10 d Pipe truck?

[nickjones]

Thanks George.
I still think my one is silver!.

[motorman]

Thanks George.
I still think my one is silver!.

Should have gone to Specsavers.........still looks grey to me Nick!

[fixer]

it looks silver under the lights , the photos don't seem to be catching the colour it needs to be seen in hand to notice the difference

[motorman]

it looks silver under the lights , the photos don't seem to be catching the colour it needs to be seen in hand to notice the difference

Reg it must be a silvery grey then!!

[Tinman]

From the wonderful world wide web:

How To : De-Chrome Plastic Parts
Posted on 05/09/2012
Today we have another article in our How to series, this time we will look at how to remove the chrome look from plastic parts of your diecast model. We all know that some parts require that chrome look, on older model vehicles the bumpers and maybe hubcaps are all chrome but sometimes the manufacturer of diecast vehicles go in my mind that little bit too far in the process of chroming plastic parts and they coat parts like the oil pan or other engine parts, so if you are wanting to build a show car this might be ok but if you are wanting to get a realistic looking car then this just wont do and the process of removing that chrome is what you need.

Before starting it is worth noting that many of the plastic components used in a diecast vehicle can be made of any and all colours, so I wouldn’t start removing the chrome if you are hoping to change chrome rims to black, be prepared that under that chrome might be bright orange plastic so you will require another step in your road to realism and that is to recoat the plastic in a more appropriate colour, but we will cover than in another article later. It should also be noted that patience is required as well for this process as the length of time it takes to remove that chrome will depend on the manufacturer, some put thin coats on and others use a thicker coat which will take longer to remove so be prepared that this process can take anywhere from a couple of minutes to a few hours.

To remove chrome from plastic you will need to make sure that you have the following items at hand:

- An airtight container – I find that an old prescription bottle works great as they are a good size for most of the small pieces you will be working with
- A bottle of Chlorine bleach – the cheap no name brand is perfect for this use as it generally doesn’t contain any fragrance or other stuff that is just not required for this purpose
- A strainer – I find the best one to use is a tea strainer as it is small enough to ensure you don’t lose any of the smaller parts that you are de-chroming
- Small container – an old ice cream container is suitable

Firstly place the chrome coated plastic component into the airtight container and add enough of the bleach to cover the part. Now seal the container and give it a little shake to ensure the parts are completely covered, now just leave it to sit for a while and soak. After a while remove the lid and have a look at the parts, if they are still chrome looking replace the lid and leave it to sit and soak for a while longer, repeat this process until your parts no longer have chrome on them. As stated this may take several hours so you may have to leave some parts overnight.

Once the chrome has been removed from the plastic car parts, slowly poor the bleach out via the strainer, doing this will ensure that you get rid of all the bleach but don’t lose any of those valuable parts. Now that you have your freshly de-chromed parts place them into the small container and cover in lukewarm water, stir lightly and then leave them sit for about 15 – 30 minutes to soak, after that time strain them again and place them back into the container with some fresh lukewarm water to soak for another 15 – 30 minutes. Once that time is up, remove and dry your parts as they are now ready for painting or simply re-attaching to your diecast vehicle.

If you use these instructions you should be aware that when doing this it is wise to protect yourself by working around a sink to help contain possible spills and don’t forget to protect your eyes, skin and clothing as bleach is quite a strong chemical and will discolour your clothing and can potentially harm your eyes or skin if they come into contact with it. Also never leave any of your equipment where children can access it again because of the damage that the bleach may cause.

[Dr Jazz]

Hi Joe

Correct me if im wrong, but this is a to do list for unriveted piezes? Can you put a compleet model in this bottle? My truck has perfekt rivets and so do Nicks, would this be possible ?

[Dr Jazz]

Nick how does the chrome on the wheels look?

[nickjones]

Jazz.
You can soak a complete model in bleach and it should not damage it apart from removing the chrome but always try it out on a beater first.
Bleach will decompose into salt which is bad for the axles so don't leave it in soak any longer than necessary and rinse it under a running tap for a couple of minutes.

[ford_a_30]

I recently took two beater trucks (a 10d pipe truck and a site hut truck) and dropped them both into brake fluid. They sat in there about an hour or so. The chrome wiped off both with little problem. The pipe truck had been painted by a previous owner and there was some gumming of the overpaint whilst cleaning it. The site truck had no problems. About 98% of the chrome was removed from each. If I had put forth a little more effort (i.e. a toothpick or some such device) I would have been able to remove it all. Based on this information, I will never buy a model assuming unplated parts are something special.

[Dr Jazz]

Hi Chris

Great result, so easy to get it of eh??