to do so.

He seems to be a great and conscientious individual.

I hope to be able to spill the beans on this in the not too distant future!

 

 

 

Steve

[gtx6970]

Same here.

sent an email over a year ago.  to do maybe 20 sets of bumpers for old annuals I have

never heard a word back.

[Perspective Customs]

3 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I personally have tried contacting George via email numerous times over several months and have never received any response whatsoever.

Same here.

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, gtx6970 said:

Same here.

sent an email over a year ago.  to do maybe 20 sets of bumpers for old annuals I have

never heard a word back.

That seems to be the modus operandi.

Things seem to be falling apart as far as I can deduce.

 

Steve

[Jeffcad]

Hi guys !

I had some chromes done by George from GT Kustom Krome over a year and a half ago. Yes indeed, amazing work...

But no signs of him since a year, after I have sent him ( and already paid for ) some other parts that also needed to be done. After many emails in order to get a touch with him and just to know what was going on, I had never heard from him again. According to my sources, it looks like George was having health problems last year. I hope for the best for him of course, but do not send any parts, you'll never see them again....  I am still desperately looking for somebody competent.... I have sent last monday an email to "modelcarchrome", a company from Kansas, to see if they are still in business. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Jeffcad said:

Hi guys !

I had some chromes done by George from GT Kustom Krome over a year and a half ago. Yes indeed, amazing work...

But no signs of him since a year, after I have sent him ( and already paid for ) some other parts that also needed to be done. After many emails in order to get a touch with him and just to know what was going on, I had never heard from him again. According to my sources, it looks like George was having health problems last year. I hope for the best for him of course, but do not send any parts, you'll never see them again....  I am still desperately looking for somebody competent.... I have sent last monday an email to "modelcarchrome", a company from Kansas, to see if they are still in business. 

This verifies the stories that I have been hearing.

It appears that although George may have had good intentions, it seems that he is not capable of maintaining this operation.

A reliable source tells me that there are no health issues, just the inability to conduct his business effectively.

I suppose that there is a possibility that I could be mistaken, but regardless of the reasons, it appears that this enterprise is destined to failure.

It's sad because with Chrome Tech closing it's doors, LMK quickly heading towards the exits and GT Kustom Khrome obviously failing, it will basically leave this niche of the hobby completely vacant.

 

I sincerely hope that someone will pick up the torch.

 

 

Steve

[aurfalien]

Hi,

While not a service per se, if you have some photo etch or other metals that would benefit from chroming, this product from Micro-Mark looks cool;

https://www.micromark.com/Plug-N-Plate-Copy-Chrome-Plating-Kit

They also have a nickel plating solution as well.

 

[Mr mopar]

I got some parts done by George from GT Kustom Krome about a year and a half ago was a good chrome job but my parts came back to me broken . two of my grills were snapped in half and most of the headlight backings were ripped off the parts .and it took 8 month to get these parts back from him .I surely would not use GT again !!!

[Can-Con]

I e-mailed Dale Horner , who owns Little Motor Kar Company yesterday and asked if he was still plating. 

He got right back to me in less than 2 hours. He's still in business and doing well.

His e-mail is,,

lmkco@outlook.com 

if anyone needs to contact him.

Dale has done my chrome for several years now, since Chrome+ in Quebec stopped plating and I'm happy with the work.

 

Edited July 10, 2019 by Can-Con

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

I e-mailed Dale Horner , who owns Little Motor Kar Company yesterday and asked if he was still plating. 

He got right back to me in less than 2 hours. He's still in business and doing well.

His e-mail is,,

lmkco@outlook.com 

if anyone needs to contact him.

Dale has done my chrome for several years now, since Chrome+ in Quebec stopped plating and I'm happy with the work.

 

I have heard that he is still doing business, but due to the lack of any other platers, has become very busy and wait times have become longer.

I also have heard that he will be retiring from his chroming operation in the not too distant future.

 

 

Steve

[peteski]

15 hours ago, aurfalien said:

Hi,

While not a service per se, if you have some photo etch or other metals that would benefit from chroming, this product from Micro-Mark looks cool;

https://www.micromark.com/Plug-N-Plate-Copy-Chrome-Plating-Kit

They also have a nickel plating solution as well.

Yes, this is good for plating metal parts (BTW, "copy chrome" is not as bright as the real chrome), but most modelers are looking for vacuum metalizing of polystyrene or urethane resin parts.  For that the best process is aluminum vacuum metalizing.  This process can give a chrome-like finish to plastic and metal parts.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

Yes, this is good for plating metal parts (BTW, "copy chrome" is not as bright as the real chrome), but most modelers are looking for vacuum metalizing of polystyrene or urethane resin parts.  For that the best process is aluminum vacuum metalizing.  This process can give a chrome-like finish to plastic and metal parts.

And the funny thing is that there are probably hundreds of "vacuum metalizing" operations all over the world!

Think of all of the plastic chrome parts that you see on a daily basis.

They're every where!

All vacuum metalized.

All it takes is one enterprising individual willing to take up the challenge of dealing with all of us odd ball modelers, with a nearby chrome shop, and the crisis is over.

I'm not sure if everyone realizes that neither Chrome Tech or Kustom Khrome plated their own parts.

They were merely middle men who mounted and shipped the parts to a plating shop and then returned them to us, the customer.

 

 

Steve

 

[Jeffcad]

Hey guys !

Thanks for your answers.

I have also sent an email to Mr Horner from Little Motor Kar company tonight, hoping for a positive feedback about his services. I have about 20 bumpers and hubcaps to be done. I'll let you know his answer. 

Cheers

Jeff.

[MrObsessive]

I've met Dale Horner a number of times as he lives not that far from me in Reading, PA. A while back he made a statement about his status as far as chrome plating and IIRC, in a letter he said that he did NOT want to take on much more work than he already had with the shut down of Chrome Tech. Dale is about 80 years old and I can certainly understand not wanting to be overwhelmed with orders because demand can be so high.

So understand that if he declines your order for a period of time, don't get upset or discouraged. That's the reality of where he is in life, and I can't blame him at this stage of the game.

[Rodent]

I don't know Dale, but in one of those "Small World" situations, I work with one of his sons. He and Dale have discussed him taking over the chrome business,  but there is the issue of logistics since we are on the opposite side of the country and the equipment isn't exactly small or light and would cost a fortune to ship to California from Pennsylvania. 

[peteski]

43 minutes ago, Rodent said:

I don't know Dale, but in one of those "Small World" situations, I work with one of his sons. He and Dale have discussed him taking over the chrome business,  but there is the issue of logistics since we are on the opposite side of the country and the equipment isn't exactly small or light and would cost a fortune to ship to California from Pennsylvania. 

If he is willing to take on Dale's business, be prompt and reliable (and do as good of a job as Dale did), we could start online campaign to fund the move.  What do you guys say?

[dublin boy]

On 7/10/2019 at 4:32 AM, Jeffcad said:

Hi guys !

I had some chromes done by George from GT Kustom Krome over a year and a half ago. Yes indeed, amazing work...

But no signs of him since a year, after I have sent him ( and already paid for ) some other parts that also needed to be done. After many emails in order to get a touch with him and just to know what was going on, I had never heard from him again. According to my sources, it looks like George was having health problems last year. I hope for the best for him of course, but do not send any parts, you'll never see them again....  I am still desperately looking for somebody competent.... I have sent last monday an email to "modelcarchrome", a company from Kansas, to see if they are still in business. 

George had a shoulder replacement that went wrong, he's just had a second one, so that's the story there.

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

17 minutes ago, dublin boy said:

George had a shoulder replacement that went wrong, he's just had a second one, so that's the story there.

 

Where did you hear that?

I had a discussion with a close friend of his a little while back.

He mentioned nothing about shoulder replacements.

 

 

Steve

[dublin boy]

George is a friend of mine, we talk on Skype Steven, there's been all sorts of kit and bits posted between Detroit and Dublin over the last ten years.

I can't reach him, even by dog and bone.

Someone elsewhere got a recent message from him,so he seems to be recuperating.

[KJ790]

As the available companies become limited, it may be worth looking at other options as well. I don't typically like using super bright "kit chrome" parts on my builds, so for most parts I prefer Spaz Styx or Alclad. However, I know that a lot of people like a very bright chrome look. I have found that spraying Molotow chrome through an airbrush gives very good results. It is as bright, or sometimes even brighter than kit parts.

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, dublin boy said:

George is a friend of mine, we talk on Skype Steven, there's been all sorts of kit and bits posted between Detroit and Dublin over the last ten years.

I can't reach him, even by dog and bone.

Someone elsewhere got a recent message from him,so he seems to be recuperating.

Fair enough, but it seems to me that if he was interested in maintaining his customer base, he would at a very minimum, take the time to inform the people whose parts he has had possession of for the past number of months that there will be delays due to health issues.

Likewise, it might have been a good idea to at least put up a notice on Face book that operations will be suspended for a time due to his current circumstances.

I don't believe that shoulder issues are a fair excuse to not, at a minimum, notify people of his status.

Communication is the name of the game and he is doing himself no favors with his silence if he intends to continue operations in the future.

Honestly, from the testimonials that I have heard from others and the fact that he seems to have no interest in corresponding with anyone who is seeking information about his services, tells me that he doesn't have much interest in continuing his business.

Personally, I can't see a circumstance where I would feel comfortable with sending him any of my rare parts for refinishing.

It doesn't seem likely that I would ever get them back.

I'm not sure that there will be many others that are willing to take that risk either.

 

 

Steve

 

[Bucky]

If ill health is the main issue, it seems that, at the very least,  he would send the parts back to the folks so they could find an alternative solution.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, KJ790 said:

As the available companies become limited, it may be worth looking at other options as well. I don't typically like using super bright "kit chrome" parts on my builds, so for most parts I prefer Spaz Styx or Alclad. However, I know that a lot of people like a very bright chrome look. I have found that spraying Molotow chrome through an airbrush gives very good results. It is as bright, or sometimes even brighter than kit parts.

 

Molotow Ink has been discussed many times on the forum as an alternative to plated parts.

I believe that it has been pretty well argued that Molotow will never match the durability of true chrome.

That's why we've  been hearing more about products such as "Alsa Chrome" lately.

I use Molotow ink on a limited basis, but would personally never use it on large parts such as bumpers due to it's fragility.

Alsa Chrome seems to hold some promise as a durable chrome plating replacement should it become necessary.

 

 

 

Steve