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I have to agree with Doog -- strip the chrome and replace it with Alclad. To my eye the Alclad looks more like chrome or aluminum in scale. The factory-applied chrome in kits always seems a little too shiny to me.
Matt @ FSM
Not even a second thought--STRIP that chrome off using simple bleach, and then spray paint gloss black and airbrush ALCLAD Chrome over it. You can even buff it after it dries to make a high-shine.
The bumpers on these '56's are done this way:
Don Stauffer I don't bother to strip off the old chrome. I prime with an agressive primer like Krylon, then do a gloss black finish, sanding/filling seams as needed. I then alclad the part.
I don't bother to strip off the old chrome. I prime with an agressive primer like Krylon, then do a gloss black finish, sanding/filling seams as needed. I then alclad the part.
Don,
You are much better off striipping the chrome - it's not just chrome plating on the part, it's also the clear coating over the plating. Quite often this clear coating is applied so thickly it affects the definition of the mouldings and softens the detail. Applying more primer and paint on top of an already thick coating reduces the sharpness of the detail even more.
Try it sometime, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Don Stauffer in Minnesota
I'm afraid "not very well" is what comes to mind in my case! I've tried leaving the chrome areas as-is & blending some chrome/silver paint to cover up the repair, but it's never looked all that convincing to me. (But I work with chromed parts so infrequently I haven't spent much time thinking about it.)
On the bench: Airfix 1/72 Wildcat; Airfix 1/72 Vampire T11; Airfix 1/72 Fouga Magister
Manny????? ...any suggestions....
I generally de-chrome parts by spraying with Easy-Off oven cleaner, then rinsing and cleaning well with dish detergent and an old tootbrush. (Be sure to put a strainer over the drain to catch those tiny parts that try to escape.) To me the chrome plating on models looks too artificial on most parts (though I occasionally make an exception for radiator grills and hubcaps, and touch up stub cut-off areas with Testors chrome).
I think you're dead-on about respraying to give that slightly duller "in use" finish. If you've got seams to clean up, that's probably the ONLY way, since (based on my experience) any touch-up on sanded or worked areas will never match the original kit chrome.
Cheers
Greg
George Lewis:
So, I'm working on Revell's Kenworth W900 Aerodyne semi tractor. Many parts are chromed on it, and although a lot of those are molded ok, some are not, so I've decided I'll need to get rid of the chrome and probably re-spray with something else. The fuel tanks in particular, being molded in halves, will need some sanding to make the seams disappear. Of course this will trash the chrome.
Rather than make the truck shiny and clean, I was thinking about spraying the chromed parts with some MM chrome silver, which honestly has a duller finish, and then weathering the rest of the truck to match, giving it an aged appearance. But I was wondering, does anyone here handle it differently, and if so, how?
--Chris
"Some say the alien didn't die in the crash. It survived and drank whiskey and played poker with the locals 'til the Texas Rangers caught wind of it and shot it dead."
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