Hey everyone! I recently acquired a Wm-3 off eBay. While the condition of it is by no means awful it does have a bit of a cosmetic issue. I was wondering if anyone could advice me on potential repairing the damage to the goldish metallic side piece. My one appears to have some kind of pitting? On it. I was wondering firstly how is it finished as it's a plastic piece made to look metallic. Is it electro plated? Secondly is it even possible to repair? Any advice would be a great help!
You could try some Novus #2 plastic polish, or any kind of clear coat polish designed to eliminate swirl marks. But use it carefully, as that imitation metallic coating is very soft and fragile
Electroplating plastic used to be a common way to make plastic look like metal, feel like metal, but still maintain the lightweight properties of plastic. The process of electroplating plastic is very different from electroplating metal, as you cannot bathe the bare plastic in a solution to do the electroplating as you would with a metal material. You need to apply a conductive paint to the plastic or use a solution to increase the bonding properties of the plastic. Here’s a web blurb about it: https://incertec.com/services/special/plastic-composite/ According to the linked site, those pores you are seeing are part of the early stages of the process, they are the ‘channels’ that are created in solution to make the plastic more receptive and adhesive to the bonding material. Cool stuff. Electroplating plastic is still used today in the automotive industry mostly. I’ve seen a lot of people refurbish those side pieces on the WM-3, and they usually strip the plastic, then apply a metallic paint. Metallic paints have gotten really advanced in recent years, and there is now a wide variety of sheens and colors to be had. Plus, metallic paint is more malleable than a hardened electroplate finish: ‘Back in 2017, @buzbox did a great refurb job on their WM-3 EX using a regular paint. I think that is the way to go for you if you are good at DIY. Here’s their work: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/my-sony-walkman-collection-so-far.80/page-3#post-4556
Check out some of Jorge's Threads, he also has a modeling blog where he's painted some parts to look metallic. Has anybody tried vinyl wrap like they do on cars? Here's the guys I always look at, haven't bought anything yet.... https://caswellplating.com/
Damn you really know your stuff. I'm not sure if I will paint it as I would like to try and keep the finish as original as possible, I also like the high quality metal look. That's just me. I have looked at paint but I'll probably ruin it more than make it look better haha. Also what metal would have been used to plate it as it's not a full gold colour but its not silver either I have thought about vinyl wrap it is an interesting idea but if I was to try that i'd do it on something sacrificial first.
Lol I feel ya. I had to learn about electroplating a few years back when I worked on a Nintendo Game&Watch "CrabGrab" that was finished in all metallic paint. The battery contacts were corroded, so used the nickel electroplating process for it, and krylon shiny spray paint for the case. Now as to what metal they used for the WM-3, what I can tell you is it's most likely an alloy, but I cannot tell you which one. Maybe like nickel/copper?? Not sure. There's probably YouTube videos out there for the electroplating process for plastic.
I have used the metal polish Silvo Tarnish Guard Silver Polish Liquid on such electro plated plastic parts (same company makes Brasso). It is kind of a fine abrasive polish intended for brass and silver ware. You will apply the Silvo liquid on the area and wait for it to dry. Then buff it off with a micro fiber cloth. Test it on a small area normally not seen. My experience tells me, you will not be disappointed!
There is also a procedure with plastic it is sprayed first with a conductive paint .. like graphite and then the galvanization is done ... on you tube you can find
That suggestion of a copper nickel alloy is probably correct I had a look at what sort of colours you can get from it and damn some of them are pretty close! I definitely think I'll look into trying to re plate the parts but I probably won't do it straight away. I'll look more into it and do some testing too! Thanks for all you knowledge though!
No worries! Please take pictures as you experiment. That will make one hell of a thread. Happy listening.
