I'm converting a 1/24 scale 1941 Ford pickup truck to a World War II crash truck. I will need to strip the chrome plating off of all the styrene parts (bumbers, door handles, grill, etc) in order to paint everything olive drab. Can someone recommend and easy and inexpensive way to do this? I thought I remembered reading something years ago about using oven cleaner. Can someone please offer some advice? Thanks.

Brian

Hi The best way is to buy some Oven Cleaner which is in a can and when used comes out as a foam, Place the parts on the top of a plastic bag , make sure it has no holes in it . Place your hand inside the bag and spray the oven cleaner over the parts . Peel the bag over the parts and seal , Do not touch the cleaner as it is caustic . Leave for about an hour then using an old toothbrush clean off the foam residue in a bowl of water after you have opened the bad , Again make sure you do not come in contact with the foam , Wear heavy duty rubber gloves and goggles when using the foam , Try on a small part first good luck cheers ian

I have heard that Bleche White Whitewall cleaner works as well, although I have never done it personally.

Shaun

Hi Brian,
I used Castrol SuperClean (which is no longer available in our area), two weeks ago I began using Greased Lightning (Purple Power will also work) to remove the chrome from a Tamiya Lotus 25 and also from an AMT Ford Lightning. No problems with the chrome and base coats in either kit. I just leave the sprues soaking in it overnight in a sealed container.

The stuff is cheap and bio-degradable.

Hope this helps.

Dave S.

Thanks guys. I think I'll do a dry run with both oven cleaner and Greased Lightning and see which works best. I'll let you know what happens.

Brian

Simple Green --soak it over night. Scrub with a toothbrush.

To remove chrome i have always used thick bleach and it peels right off usually within a few minutes,

Many people use brakefluid, to remove the chrome plating.

I use window cleaner just pour some in a jar add the chrome parts and watch the chrome dissolve.I used this on an Airfix 1/24th Bentley.

Simple Green? Really? That sounds to good and too easy to be true. I'll try anything once though.

Brian

For what it's worth, I tried the window cleaner suggestion today on some chrome plated Revell sprue and it worked fine. I used the original Windex formula (blue liquid) and it cleaned off the chrome. Seemed to take a little bit of time, but it worked.

- Frank