Jennings Chinese Front plastics & plating

[coppinpr]

note- posted this earlier but it seems to have been lost on the way so sorry if it appears twice.


I'm well into the work on the Chinese front I bought at Coventry in November. There are a few challenges - the castings have been painted with hammered grey so I'm looking at a couple of options there, re-chroming and a new idea I'm testing that seems to work quite well that involves chrome spraying then coating with a clear gloss spray top coat. This takes away the problem you get when touching finished chrome spay paint. (The one on the right is the test piece , on the right is as it came to me).

But for the moment I need advice on the plastic inserts.
I was surprised to see just how much they have faded in the areas that have been exposed to the outside world. The edges and inside are as new. I imagine the fading has been caused by long exposure to natural light The parts that show on the outside are now a nasty tomato soup colour. As I intend to use a full set of lights, rather than the one small tube there is at the moment, I'll need to be careful with them. At the moment I'm thinking of even spray painting. I've tried three types of paint and a high gloss red seems to work near perfect, giving a good even translucency. Has anyone any experience of these? Any other ideas I might think of using?

[treefrog]

Can't comment on plastics, but I would polish the castings, would look 10 times better than painting or even rechroming.... Get them done with someone with a proper polishing wheel like a car restorer or traditional restorer, will look breeze knees......

[coppinpr]

What about the hammered paint already on the castings? Wouldn't that make the polishing idea a real nightmare?

[widget2k4]

Paint strip the paint off first, then polish the castings. I'm busy doing my Chinese front atm.
Here is my Governor casting just been polished. Looks really good and no chance of the chrome falling back off.

[aristomatic]

Just take all the castings to a platers and they will strip all paint and any old chrome off and then polish them all up for you in no time. It will be half the cost or less of them being plated and they will look far better than any paint finish you could achieve. By the time you factor out all the paint and clear you would have paid for and all the time and mess and fumes etc. it's a very good all round option. Take all castings at same time and have them polished as a set. Don't take one as a test then go back with the others. If you want to test the polishers then fine, just take a different spare casting and if happy then take the full set for polishing as a set.

GP

[raj]

I'd support the polishing over the plating option. Some of these early castings were done using aircraft alloy, rather than the usual 'pot' ali, which makes DIY polishing much harder, ( which is why there was a sudden upsurge in orders to Germany from the factories, just before WW2). Leave it to the professionals, they will do the best that can be achieved, using the correct tools. make sure they get into the corners with the bonnets, or you will have extra work to do.

[dutchboy]

Gentlemen, i have to say what a quality advise over here! Coppinpr, Nice to follow the machine this way.i allready love iT. I've been watching an early sun chief this week with a lot of work on iT. I was to scarred to buy it because the chrome had a lot of corrosion at it.

[coppinpr]

I am sure that polishing is the right way to go (I had quotes of £280 for chromed and £180 for polished) but, for now anyway, I'm going with the new paint method I'm testing. It seems to work quite well and I want to see how it works out (the photo below is from my phone and not that great).

The inserts sprayed up well and light shows through evenly and the colour is pretty much back to original. The light box behind the payout card was blocked off with thin board so I've rebuilt it and produced a great new payout card on self adhesive vinyl, mounted it on clear plastic sheet so the diffused light shines through perfectly (anyone who wants to make any display with light behind - I very much recommend this method, it's near perfect)

Now for the challenge of lighting the lower case.

[coppinpr]

Not quite finished but getting there. Please forgive the over exposed photo with the lights on.

[geordy55]

Hi,

Can I ask where you got the chrome quotes from? I've got a tic-Tac-toe and it needs re chroming.

Thanks

Dave

[coppinpr]

I'm in the process of getting a Jennings top casting re-chromed by a company I've not used before for £140 inc. return postage, They tell me they do a lot of slot stuff but until I get mine back I can't recommend them (if they turn out to be good they will be getting a free add on our www.penny-arcade.info site). The company details are


Easy Electroplating (PGP LTD)
Unit 6 Kilnbeck Business Park
Annie Reed Road
Beverley
East Yorkshire
HU17 0LF
United Kingdom


info@easyelectroplating.co.uk

T: 0800 112 0079
F: 0800 112 0099

http://EasyElectroplating.co.uk


please mention the penny-arcade web site if you contact them as we hope to get discount rates

[geordy55]

Hi Coppinpr,

How were the parts you sent for re-chroming ?

This company are quite close to me so would be great if they came out ok and you could recommend them.

Dave

[coppinpr]

I was very pleased with the chrome, if you go to the www.penny-arcade.info site and look on the market place page you can see before and after photos of the very part. If you quote the web site when asking for a quote they say they will give us favourable rates.

[pennymachines]

Polaris recommended this company last year. Added to our Services page.

[alan57]

Topic moved & merged - Site Admin.

Hi.
Can anyone give me some guidance on how to bring the colour back to the lenses? I've cleaned them with warm water, but the bleach markings have not gone away. Can they be sprayed and then lacquered to protect them?

[slotalot]

It may sound silly, but I have used toothpaste and a soft rag to gently get light scuffs out of plastic in the past. It takes a little time and you can’t rush the process.
Not saying it will work for you, but I can’t see why it shouldn't work. It must be worth a try.

Another way is to flash over the surface with a blowtorch set to a cool flame. It works with Perspex and hard plastic, but yours looks like blow moulded plastic, so might NOT be a good idea for these as the plastic might lose its shape.

[brigham]

You could try T-Cut, or some similar automotive preparation.
It works on plastic head-lamp lenses.

[alan57]

Thanks for your suggestions. I shall give it a go.

[aristomatic]

Yours not the same condition as these but the link* may be worth a look.

*Topics now merged - Site Admin

[special when lit]

Could try Novus 2 plastic cleaner. You'll find it at most pinball suppliers.