Chrome removal

If you want ot paint a part that has been chrome plated, how do you remove the plating first? I have heard to use brake fluid, automatic transmission fluid, etc. Does anyone know if these work? Thanks, Darwin[alien]

I personally use kitchen bleach.

Soak it in Simple Green.

Here in Australia there’s a product called Easy Off oven cleaner made by Reckitt Benckiser…Jules…

You can also soak the chrome parts in Westley’s Bleach White white wall tire cleaner, or household vinagar. rangerj

I’ve heard of people using that Easy Off method for stripping an old Hawk kit that was chrome plated (back before we had a proper 1/48 T-33, modelers wanting to build it would have to find the old Hawk kit and strip the “natural metal” off all the parts. And I mean all of them, except the canopy, which was no good anyway.)
What I want to know is, does it hurt the underlying plastic. That’s strong stuff.
Tom

In my car modeling days, I used Fantastik household cleaner. Let the parts soak in it for a few days, then rinse and scrub with an old toothbrush. Some kits chrome came off easier than others… Maybe not as fast or easy as brake fluid or oven cleaner, but not nearly as caustic.

Hey guys, thanks for all the suggestions. I will take some small dishes and scrap chrome sprue and try them and see which works best. Thanks again.[:)] [:)] [:)] [alien]

Castrol Super Clean is very good at removing paint & chrome. And non-toxic

that stuff is nontoxic? really? cool

I think that’s what the label said. I wouldn’t drink it though. But it’s gotta be safer than brake fluid. Or bleach

In the UK, try Domestos bleach, blink & you’ll miss it, it’s that fast!
(Clorox is like water in comparison)
Pete

I tried the Clorox Bleach and left a scrap setting in for 2 days. It just barely is starting to show plating removal
I tried the Westley’s Bleach White and it completely removed the plating in about 4 hours. Since this stuff is water soluble, clean up is a breese. No oily mess to clean out of cracks and crevasses. Thanks, rangerj! [alien]

Some platings I found disappear quickly while others can literally take days.