Removing Chrome Plating

[SfanGoch]

The plating was pretty ratty and I was planning on removing it anyway.

[stavanzer]

10 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

I was attempting to clean the front bumper/grille from an SMP 1961 Chrysler Imperial using Dawn Platinum Powerwash Spray. Scrubbing with a toothbrush, I discovered that it would completely remove the chrome plating.

But Did it remove the Lacquer undercoat?

[SfanGoch]

Yes, it did. I just stripped the rear bumper of an AMT '58 Plymouth down to its gray styrene. No lacquer undercoat left.

[Ulf]

After the owen cleaner, Tamiya lacquer thinner take the undercoat away over nigth. A Wood toothpick does the last whitout scratching the parts.

Edit: I have stripped old Monogram and new Round2 overnight and even a couple of nights without problems but you should probably test with a piece of the sprue to be sure. 

Happiness is taking parts out of the oven cleaner and see that there was no undercoat..

Edited June 17 by Ulf

[NOBLNG]

7 minutes ago, Ulf said:

After the owen cleaner, Tamiya lacquer thinner take the undercoat away over nigth. A Wood toothpick does the last whitout scratching the parts.

Is the “Tamiya” lacquer thinner weak enough that it won’t melt the styrene like generic LT will?

[Ulf]

49 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Is the “Tamiya” lacquer thinner weak enough that it won’t melt the styrene like generic LT will?

Se my edit.

[Ulf]

On 6/17/2025 at 4:52 PM, Ulf said:

After the owen cleaner, Tamiya lacquer thinner take the undercoat away over nigth. A Wood toothpick does the last whitout scratching the parts.

Edit: I have stripped old Monogram and new Round2 overnight and even a couple of nights without problems but you should probably test with a piece of the sprue to be sure. 

Happiness is taking parts out of the oven cleaner and see that there was no undercoat..

Update, I put a chromed part from Round2 directly into Tamiya's lacquer thinner and after 18 hours I just had to brush it lightly with a toothbrush and the chrome flakes flew like light snowflakes. Now I will skip the mess with my decanted oven cleaner as long as the Croweparts fit in the thinnerjar.

[Lionel]

On 9/6/2006 at 8:07 PM, Zoom Zoom said:

I'll second the fact that Easy Off is excellent at removing chrome (plating vanishes before your eyes, clear takes longer). In addition to gloves, you must wear some sort of mask as you cannot breathe the stuff.

I've been using this no-name brand that is "fume-free" (it still has an odor just not as harsh as other brands) which works great. I still use latex gloves though for handling. 

[BWDenver]

When I was in Colorado Springs I picked up the Challenger 1 kit and looked at all the "chrome" on the engine parts.  The real car engine appears to be painted in a metallic grey, or aluminum.  In any event the chrome had to go.  

At a weekend together of the local hobby group I asked for advice, not wanting to go the oven cleaner route.  One of the guys recommended "Purple Power", an industrial strength cleaner/degreaser.  It's available at most "home" stores in the US, overseas not sure...

Works like a charm, while it's less dangerous than oven cleaner, it is corrosive, and the pats should not be handled directly until they are washed off.   Takes about 10 minutes or less.

Regards,

Bryan

[stitchdup]

29 minutes ago, BWDenver said:

When I was in Colorado Springs I picked up the Challenger 1 kit and looked at all the "chrome" on the engine parts.  The real car engine appears to be painted in a metallic grey, or aluminum.  In any event the chrome had to go.  

At a weekend together of the local hobby group I asked for advice, not wanting to go the oven cleaner route.  One of the guys recommended "Purple Power", an industrial strength cleaner/degreaser.  It's available at most "home" stores in the US, overseas not sure...

Works like a charm, while it's less dangerous than oven cleaner, it is corrosive, and the pats should not be handled directly until they are washed off.   Takes about 10 minutes or less.

Regards,

Bryan

you can use it to strip paint too. 

[BWDenver]

On 8/4/2025 at 8:30 AM, stitchdup said:

you can use it to strip paint too. 

Good to know! 

[peteski]

On 8/4/2025 at 9:00 AM, BWDenver said:

At a weekend together of the local hobby group I asked for advice, not wanting to go the oven cleaner route.  One of the guys recommended "Purple Power", an industrial strength cleaner/degreaser.  It's available at most "home" stores in the US, overseas not sure...

Works like a charm, while it's less dangerous than oven cleaner, it is corrosive, and the pats should not be handled directly until they are washed off.   Takes about 10 minutes or less.

The main active ingredient in Easy-Off oven cleaner spray (the original stinky one) and Purple Power (or Castrol Super Clean if that is still available) is Sodium Hydroxide (Lye). Yes it is corrosive and will damage your skin if it comes in contact with it.  Lye was also the main active ingredient in many model paint stripping solutions from cottage industries I have encountered over the years.

And as mentioned, Lye is also good as a plastic safe paint stripper, and it is mentioned in  multiple forms in another sticky thread:

 

[Kelly]

On 9/6/2006 at 12:51 PM, Casey429 said:

Need some help here everybody, this is uncharted water for me, so i don't want to screw up. How do I de-chrome parts? I've heard of bleach and CSC. I've used CSC for stripping paint, but don't have any expereience witht he stuff on chrome. I'd like to use bleach, because thats what I have on hand. If anyone can throw in some pointers, that would be great.

 

 

Thanks!

Hi I’m new here and not to sound native but what is CSC? I want to remove a small amount of chrome from the rear bumper between the tail lights of a 62 impala 

Thanks Kelly 

[NOBLNG]

11 hours ago, Kelly said:

Hi I’m new here and not to sound native but what is CSC? I want to remove a small amount of chrome from the rear bumper between the tail lights of a 62 impala 

Thanks Kelly 

I think that is the Castrol Super Clean that Pete referenced above. You have to immerse the part in it for 30 minutes or longer. I don’t think it would work well for removing only a selected area.

[peteski]

If the reason for partial "chrome" (actually very thin layer of aluminum) stripping  is fear that paint won't stick to it - don't worry.  This is an old modelers tale, likely started when manufacturers warned that the metallic "chrome" layer should be stripped to bare plastic when gluing model parts together.

That statement is true when using solvent- based plastic cements. The thin metallic layer can act as a barrier and prevent the cement from melting (welding) the plastic parts together.  But paint will adhere to those metalized parts just fine. As well as it would adhere to diecast metal model's parts. No need to strip anything. If you want, use the same primer you would use to paint the body, then shoot the color coat.

[Straightliner59]

On 8/8/2025 at 10:09 AM, peteski said:

Castrol Super Clean if that is still available

Indeed, it is. I think it's slightly more effective than Purple Power, too. It may be slightly more concentrated, although either works decently.

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

If the reason for partial "chrome" (actually very thin layer of aluminum) stripping  is fear that paint won't stick to it - don't worry.  This is an old modelers tale, likely started when manufacturers warned that the metallic "chrome" layer should be stripped to bare plastic when gluing model parts together.

That statement is true when using solvent- based plastic cements. The thin metallic layer can act as a barrier and prevent the cement from melting (welding) the plastic parts together.  But paint will adhere to those metalized parts just fine. As well as it would adhere to diecast metal model's parts. No need to strip anything. If you want, use the same primer you would use to paint the body, then shoot the color coat.

Although stripping does reveal more details, due to the lack of material covering them. That's the main reason I do it--and I'm not a big fan of chrome.

[peteski]

18 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Although stripping does reveal more details, due to the lack of material covering them. That's the main reason I do it--and I'm not a big fan of chrome.

I'm a big fan of model "chrome" (vaccu-metalized) as to me 1:1 scale chrome in smaller scales is not going to be duller. There is no scaling reflectivity. It is the same in 1:1 and in 1:25 or 1:43.  But whatever works for you.  Yes, some metalized parts could have a rather thick layer of gloss under the metalization, but that is an exception rather than the rule. At least in the models I have dealt with.

 

Anyway, the reason I mentioned that paint will stick is because the OP mentioned wanting to only partially strip the metalization.

Edited 13 hours ago by peteski

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

I'm a big fan of model "chrome" (vaccu-metalized) as to me 1:1 scale chrome in smaller scales is not going to be duller. There is no scaling reflectivity. It is the same in 1:1 and in 1:25 or 1:43.  But whatever works for you.

No, I meant that I prefer paint, or natural metal, to any chrome, or chrome-like finishes, in most cases. Some things simply have to be, however, and I'd agree, plated is better, there.