Hi, I need your help! I'm trying to remove the black paint from a Lionel die cast #2055. So far I've soaked, (submerged), the #2055 in SuperTech Dot 3 brake Fluid for 3 days with little results. I have scrubbed the locomotive with a hard bristle nylon brush but the paint is only coming off of the high spots. It seems pretty strange that a #2055 wants to hold on to its paint especially since that is one of the locos from that year that had problems with paint "flaking" off. This one was flaking badly before I soaked it!!! But striping it down to bare metal is proving very difficlut and quite frankly my arm is falling off. Anyone have any "sure fire" methods of removing the paint without any explosions or fireballs in the train shop? Thank you, Steve
Ask at Home Depot for a spray can of a product for removing paint from metal. I don't remember what brand it was, but that's what I asked about when I got what I needed for my 2026 shell
Yep you need to invest in a paint remover. Brake fluid will work but it's a slow process.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
If I were to restore a 60-70 year old diecast shell, I'd find someone with a beadblast machine to remove that paint.
fifedog If I were to restore a 60-70 year old diecast shell, I'd find someone with a beadblast machine to remove that paint.
I am in agreement with Fife on this. They work great if you use the right media.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
I have stripped about 6 shells with "Castrol Super Clean" in a purple bottle. I use it full strentgh in a container big enough to cover the whole shell. I have stripped two 1688E & two 258 prewar shells, a 2020 & two 1615 shells, so that covers both prewar and postwar items. The paint comes off in as little as 3 hours of soaking, to about 6 hours. Use an old toothbrush to scrub it down. After it is stripped, rinse it off with warm soapy water, and when you want to paint it, wipe it down with 90% isopropyl alcohol, just before you are ready to spray. For paint, I use only Krylon primer, followed by Krylon Satin Black. You can find the Castrol Super Clean in Walmart for the cheapest price.
I absolutely swear by it. I tried using brake fluid, and after 3 days of soaking, the paint hardly budged, so to me that is a lost cause. Another method I know of, is using Easy-Off Spray oven cleaner, doing the same procedure as above. Skip the brake fluid, it doesn't always work.
You have recieved some good advice here. I have stripped too many to count. I have used all methods except brake fluid, and never would advise it. Glass beading is great and leaves a great surface for new paint to attach too. Since I have to wait for that to be done and pay, I went to the metal strippers in both spray can and quart can brush on. Both are good, brush it off and wash it good. Wear GLOVES! Purple power works but is slow, I only use it to strip plastic models now.
Wow, sounds like the paint Lionel used in the old days was a lot tougher than the paint the real locomotive builders used.
Oh, if anyone's into guns Easy-Off oven cleaner makes a great gunstock stripper, for old oil finishes anyway. But use it outside, it STINKS!
Or at least it did the last time I tried it. Trust me, there won't be anything left on that gunstock except bare wood!
I should have mentioned Easy Off too. It will strip plastic and metal too.
Roger
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