Well the winner is a product called Bar Keepers Friend. I made a thick goopy paste out of it and dipped in the gold plated pieces. The took them out and let the paste dry on the pieces. Then used the scrubber side of a kitchen sponge. Poof, gold plating gone. I cleaned up up and gave a quick buffing with the buffing wheel of my dremel and they cleaned up nice. I need to get some polish for the brass still and there are fine scratches but Im happy with the result.