Plating question.

[Geno]

Anybody still doing plating for models? I got some stuff I need to have rechromed. Thanks, Geno.?

[jas1957]

Spotlight Hobbies has announced they will be offering a plating service, no start date was mentioned.

[Shark]

18 minutes ago, jas1957 said:

Spotlight Hobbies has announced they will be offering a plating service, no start date was mentioned.

Good to hear that, since the others have closed shop. They have always been great people to deal with. Nothing looks or lasts like plating 

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, jas1957 said:

Spotlight Hobbies has announced they will be offering a plating service, no start date was mentioned.

That would be quite the revelation if true!

They could corner the market in an instant.

Zero competition!

I hope that they plan accordingly for the inevitable heavy load that they’re likely to receive.

I know that I will undoubtedly use their service should it materialize.

I have zero interest in all of the chrome paint incarnations of the past few years.

Chrome all the way baby!

 

 

 

Steve

Edited October 22, 2024 by StevenGuthmiller

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

I'm looking forward to hearing more about this as well. I know Little Motor Kar Co stated that resin and styrene parts needed to be separate, as their process was slightly different for each type of material. As I recall, Chrome Tech was able to chrome resin and styrene at the same time. -RRR

[peteski]

After the last companies closed shop, the plating (well, actually aluminum vacuum metalizing) service for hobbyist is sorely missed.  Hopefully Spotlight Hobbies will come through.  The problem is that (like with most hobbies related businesses), nobody is getting rich doing it.  It is more or less a labor of love that not many people want to deal with.  There are several paint-type of chrome finishes available out there, but IMO none beat the look of the real "chrome" plating used by model companies.

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, peteski said:

After the last companies closed shop, the plating (well, actually aluminum vacuum metalizing) service for hobbyist is sorely missed.  Hopefully Spotlight Hobbies will come through.  The problem is that (like with most hobbies related businesses), nobody is getting rich doing it.  It is more or less a labor of love that not many people want to deal with.  There are several paint-type of chrome finishes available out there, but IMO none beat the look of the real "chrome" plating used by model companies.

And it’s not just the “look” of the chrome that’s in question.

For me, it’s all about durability.

If someone produced a chrome paint that approached the same reflectivity of chrome, as well as something close to the same durability, I’d be on board.

To this point, there’s nothing that comes close.

 

 

Steve

[Can-Con]

18 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

That would be quite the revelation if true!

They could corner the market in an instant.

Zero competition!

I hope that they plan accordingly for the inevitable heavy load that they’re likely to receive.

I know that I will undoubtedly use their service should it materialize.

I have zero interest in all of the chrome paint incarnations of the past few years.

Chrome all the way baby!

 

 

 

Steve

I put up a question about it on the Spotlight board last night as soon as I read this, still no reply.

I do see they had some kits that they had some extra parts trees plated like frames and suspensions but this is the first I've heard of them even considering offering a plating service.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

I put up a question about it on the Spotlight board last night as soon as I read this, still no reply.

I do see they had some kits that they had some extra parts trees plated like frames and suspensions but this is the first I've heard of them even considering offering a plating service.

Also the first I’ve heard.

Hopefully not just another rumor.

 

 

 

Steve

[Can-Con]

OK, got a reply from Matt and Dawn at Spotlight. , , , 

"Yes, we will soon be offering a chrome service , , ,We are still working out the details and such. We will post more when it's 100% ready to go."

So, This is very good news. I have used the various products with good results but as others have said, "nothing looks like chrome more then actual chrome" 

They even posted a couple pics,,

Edited October 22, 2024 by Can-Con

[peteski]

1 minute ago, Can-Con said:

OK, got a reply from Matt and Dawn at Spotlight. , , , 

"Yes, we will soon be offering a chrome service , , ,We are still working out the details and such. We will post more when it's 100% ready to go."

So, This is very good news. I have used the various products with good results but as others have said, "nothing looks like chrome more then actual chrome" 

That's a good news, but it isn't really "chrome", but it looks like chrome.

Well, I sure hope that their "chroming" service doesn't  actually use electroplating thicker coat of metallic chrome or similar metal, like what Trumpeter did on few of their car kits.  That stuff was almost impossible to scrape off for gluing, and it didn't really look all that good.  Colloquially known as "chrome" in modeling circles, the metallic coating used for plastic model kits is not Chromium, and I hope Spotlight's service offers the same type of vacuum metalization as what is used for most model kits.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 minute ago, peteski said:

That's a good news, but it isn't really "chrome", but it looks like chrome.

Well, I sure hope that their "chroming" service doesn't  actually use electroplating thicker coat of metallic chrome or similar metal, like what Trumpeter did on few of their car kits.  That stuff was almost impossible to scrape off for gluing, and it didn't really look all that good.  Colloquially known as "chrome" in modeling circles, the metallic coating used for plastic model kits is not Chromium, and I hope Spotlight's service offers the same type of vacuum metalization as what is used for most model kits.

I think everyone understands that for modeling purposes, what we call chrome is in fact vacuum metalization.

I think the huge majority of modelers have called vacuum metalized parts contained in model kits “chrome trees” since time and memorial.

All entities offering “chrome re-plating” services for the hobby in the past have all used the vacuum metalization process.

I doubt that there’s any confusion about that.

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

17 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

OK, got a reply from Matt and Dawn at Spotlight. , , , 

"Yes, we will soon be offering a chrome service , , ,We are still working out the details and such. We will post more when it's 100% ready to go."

So, This is very good news. I have used the various products with good results but as others have said, "nothing looks like chrome more then actual chrome" 

They even posted a couple pics,,

Fantastic news!

Guess I better start paying more attention to Spotlight Hobbies! ?

 

 

 

Steve