There was an article in OGR a long time back - so long ago that it might still have been OSR - anyway, the article described using oven cleaner to effect a change in the color of aluminum from the silver-like to an almost white. The article was a how-to for making an inspection car or some such. Anybody remember it? I'm thinking of doing a special car, but I remember the article warning about how long to leave the oven cleaner on.
NO!!! You are 90% or more likely to ruin the aluminum beyond any hope of redemption.
Anodize is about the best way to effect color change on aluminum but white is not an available color, clear anodize then paint white.
Bare aluminum doesn't take paint well because it quickly develops a clear oxidized layer when exposed to air. This can be overcome with a couple methods outside anodizing.
1. Paint with a self etching or sometimes called a 'wash' primer. The problem is I'm not aware of anyone in the model paint industry that makes such a product which leaves the home and industrial paints which may not be as finely prepared as pints for models.
2. This requires an air compressor for fast drying you need to avoid heat as this speeds surface oxidation rates so hair dryers and shop heaters for the likes of shrinking such tubing are pretty iffy to use.
A. The process starts with a high detergent degreasing wash followed by a pressure dry, this requires gloves and so does all subsequent handling to avoid introducing skin oils.
B. A wash in white (clear) vinegar followed by a clean water rinse (distilled or deionized) followed by a pressurized air dry.
C. With very little time loss this needs to be primered with zinc chromate, this will be a real paint as I haven’t found a model paint that is really zinc chromate, these only imitate the color. So this will probably require a light wet sanding with 600 to maybe 1200 paper to achieve sufficient smoothness for a model.
D. color coat with selected model paint.
Bogie