GT KustomKrome

[george 53]

Hi guys. After a LOOONG hiatus, we're back up and running. My surgery went well and I'm still going to rehab for my shoulder surgery, but I've started takeing orders again as of the 1st of August. So far I've been able to fill orders and ready to take more.

 As before, bumpers and grilles are 5 bucks each, 4 wheels/rims are 5 bucks also. These prices are for 24th/25th scale parts. Larger pieces will be more depending on what it is. I can plate 12th, 16th and 1/8th parts. 24th/25th truck parts vary in prices depending on what they are, get with me for exact priceing.

 Contact me on my Facebook page at GT KustomKrome, I visit it EVERYDAY so if you need something chromed hit me up there. My chromeing is done by an INDUSTRIAL chromeing facilitiy, and they do ALL kinds of items, Shopping carts, clothes racks, 1-1 vehicle bumpers and the like. As such, I CANNOT be responsible for lost/broken parts as I have NO power over their Quality Control. The men who work there try their best to be careful, but seeing as they ARE model car parts, they can't be expected to watch out for EVERY piece they plate. So far I have done a very good job at providing the best parts I can, and hope you will be happy with my service.

 While I was ill, I did take longer than expected to return parts to customers but as we all know, life happens. So now I'll try harder to please everyone who trusts in me for quality chromeing service. I'll do my best not to let you down. Again, THANK YOU for your loyalty and trust, George.

[Ju Ju]

Hi george 53

It appears charlie larkin is looking for a business partner , he makes  the parts and you   chrome them ,  sounds like a sweet deal maybe a perfect match

[ChrisBcritter]

OK George - just joined FB recently and have an order stripped and ready. Welcome back!

[StevenGuthmiller]

And, if we are not face book users...........?

 

 

Steve

[george 53]

Then I guess you could always hit me uphere, IF that's allowed. OR just go to my E-Mail addy. tihggh01@hotmail.com.

 

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

On 9/15/2019 at 6:35 PM, george 53 said:

Then I guess you could always hit me uphere, IF that's allowed. OR just go to my E-Mail addy. tihggh01@hotmail.com.

 

 

I tried your email several times in the past year and received no reply.

 

 

Steve

Edited September 18, 2019 by StevenGuthmiller

[Mr. Metallic]

On 9/13/2019 at 7:27 PM, george 53 said:

 As before, bumpers and grilles are 5 bucks each, 4 wheels/rims are 5 bucks also. These prices are for 24th/25th scale parts. Larger pieces will be more depending on what it is. I can plate 12th, 16th and 1/8th parts. 24th/25th truck parts vary in prices depending on what they are, get with me for exact priceing.

Good to hear that you're back

So, do we send you the loose parts and you mount them, or do we send you racks of mounted parts?

[DrKerry]

Glad to hear surgery went well George. I need to get back to the "other" forum someday and catch up with ya all!!!!

Plating is top notch everyone, if you're skeptical about sending, don't be!! George is an awesome guy and the service is great too!!!

 

[peteski]

11 hours ago, DrKerry said:

Glad to hear surgery went well George. I need to get back to the "other" forum someday and catch up with ya all!!!!

Plating is top notch everyone, if you're skeptical about sending, don't be!! George is an awesome guy and the service is great too!!!

 

Not being skeptical about quality (even if George mentions a disclaimer about possible problems at the plater). I'm not of FB but would like to know more details about what he accepts.  I like to rack my own parts. Is that acceptable to him?  What size rack? Which areas of the rack have to be left free of parts?

Edited September 19, 2019 by peteski

[StevenGuthmiller]

35 minutes ago, peteski said:

 I like to rack my own parts. Is that acceptable to him?  What size rack? Which areas of the rack have to be left free of parts?

I don't believe so.

Most platers like to rack them because they use large standard sized racks that they can mount a lot of parts on to keep costs down.

 

 

Steve

[peteski]

1 minute ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I don't believe so.

Most platers like to rack them because they use large standard sized racks that they can mount a lot of parts on to keep costs down.

 

 

Steve

That wouldn't be optimal for me. I usually need some smaller parts plated (not just bumpers, grilles,  and wheel covers). ChromeTech USA used to accept racked parts. I always sent them my racks (not individual parts).  If KustomKrome uses his own larger racks, he could just rack my rack in his as one "large part".

[StevenGuthmiller]

6 minutes ago, peteski said:

That wouldn't be optimal for me. I usually need some smaller parts plated (not just bumpers, grilles,  and wheel covers). ChromeTech USA used to accept racked parts. I always sent them my racks (not individual parts).  If KustomKrome uses his own larger racks, he could just rack my rack in his as one "large part".

I'm not certain about how George operates, but he took over operations from Bob and he racked all of the parts himself.

 

 

Steve

[DrKerry]

When I've sent stuff to George he's asked me to have them prepped and ready to plate, but do not rack them as the platers do that themselves. He said before that they try to fit the parts in on the racks they are plating as they can. What I've done is if there is a particular point of mounting a part I highlight the area to mount so the platers know where they can in turn mount to their racks. So if you are going to send parts to George send them un-racked so that they can rack them!! Hope that helps you all!!

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, DrKerry said:

When I've sent stuff to George he's asked me to have them prepped and ready to plate, but do not rack them as the platers do that themselves. He said before that they try to fit the parts in on the racks they are plating as they can. What I've done is if there is a particular point of mounting a part I highlight the area to mount so the platers know where they can in turn mount to their racks. So if you are going to send parts to George send them un-racked so that they can rack them!! Hope that helps you all!!

I think that you're mistaken.

 

The plater does not rack the parts, George does.

The plater receives the parts already prepped and racked and ready for plating.

There would be no need to send them to George if all he did was receive the parts and then send them on to the plater as he received them.

If that's what he's doing, I want that gig!!

 

 

 

Steve 

Edited September 19, 2019 by StevenGuthmiller

[DrKerry]

27 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I think that you're mistaken.

 

The plater does not rack the parts, George does.

The plater receives the parts already prepped and racked and ready for plating.

There would be no need to send them to George if all he did was receive the parts and then send them on to the plater as he received them.

If that's what he's doing, I want that gig!!

 

 

 

Steve 

Ok, guess I should of been more clear. When I used the terms, them and they and so on, I meant George and the plating company, I used the term platers including George in there as it's his biz...  No harm, no foul.. LOL

[gtx6970]

I have a bunch of bumpers to be plated.

BUT, the whole if the plater  looses one of my bumpers I get an ' oh well ' has me worried.

EVERYTHING  I would be sending isn't exactly easy to find. NO offense to George as I do realize if not his fault. But I'm still out a bumper for lets say a 1958 Ford Sunliner. REALLY tough to find is an understatement

Ive been buying bumpers ( mint chrome or plated ) off eBay and Facebook the past few months . No worries for me that way and I still have my originals as a backup

[StevenGuthmiller]

7 minutes ago, gtx6970 said:

I have a bunch of bumpers to be plated.

BUT, the whole if the plater  looses one of my bumpers I get an ' oh well ' has me worried.

EVERYTHING  I would be sending isn't exactly easy to find. NO offense to George as I do realize if not his fault. But I'm still out a bumper for lets say a 1958 Ford Sunliner. REALLY tough to find is an understatement

Ive been buying bumpers ( mint chrome or plated ) off eBay and Facebook the past few months . No worries for me that way and I still have my originals as a backup

That is always one of the risks that you take.

 

I had a 1958 Buick Roadmaster bumper fall off of the rack back when I was using Chrome Tech.

Fortunately, it was retrieved but needed to be re-plated, which he did.

 

Back when Bob was running Kustom Khrome, there was an incident where Bob inadvertently sent me back a set of '59 Pontiac fender ornaments that did not belong to me.

A more unscrupulous individual might not have sent them back.

 

More recently, I had a grille half for a 1964 Bonneville lost during the process.

That's why I have an add placed in the wanted section to look for a replacement.

 

I just chalk it up as being one of the unavoidable risks associated with the process.

Not much can be done other than finding and acceptable method of plating them yourself.

 

 

 

Steve

 

 

 

[george 53]

Thanks guys for the votes of confidence! Yes, I DO rack them myself as my racks are already sizes to the vacim tanks my plater uses. IF your racks are 9 x 16 they WILL fit onto my racks in which case you can send them in and I will take care of the rest. If you want, you can just leave them loose and I will mount them. Just send a note with EXACTLY what you've sent me so I can be sure you get ALL your parts back.

 Unfortunately, I can't do GOLD plated parts as my chrome says it's NOT cost effective for him(as he uses REAL gold), But I've been told if you overspray the chrome with Tamiya ANBER spray, you can achieve a similar effect. I PERSONALLY can't vouch for this technic, as I've never tried it, but I was told it looks pretty good.

 My prices are as reasonable as I can make them, I don't know what LMC charges as I've never asked him. I charge 5 bucks per bumper/grille, 5 for 4 wheels/rims and less for smaller parts as mirrors, antennas, and such.

 Contact me at tihggh01@hotmail.com at my E-Mail addy for more exact prices, or on FB at GT KustomKrome. I check my mail at both places daily, so if ya need more info, just hit me up HERE, or either of the other addy's. If ya need anything more, I'm always willing to work with you, THANKS for your interest. I'll do my best for you's,  George53(George Hernandez DBA GT KustomKrome)

 

[gman]

I suppose if a part you want chromed is priceless and irreplaceable (and needs a new layer of chrome anyway), it might be cheap insurance to take a mold and make a few resin copies, and send those in for plating rather than the original styrene.  

Even though a casting kit like those from Alumilight isn't cheap,  the cost & risk would be lower than trying to source an extremely rare part in order to complete a vintage OOP model.

[peteski]

58 minutes ago, gman said:

I suppose if a part you want chromed is priceless and irreplaceable (and needs a new layer of chrome anyway), it might be cheap insurance to take a mold and make a few resin copies, and send those in for plating rather than the original styrene.  

Even though a casting kit like those from Alumilight isn't cheap,  the cost & risk would be lower than trying to source an extremely rare part in order to complete a vintage OOP model.

Not every part you send to be metalized is a simple grille or bumper. Not everybody has the skill for resin casting.Some parts have complex shapes which would require multi-part molds (that makes it even more complicated).  To get bubble free parts case you need vacuum and pressure pots.  MAybe you have the ability and equipment to cast copies of complex parts, but I don't think that casing spares is a viable option for most people. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

Just gotta take your chances guys.

Either that or settle for Alclad or Molotow.

 

I'll take my chances.

 

 

Steve

[gman]

3 hours ago, peteski said:

Not every part you send to be metalized is a simple grille or bumper. Not everybody has the skill for resin casting.Some parts have complex shapes which would require multi-part molds (that makes it even more complicated).  To get bubble free parts case you need vacuum and pressure pots.  MAybe you have the ability and equipment to cast copies of complex parts, but I don't think that casing spares is a viable option for most people. 

I do understand what you are saying, and it wasn't my intention to over-simplify.

I won't claim to have the ability to cast complex parts, and while I certainly wouldn't mind learning, I don't have a pressure pot or vacuum pot. I have done some DIY casting of simple parts, and with some practice they came out very usable. With necessity being the inspiration, my casting has been limited to duplicating parts I need for my own use from kits I don't imagine will be re-issued, or that would be extremely expensive if I had to source another kit for parts. I've tried Por-A-Kast resin with a few different mold rubber products, and luckily only had air bubbles where they didn't show on the visible surface of the cast parts.

The spirit of my comment was that if someone was going to send in parts from a "holy grail" type kit, casting a copy might save some agony if the worst happened and that part got lost. I understand that might not be practical for everyone or every possible part. I have purchased parts kits with usable chrome for not much more than it costs to have a half dozen pieces re-plated, but I also understand with more rare subjects that isn't always possible. I would imagine rare parts and reworked parts are the ones most likely to get sent in for services like George (and other platers) offer. I have a number of parts that would look so much better without mold seams under the plating...thankfully, they are more garden variety parts- lower stakes if they were to be lost.

 

[disabled modeler]

I have seen the work George and his platter dose...top notch 100 % in my book.

[Rider]

Welcome back George, good to hear you are on the road to recovery.

[426hemiman]

No SILICONE !!!!!!!!!