Using Super Clean to remove chrome, paint

the Baron

Ich bin ja, Herr, in Deiner Macht
Joined
May 12, 2009
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Hi, everybody!

It's finally warmed up enough to the point where I can sit at my bench in the basement again--January was a cooooollllllllllddddd month this time around :D So, it's back to projects.

This is something I've wanted to try for a while--using the de-greaser Super Clean to remove the plating from a sprue of chromed parts. I've read references here and at Agape Modeling (thanks, Andy Mason!), and saw the results. I've used oven cleaner until now, but I think I can put the Easy Off back in the cabinet in the kitchen. This stuff works so well, and with a little less fuss, than the caustic, lye-based oven cleaner.

Here's a shot of the bottle I bought, at Walmart, for $7:

5-1SuperClean.jpg

It also comes in smaller spray bottles, but I could only find the gallon size. No matter, I will get good use of this quantity.

The parts that I wanted to clean are the chrome bits for Monogram's kit of Tom Daniel's Red Baron hot rod. It's my entry in the Automotive Fellowship Build at Agape. I'm building it out of the box (no ignition harness, eg), but I couldn't reconcile myself to the visible sprue gates and seams that I would have had, if I couldn't putty and sand. The helmet, for example, has three small gates, plus it was scratched in the bag. But I hesitated for nearly 6 months, afraid of damaging the parts. But in the meantime, I saw the references to Super Clean, so it was time to try it.

Here is a preliminary batch of parts, with the sprue cut apart, to fit in the old dish I used for the bath:

5-2Chromepartstakeabath.jpg

I poured in enough Super Clean to cover the parts, and walked back to the bench for some things. I came back three minutes later, and eh, voila!:

5-3After3minutes.jpg

Look at that! The chrome was gone, the parts were as red as the rest of the kit, and cleaner, for that matter.

I threw in the rest of the sprue and cleaned all of the parts:

5-4Cleaningmoreparts.jpg

I removed the parts from the bath and rinsed them under the tap, and here they are, drying on some paper toweling:

5-5Allchromepartsstripped.jpg

Super Clean worked great! I began assembling some of these parts after I took these pics, and the parts were dry. Now I can clean up the seams on the fuel tank and air intake. I will "replace" the chrome with gloss silver or chrome paint, probably Krylon or Rustoleum. I will use Super Clean to clean paint from plastic parts, going forward. And since one of its uses is as a drain cleaner, I poured the leftover liquid down the kitchen drain, then flushed with hot water, and cleaned up some clogging.

Now, that was great for plastic parts, but I also paint metal figures, and need to clean those. So, here's the second experiment, a pair of Seven Years War Prussian hussars by Stadden, eBay finds, and already painted. I dropped these in the bath and waited:

1PaintremovalwithSuperClean.jpg

In this case, it did take a little longer for the solution to work. I did notice that the surface of the paint turned white in a minute or so, and I was able to scrub some of it off with an old toothbrush. But I decided to let the pieces soak, and see whether the paint would dissolve, as the chrome had. I went to other things for about an hour, then removed the figures, and held them under running water. The paint just washed away. Here is the result:

2AfterbathinSuperClean.jpg

I used the toothbrush a little bit, but basically, the paint washed off, especially on the figure on the left of the photo.

Verdict is: Super Clean works great and I will use this, going forward.

Hope you found this helpful, and thanks for looking!

YbiC
Brad
 
Great tip Baron, I'm planning to give it a try tomorrow...
Do you think it will attack Mr. Surfacer?
 
Helpful? This is great and just what I needed to learn today. Thank you - now I gotta find some around here.
 
Just tried out the Super Clean to strip some really messed up paint last night. Worked great. As a side note, it did however attack the Mr.Surfacer and Squadron Green putty work I had done to fill in some monster gaps. That's ok, just means I'll have to fill them again...practice is good right?
 
Thank you all for the kind responses!

JMac, thanks for the additional info on the effect on existing putty/primer work. I'm not surprised, though, given how it works on paint, clogged drains, dirty ovens, etc, etc, :D

Seriously, I'd long read about using automotive de-greasers, and even brake fluid, but what caught my interest with this product is that it is relatively benign, compared to things like oven cleaner, or lacquer thinner. You still should wear rubber gloves--I use a pair of kitchen cleaning gloves, for example--but it's not nearly as caustic to use.

For folks outside the US and Canada, you can probably find similar products, with similar ingredients. I got that question over on the Treefrog Toy Soldier forum, from one of the members who lives in Singapore. I will post the ingredients, for anyone who wants to find a similar product.
 
I live in the still cold great white north (Canada) and I found the exactly same bottle in our local Walmart - no problem. I did use it to strip some paint off 20+ year old gaming mini's - left it over night the GW Citadel paint came off no problem.

As a side note, just stripped the paint (Vallejo) again on the same Lancaster model as before, I used 99% IPA. I soaked it a few minutes then went to it with an old toothbrush. It took a lot more effort than the Super Clean, but did leave my filler work in place...

JMac
 
Just bought some Super Clean last night to try removing Chrome.

This stuff works AWESOME! Best I've ever seen. It just devours the chrome in minutes. Really, really fast. Incredible stuff.
 
Hi, Scott, I'm glad you can use the tip.

I've also started keeping a little jar of it on my bench to help clean brushes. Some of the enamels I use are a little hard to get out of the brush, and mineral spirits won't get all of it. A dip in SC, and the paint comes right off.

I'm going to use it to clean my oven, too :D
 

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