black under chrome?

[Lizard Racing]

Does anybody know if there is a technical reason many kits use black styrene for the chrome sprues?

I do mostly race cars with very little chrome and the black plastic is a bit difficult to cover.

Just seems funny when the rest of the kit is white.

[1930fordpickup]

I think it may be just whatever they have in the molding machine at the time. I have stripped chrome that was clear also.  

The black may also just be all the regrind because it is getting plated. 

[Oldcarfan27]

Don't know if this is the reason the plastic is black, but I've heard that a black base makes the chrome look more reflective or deeper. 

[peteski]

In my experience with chrome parts trees they are usually molded in one of the colors of the other (bare) part trees. Sometimes they are some oddball color, but I have rarely seen black plastic used for those (unless the other parts are molded in black).  I build all sorts of kits (motorcycles, passenger cars. trucks, show-rods, etc.).

Could you give some examples of which specific brands and models use black plastic for chrome trees?  In what chat color are the other parts of the kit molded?

 

If some company goes through the trouble of specifically using black plastic for chrome parts that might be for the same reason chrome paint manufacturers recommend glossy black undercoat: to maximize the reflectivity and depth of the metallic coating.

[64Comet404]

I find that many Tamiya kits have black plastic underneath their plating, and I have also found it on older AMT and Monogram kits.. Revell, back in their California days, used to use a lot of clear plastic for the chrome. JoHan used reground plastic for some of their chrome, and I have bumpers which have several different colours present.

[peteski]

37 minutes ago, 64Comet404 said:

I find that many Tamiya kits have black plastic underneath their plating, and I have also found it on older AMT and Monogram kits.. Revell, back in their California days, used to use a lot of clear plastic for the chrome. JoHan used reground plastic for some of their chrome, and I have bumpers which have several different colours present.

Interesting.

I pulled out couple of older Tamiya kits that were easily accessible to me.

Ferrari Mythos from 1991 has the chrome pieces (wheels) molded in red (same color as the other parts of the kit).

Mercedes Benz 500SL also from 1991 has its chrome pieces (wheels) molded in clear. Rest of the kit is silver plastic.  I wonder if the clear is simply the same plastic they used on other parts without adding the metallic powder?