painting over chrome

[Arkgene]

I am building a 1994 Ford Ligthning  pick up and the grilll in the kit is chromed and on the real pickup it was painted the body color. How do I paint it? Do I have to strip off the chrome or scuff it up to get the paint to stick?

I am 79 and I build models when I was in high school but this is the first one in over 60 years. Wish me luck.

[Plowboy]

I've done it both ways. It just depends on the part. If you want to save the chrome on the headlight buckets, sand, primer and paint. If you aren't concerned about the chrome, strip, primer and paint.

[1972coronet]

Welcome back to the hobby! 

While it's possible to paint-over plating - primer coat is necessary - it's best to strip-off the plating. This is easily done by the chemical strippers which are widely available; Purple Power and/or Super Clean are the most common for this purpose. Certainly, others' opinions will vary - I've always used the aforementioned and have had the best luck with either/or.

[1972coronet]

2 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

If you want to save the chrome on the headlight buckets

There are options for re-"plating" the headlamp buckets (or any other brightwork for this matter). There's a chrome pen (as in ink) called Molotow which is amazing stuff. Some scoff at it, others swear by it; I use it on certain parts. Barring that, Bare Metal Foil could be employed, though this may be tedious depending upon your skills, vision, and hand steadiness. 

[espo]

Drop the grill in a small container with some bleach and the chrome will go away fast and cleanly. 

[Dave G.]

I use Drano Gel to strip chrome. I brush it on where I want it. I did a Mustang grill where I left the grill surround chrome but stripped the mesh. I even left the horse chrome. Then you could brush the black back in but what I did was Vaseline the chrome and sprayed in a thin black coat with my Badger 200 and .25 tip. Then wiped away any over spray along with the Vaseline. You can mask like that with glycerin as well.

[Slotto]

1 hour ago, Dave G. said:

what I did was Vaseline the chrome and sprayed in a thin black coat with my Badger 200 and .25 tip. Then wiped away any over spray along with the Vaseline. 

You mean to tell me there is another use for Vaseline? I've only been using it for one thing! ?

[slusher]

I would brush super clean on the grill and it will remove primer and chrome. If you brush it on you can keep the chrome on the head light buckets by not brushing them..

[Arkgene]

I just want to thank all that responded to my question.  I got some great ideas and I may try all of them at one time or another.

 

[Arkgene]

I used bleach on the smaller parts that were chromed and it worked lick a charm. I am going to try to coat a piece with some vaseline and see if it will mask the chrome I need to leave.

[espo]

17 hours ago, Arkgene said:

I used bleach on the smaller parts that were chromed and it worked lick a charm. I am going to try to coat a piece with some vaseline and see if it will mask the chrome I need to leave.

I have my doubts that Vaseline would be able to protect the bumper from the bleach. What may be a better option would be 1. separate the bumper and grill if possible. 2. Maybe try hand painting the bleach on the grill area with some masking tape on the bumper area. I wouldn't immerse the whole assembly in the bleach with the expectation that even the tape would protect the bumper.  

[Dave G.]

2 hours ago, espo said:

I have my doubts that Vaseline would be able to protect the bumper from the bleach. What may be a better option would be 1. separate the bumper and grill if possible. 2. Maybe try hand painting the bleach on the grill area with some masking tape on the bumper area. I wouldn't immerse the whole assembly in the bleach with the expectation that even the tape would protect the bumper.  

When I do the Drano routine I don't cover the trim chrome, just brush the gel onto what I want removed. It takes just a few minutes to melt the chrome away, then using a soft toothbrush rub and rinse and dry. The mask is for when I airbrush back in thinned acrylic paint. I go down to a super fine almost invisible mist. It doesn't even show on a surface till you get 1/4 to 1/2 inch away or so. So there isn't much over spray anyway, just enough mask to cover for 72yo hands doing this stuff lol. It takes a few coats but it gets there and all detail remains.

[espo]

3 minutes ago, Dave G. said:

When I do the Drano routine I don't cover the trim chrome, just brush the gel onto what I want removed. It takes just a few minutes to melt the chrome away, then using a soft toothbrush rub and rinse and dry. The mask is for when I airbrush back in thinned acrylic paint. I go down to a super fine almost invisible mist. It doesn't even show on a surface till you get 1/4 to 1/2 inch away or so. So there isn't much over spray anyway, just enough mask to cover for 72yo hands doing this stuff lol. It takes a few coats but it gets there and all detail remains.

Sonds like a good way to do the task. I buy a lot of the rubber gloves I use at Harbor Freight.