jpmck03's Painted Emblem Experiment

[jpmck03]

So, I've always been a bit interested in blacked out emblems, but never liked that the front emblem would be a black "sombrero" or "Netz" on a black background. My ideal solution: paint the emblem with two colors, color-matching the back and blacking out the front emblem... like so...

blaaack.png

Doing some research on the best way to clean up the chrome, I found this DIY over on a Mazda 3 forum: Topic: DIY Painted Emblems (the right way) (Read 100261 times)

Long story short, you soak the emblem in bleach, which chemically breaks down the electroplated copper and aluminum (it's not real chrome on that plastic... who knew? :p ) After a few days, you end up with an emblem free of chrome and ready to be painted. A bit of a time-consuming process, but a little more of a "sure thing" when painting the emblem.

So, I've taken my spare Netz emblem apart...

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...and have started the fun chemical bath treatments...

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..so far so good!

- to be continued... -

[12 yaris]

Good luck,should come out nice.

[jpmck03]

Originally Posted by 12 yaris

Good luck,should come out nice.

Thanks, man... I'm hoping that it turns out well!

So far I'm on my 3rd or 4th bleach bath and more and more of the "chrome" is coming off. Apparently sometimes it can take several weeks, but at the rate that it's going now... probably should take 3-4 days.

I'll update the thread then...

[jpmck03]

Went over to my parents for dinner and when I came back I found that my little bleach bath turned into a bubbling caldron of black liquid... The nail and bread tie was to keep it from floating to the top, all the bubbles kinda nullified my little improvised weight system.

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"Chrome" is coming off rather quickly, which is good...

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Back into the bleach it goes... This time with a bigger improvised weight.

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[jpmck03]

Picked up some paint and bleach and did a little test painting to see how satin black would look... I like it!

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After some more baths in the bleach...

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And finally clean...

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[Qmobile]

I've been thinkin bout doin the same....but never know how to go about it.....and btw could'nt you use some paint remover?

[jpmck03]

Originally Posted by Qmobile

I've been thinkin bout doin the same....but never know how to go about it.....and btw could'nt you use some paint remover?

Like paint stripper? I was under the impression that it wasn't very plastic friendly... and I don't know if it would be effective at removing chrome...?

[Qmobile]

I think the chrome is just paint but idk...How'd you get the emblem and back appart?

[jpmck03]

Originally Posted by Qmobile

I think the chrome is just paint but idk...How'd you get the emblem and back appart?

The "chrome" one the emblems is electroplated aluminum over electroplated copper:

Originally Posted by jpmck03

... Long story short, you soak the emblem in bleach, which chemically breaks down the electroplated copper and aluminum (it's not real chrome on that plastic... who knew? :p )

To take the two halves apart I used an Xacto knife around the outside, then pulled up the outside enough to clear the two alignment pins. After that I just twisted it to break the emblem free from the tape holding it to the base. The I just cleaned up the tape that was on it.

[tooter]

Thanks for sharing that clever technique... now I want to do mine, too.

[mazilla]

If you work quickly with most paint strippers they wont harm the plastic, the stripper seems to work pretty fast..."quickly" is like 30 seconds of aggitating the stripper by hand(with a glove) and then quickly rinsing in water. Repeat as necessary.

I test a small portion of the plastic first before i go all in, i think its only been a "no-go" twice to date.


I've used paint stripper(a tiny tiny dab on a rag) to remove overspray from painted rims, plastic, glass, etc. The rag is always follwed by a dripping wet rag(water), which i use to wipe down a perimeter larger than yhe spot i was working on to make sure no stripper is left behind.


**BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU GO THIS ROUTE, IT'S RISKY**

[jpmck03]

Originally Posted by mazilla

**BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU GO THIS ROUTE, IT'S RISKY**

That's why I went with the slow and boring (yet interesting) give 'em a bleach bath for a week!

[jpmck03]

Got the back done... primed, base coat and clear coat...

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Not too shabby! Still debating on what order to do the "two-toned" portion on the front part of the badge (i.e primer, color matched inner portion, black outer, clear coat, etc.) and what the best way to mask them off...

to be continued until then!

[CrankyOldMan]

Are you going to have to remove the paint on the mating surfaces?

[jpmck03]

Originally Posted by CrankyOldMan

Are you going to have to remove the paint on the mating surfaces?

You mean where I'll be sticking the two halves of the emblem back together? (In red)

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I wasn't planning on it, as when you reattach say a regular emblem (like putting on a "Vitz" emblem) you don't remove the paint from the body.

Am I understanding your question correctly?

[CrankyOldMan]

Originally Posted by jpmck03

You mean where I'll be sticking the two halves of the emblem back together? (In red)

Yes. I'm not sure what you're using to bond them back together, and any kind of solvent-based adhesive would need plastic-on-plastic contact. Double-sided tape?

[jpmck03]

Originally Posted by CrankyOldMan

Yes. I'm not sure what you're using to bond them back together, and any kind of solvent-based adhesive would need plastic-on-plastic contact. Double-sided tape?

They were stuck together with double-sided tape originally, so I'm just going to put them back together the same way!

[jpmck03]

It's getting there... masking job didn't turn out as well as I'd like it... probably going to use the little touch-up paint pen from the dealer to get into the corners.

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