Re-chroming

Modeling Subjects Autos
1

Hi there, does anyone know if there’s a way of re-chroming old model parts at home? I’m restoring a Corgi 267 Batmobile and have some good original parts with the chrome rubbed off and i’d really like to use them instead of buying new ones. Also, whilst on the subject, does anyone know how to alter the colour of casting metal before it’s cast? I’m having to make new front wheels and would like to cast them in the right colour.

thanx,

Rob

2

hey there on the recrhroming 2 things that pop into mind is either Bare metal foil… or you might want to try the Model Master Enamal “chrome Silver” paint #1790 I use this mostly for mirrors and such as it comes out a very shiny silver color almost like bright chrome…

3
  1. You can send them to a place that does chroming(they have an internet site)
  2. Next best - airbrush with Alclad paint
  3. Paint with a chrome paint in a can, Duplicolor is popular with modelers, but many companies make a version
    You need a really smooth base for chrome, paint with glossy black first to get it smooth enough
4

For mirrors, try this
A Dremmel and an old free AOL CD
You can take it from there.

5

What and ruin my collection… i have one of the largest collections of Free AOL cd’s including some of the first 3.5 disketts… back then you could register for 100 free disks with alternate spellings of your name but the same address and they would send you 100 disketts perfect for overwriting with your files… :> :> the collection is priceless as you can’t put a price on Free…

6

i ordered something from towerhobbies and i got an AOL CD in it. i live in singapore, fat lot of use thats gonna be. but its still a perfectly useful paint palette. speaking of 3.5" disketees, i found a box of 5 1/4 discks. brand new. unused. how cool is that ?

7

You want cool, I still have one of the ORIGINAL computers that used cassettes to load the programs.

AND IT STILL WORKS!!!

Damn I’m old[V]

8

Back on the re-chroming part… Alclad II is the name, and metalizers are their aim.
Alclad is a kind of paint with the most realistic metal-affect that I have ever seen.
However you can’t just “paint” your part with alclad ; first you need a base-coat (I believe, for chrome it is gloss black acrylic) and then you AIRBRUSH the part with alclad. Looks perfect.

PS : I even got an old ZX Spectrum on the attick, the one with the rubber buttons, more or less the size of a legal sheet. It had no less then 48 K of RAM ( the K is not a mistyping !), and could display not less then 12 colors.
How’s that for a mean machine. [:)]

9

restctpa. the oldest computer i ever dealt with was a 486… what should i do with the 5 1/4 discs ? do they have any ebay value ? i feel like chucking em. unless anyone wants em.

10

Rob,

I’ve restored a few of those Corgi Batmobiles myself, and from my experience, it’s much cheaper and easier to just order replacement parts. You can basically get any part you need for that Corgi and most of them only cost a couple of bucks. The replacement parts look and fit exactly like the originals did. Replating is fairly expensive and I’ve found that the finished product is not always worth the price paid. Save yourself a lot of aggravasion and cash and order the replacement parts. See link below for one vendor that sells a complete line of parts.

http://www.toytinker.com/267bat.html

Jim

11

Hi, thanx for the insight, i’ll probably go down the alcad route. I’d fancied an excuse for trying that stuff after the reviews it’s been getting.

Thanx Jim, i’ve actually ordered a coupla bits from toytinker (those elusive bat figures and some tires!) but i’m trying to use as many original parts as i can. I don’t want to sell the car afterwards as it belongs to my dad; more of a sentimantal project than anything else. Having said that i’ve seriously enjoyed it thus far, looks like some lucky ebay vendors are gonna be getting more of my hard-earned!

Rob