Removing chrome plating from plastic parts

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Cape Byron

Rocket kits from the Land of Oz
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I recently scored an (extremely incomplete) Estes Hunter's Choice set on Fleabay for a knockdown price. The transition from the Magnum Load was perfect for a project I have in mind, but the chrome plating certainly wasn't.

I found a solution for removing the plating on a scale plastic kit forum - household bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite).

Placed the bleach and transition in a jam jar and left it unmolested for ~2 hours. The results are amazing.

Before:

DSCF8887 (FILEminimizer).JPG

After:

DSCF8889 (FILEminimizer).JPG

I'll hit it with some fine sandpaper and Tamiya primer in a few days.
 
Are you sure that's chrome, not aluminum? Aluminum is often applied (by vapor deposition, I think) onto plastics. It's cool that NaOCl can get through the oxide coating on either metal, but given that it does then the aluminum metal underneath is probably a lot more reactive.

Anyway, good to know, whatever the metal is.
 
Not 100% sure. It's generically referred to as 'chrome' on the scale forums.
Ah, darn it! Now I have to get some "chromed" parts, remove the metal, and find a chemical test to make the determination. (The last step shouldn't be too hard; chromium and aluminum chemistries are quite different in general, so finding a useful particular reaction is probably easy.)
 
Ah, darn it! Now I have to get some "chromed" parts, remove the metal, and find a chemical test to make the determination. (The last step shouldn't be too hard; chromium and aluminum chemistries are quite different in general, so finding a useful particular reaction is probably easy.)

I can't tell you much more, except I recycled the bleach cleaning the shower tiles...
 
All plastic model "chrome" parts are made with vapor deposited aluminum in a vacuum chamber, with a very thin coat of of a special clear lacquer on top to preserve the very very thin layer of aluminum.
 
So, you'd have to apply filler, sand, fill, sand, seal, prime, sand, and then go into the vacuum chamber for aluminum deposition. ;)
 
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