Dpate

I think model round up sells decals for tires but think there just good year and maybe eagle. I have some of these whitewalls wide vinyl transfers for tires too. Everyone else has great suggestions.

So everything is good with the ultrasonic cleaner. At 40C i know pretty high, but it cleans great and doesn't affect the lye at all or the parts. 104F is safe because i do 110F in my dry booth. Still a spot or two on the parts of the clear left, and that's after taking it out the lye bath it was already in for days, and than putting the parts into the ultrasonic cleaner for multiple 20 min cycles at 40C. Don't know what they used - because it's the most toughest stuff to get off compared to any kit I've ever de-chromed. Also 100% lye does NOT yellow parts or have any ill affect on the parts.

Looks good man.

I know with alclads primer it doesn't take a very long time to be ready for top coat even for sanding. I know with scale finish paint you can prime, paint, and clear in a day. This all factors in with humidity and temp, but with a dehydrator it's all good.

Haven't used that one. I have the 2k by 1finish.

Gotcha! I will def keep a close eye on it.

Haven't tried stripping tamiya primer as that's not my main primer even though i have a fresh can. I mainly use alclads primer, mr surfacer, and titan hobby by ak which is AMAZING primer probably even better than tamiya. There black is so nice I'll use it for anything that is matt black. The removable tub is stainless steel so hopefully that wont have an issue, and it'll only be at 70F with a lid so shouldn't bubble that bad or if at all. People that use it for soap use at around 100+. EDIT: Yeah just looked it up and found this: " Lye reacts with some metals: aluminum, zinc, and tin. Safe containers include heatproof stoneware, glass, enamel, stainless steel and plastic."

That makes sense now that you explain it that way. I got a heated ultrasonic cleaner coming in tomorrow, and it'll allow me to set it to whatever temp i want and should do alot better than just having the parts sitting in the liquid.

Will do.

Gotcha and thanks for the help as everyone else. Also yes i hope to get to his level one day.

Going to start doing it myself.

I own the smaller one. It stopped heating like 3 days ago, and I've emailed them about replacement parts etc but haven't heard anything back. I've only had it for 11 months and probably used it 4 of those months like 2-3 hours every other day.

Yeah i was thinking of putting a heater like you would use in a fish tank into the container and have it set for 70F to keep it heated. Good idea or no? Would that work for the lye too heating it up? Well the instructions on the bottle just explain how to add it to a drain. I just add it to the water very slowly and mix it using a plastic spoon and avoiding any splashing. Yes. The only concern I've had was if the lye was causing any issue/damage that's all. Seems it's not so think I'm good to go.

hmmmm....Interesting. Will do lol

No i don't think its the clear undercoat -that's 100% gone. Just looks stained. This is after sitting in the lye for 2 days. So it's got to be just the parts itself so I'm probably gonna put a nice white part from a RIP kit and let it sit in the lye for 2 days and see what happens. I think the lye is 100% safe so after i use up this new gallon of super clean I'm gonna stick with the 100% lye. It works even faster than the super clean, and it's pretty amazing to watch it eat away the chrome in a matter of seconds lol.

So here are the pics guys. It may be just the part itself.

I own few colors of that brand. Good stuff, but you could prob shop around and get little cheaper. I got mine from the actual site when they had a coupon.

Well when i use it i keep it in a 2 gallon plastic container with locking lid. I put whole entire chrome tree's into it, works amazing when it's fresh. I can tell it's getting used up because it takes a whole lot longer to strip anything - like sometimes it gets so weak it wont even touch the chrome. So straining it i don't think would do any good if the stripping properties are already used up. Could i put the lye into the super clean considering it already has it in there or putting 100% lye into a chemical like that is a bad idea?

You think the BMF would do better especially around windshields and stuff if we scribed like we do panel lines doors etc? The windshield A pillers and cowl be pretty shallow, and maybe with a little scribing not much to make it little less shallow. The BMF should be able to "sit" in better and hold without lifting up after trimming so close.

Gotcha. I was just saying out of frustration of how it does around windows and such without wanting to stay down in the corners no matter how you burnish it. I'll def be giving this tape method a try next go round with the BMF. Last kit i was working on i had the windshield foiled looking pretty darn good - than put the windshield in glue and all and it pulls the BMF from the bottom of the windshield up from the front cause it didn't stick like it was suppose too. Frustration frustration lol.

lol no too powerful for that.

I'll have to do some more testing or maybe i used to much lye in the water. Some of the chrome parts are like half white and half of the stained yellow after scrubbing. Never had this issue using just super clean. I'm gonna do some more test parts and take some pictures, but to better explain the look - it's looks like how old decals get with the faded yellow look. Maybe it could just be the chrome parts itself like you said? I'll check again tomorrow.

Awesome You'll love that mixer trust me and it's simple to clean too. I use a bella mason jar full of your choice of cleaner and stick the mixer in and give her a rip. But the shaking the solid colors might work out good cause i have some solids from them and hand shook it sprayed and laid down just fine no issues. Metallic's might need the extra TLC with the mixer lol, but i use the mixer for almost all my paints especially tamiya. Speaking of scale finishes he has a 20% sale going on until end of October so I'm def ordering more paint.

This is a fantastic method. I'm surprised though that the tape doesn't pull up the BMF considering how crappy it's gotten and doesn't like to stay down.

If you don't have a handheld mixer like the badger than shaking is all you can do. Few mins should do or put couple more mixing balls in the bottle. Handheld mixer head will fit perfect inside the bottles.