Stripping the paint off...
#1
Hey guys,

7 of the 9 Bachmann 70-Toners arrived this afternoon for my Modesto & Empire Traction Company Engine Project (which is in the Blogs forum, see thread The Motive Power of the Modesto & Empire Traction Company). I ordered 9 of the green ones since Bachmann doesnt offer them in undecorated gray plastic. These ones are painted green with yellow handrails and black frames

I need to strip these down to the plastic, and i wanna hear what you guys use and do when you have to strip something. I want this to be as easy and painless as possible lol. I dont mind them sitting for a day or 2 in a solution, as long as i dont have to sit there and scrub the paint off of them. I have 9 of these to do, so im looking for something fairly easy and painless. I know im probably going to have to do some scrubbing, but i wanna get some stuff that does most of the work for me if you know what i mean LOL

So what do you guys use to strip paint?

I took a few pics of the 70-Toners, i couldnt resist, i opened the box and saw the 7 of them sitting there, i just had to pull 2 of them out, set up a few coalporters and make a small train on my photo diorama LOL

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Josh Mader

Maders Trains
Offering everyday low prices for the Model Railroad World
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#2
Hi Josh,

Try modelstrip on the bodies ...... <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.apollomodels.com/accessories/paint-stripper/modelstrip-115ml/prod_353.html">http://www.apollomodels.com/accessories ... d_353.html</a><!-- m --> works well but make sure you wear protective gloves and safety eyewear as its caustic ....... cvoer the body with the strip and place in a tied bag in an airing cupboard overnight .
Remove any rails / detail parts before starting.
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#3
Here's the relevent part of an article that I wrote several years ago, called Take it off! Take it all off...

Let me start with this disclaimer:

Styrene and resin models can be temperamental and reactive to chemical exposure and may melt, soften, warp or become brittle and crack if exposed to chemicals.

I found out at a local hobby shop that Oven Cleaner will work. I read in a model railroad how-to book put out by Atlas that this will work too. But not just any Oven Cleaner. Use the none aerosol type.

A better option is to use Pine-Sol or other similar non-bleaching household cleanser.

Either way, check the ingredients to make sure that there are - Absolutely NO PETRO CHEMICALS - !

Some products will state that they are safe to use on plastics. Don't just take their word for it... Test it for yourself first. I have had great results using an industrial strength cleaner/degreaser that I got at work. I checked the ingredients and tested a small section of a Locomotive shell first to see if it would work.

The stuff I used contains SODIUM HYDROXIDE, SODIUM METASILICATE, MONOETHANOLAMINE, NON IONIC SURFACTANT, ESTER TYPE SURFACTANT, AND Water.

Caution this stuff is corrosive and will dry out and irritate your skin! Wear rubber (Chemical resistant) gloves. Safety goggles are a good idea too since you will be using this stuff full strength and it will really, really hurt or worse if any gets in your eyes. Rinse thoroughly with water if you get any on your skin or in your eyes. After testing, I soaked the shells I wanted to strip for an hour or two at a time and scrubbed with an old toothbrush until squeaky-clean. You might want to
check every few minutes or so to check progress and make sure that the plastics are not being harmed.

When you are satisfied with the results, rinse the shells thoroughly under running water until all traces of the cleaner are gone.

Some of you may want to remove decals but leave the paint intact. I have read on the Bachmann Board that you can use denatured alcohol. Rub the decal with a tissue or Q-tip (Cotton Swab) soaked in denatured alcohol until the decal dissolves and comes off. I haven't tried this so I can only pass along the information.

Be careful and take your time.

Other products that are reported to work are carburetor cleaner or brake fluid, which can be found at automotive supply stores. A couple of other products that you might want to try are 3M's Safest Stripper, Oops! and Citrisolve.

Remember to try a test piece first!

If you are wary of using chemicals there is always the option of sanding the old paint off.

This has its own danger. Styrene and resin are soft, and sanding will remove more than just the paint. You may also lose moulded on details and texture.

Good Luke and happy peeling!
Ron Wm. Hurlbut
Toronto, Ontario, Dominion of Canada
Ontario Narrow Gauge Show
Humber Valley & Simcoe Railway Blog
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#4
I'm interested in the feedback here too.

About a year ago, I repainted one of my British steam locos from black into its (more original) LNER apple green. Now, as I look at the loco, I'm not that pleased with the result and am thinking of re-converting it back to black! Eek Wallbang I feel foolish for being so fickle.

So I'll read the replies here as well and see if I can find a way to strip the green paint off and then spray paint it back into British Railways black.

Thanks,
Rob
Rob
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#5
I would be very skeptical of the use of carburetor cleaner on plastic. When cleaning carburetors with it, the first precaution is to disassemble the carb and make sure none of the plastic parts go into the solution. Scale Coat rinse away is very effective, but Atlas and Kato shells can be damaged by it. I don't know for sure about Bachmann. You would need to test on the inside of the shell to be sure. If you don't want to scrub, you might look into an ultra sound parts washer from Micro Mark.
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#6
Hi guys,

thanks for all the replies. To start, i picked up some 91% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol from Rite Aid a few minutes ago. I got a tip that this stuff works pretty good as long as you just let it soak for a few hours or over night, so we will see LOL. I have 9 of these to do as i mentioned above, so i got a 3 bottles of the stuff for now. If it works and i need more, then i can always go get some more. Im using this stuff first, cuz well it was CHEAP lol
Josh Mader

Maders Trains
Offering everyday low prices for the Model Railroad World
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#7
potassium hydroxide works well if you can find a sorce . I use brake fluid the only time i have had it affect plastic is a accurail car i forgot in it for several months . 35
jim
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#8
I've used brake fluid in years past, and it does work, but it's fairly nasty (toxic), and I've used oven cleaner with mixed results (crazed plastic).

I've also tried several chemial strippers. I've used ELO (Easy Lift Off- from Walthers, I think), but it was so-so, and seemed to be more-or-less brake fluid. The Chameleon liquid worked reasonably well, but is expensive and availability is spotty. so I've switched to Pine-Sol. The Chameleon gel might be OK for small, tough-to-reach spots, but I found it to be less effective than the liquid.

What I use now is Pine Sol. It's cheap, not too toxic, works slowly and effectively without melting the plastic, and makes the house smell nice when I'm done (pine fresh! Smile ).

I get a locking-seal container from the dollar-store, fill it deep enough to cover what I'm stripping, throw in the shell, seal it up and leave it overnight. Then I pull out the shell and scrub it with warm soapy water and a cheap electric toothbrush. For heavier paints I may have to repeat the process, but it works well.
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#9
I've discovered that house paint is now sold in gallon cans made of plastic. They are almost perfect for soaking plastic parts in to remove paint. Locomotive shells are a bit too long, so they get soaked long hood down, then cleaned and flipped and soaked short hood down.
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#10
A warning on using Pine-Sol. Two, actually. First, wear gloves, Pine Sol dries out your hands BIG TIME, and cracked mine all open to the point of bleeding. Two, while Pine Sol works well as a paint stripper, do NOT let a model soak overnight without occasionally checking it first. I lost a Superdetailed Athearn locomotive that way. And that was for 4 hours. I soaked the shell in a glass Planters Peanut jar that I washed out first, filled with Pine Sol and let it soak for 4 hours. The shell started to shrivel, and the steps melted into goo. The whole shell was like rubber when done and looked like it had been set under a heat lamp.

Use Pine Sol, it works well, but check your model and check it often *just to be on the safe side*.
Tom Carter
Railroad Training Services
Railroad Trainers & Consultants
Stockton, CA
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#11
I have used Pine Sol and denatured alcohol for paint stripper in the past. A friend was having difficulty getting the paint off of some of the new Athearn r-t-r locomotives and asked me what I used. I told him and he tried them. He said they didn't work. I was over at his house with my paint can, and an extra for him to keep, and I found out he was right! Athearn seems to have changed their paint formula and the new paint is impervious to both Pine Sol and denatured alcohol. The only thing we tried that stripped it was Scalecoat. Since the Scalcoat is $14.00 or so for a pint, he was hoping to find something less expensive.
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#12
I've never actually tried it for stripping the paint off any of my models, but I once used "Simple Green" to wipe a scuff mark off a painted wall (I had used the "simple Green" full strength, never bothering to read the directions about diluting it) and I ended up having to repaint that part of the wall. 35 However, the sponge had undergone an interesting color change!

I do have a tank car that I got a bit over-zealous with when I first started to use my airbrush for weathering, and it needs a "bath." So as soon as I can find a suitable set of decals from the right era, I'll first try "Simple Green" and post the results.

biL
biL

Lehigh Susquehanna & Western 

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
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#13
I use either Pine-sol or Poly scale "Easy lift off"
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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