I'm going to repaint a steam loco with a plastic shell and tender and want tips on best methods and stuff to use for stripping off the exisiting paint.
It can get tricky. Chemically speaking, paint is closely related to plastic. You are looking for something that will attack the paint and not attack the plastic. I have used 91% alcohol with some success. Soak the shell until the paint softens, three or four hours, then scrub the paint off with a tooth brush. Don't leave the shell in the alcohol any longer than necessary. Others have used automotive brake fluid, but some say it makes the plastic brittle. I haven't tried it. There is a commercial product called EasyLiftOff, which I have not used either.
I have repainted a goodly number of plastic models without stripping the old paint. They turned out OK.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I use Scalecoat 2 wash away. Stuff is fantastic! Leave it in the stripper and the paint literally falls off. Plus, the stripper is reuseable -- simply pour it through some type of strainer to catch any paint debris and pour it back into the bottle. I have stripped dozens of freight cars with this stuff.
Modeling the Motor City
I have to strip paint from time to time, so generally I try 91% isopropyl alcohol first, and when I am firmly convinced that won't work (which it seems happens most of the time), I switch to the aforementioned Testors Easy Lift Off (ELO), which I have been using for years. Even ELO reused over and over works - recently in preparation for a project, I stripped the paint from an Athearn Blue Box gondola (must be from the 1980s) let it soak in the (heavily used) ELO for a number of hours, and the paint seemed to dissolve, revealing the black raw styerene body shell for the most part - yeah, I had to do some scrubbing, but not much. The shell wasn't absolutely pristine (it had been painted for 30+ years after all), but was smooth enough to work with.OTOH, I have some toy truck cabs from some third-rate manufacturer I'd like to strip the crudy looking paint off, but said paint just laughed at Alcohol and ELO. I hesitate to use the nuclear Easy-Off Oven Cleaner on plastic, as I once did that on some Woodland scenics figures and they just distorted/ballooned up. OTOH, Easy-Off works OK on metal parts as you would expect.
dstarr I have used 91% alcohol with some success. Soak the shell until the paint softens, three or four hours
I have had success with that, but not in 3 or 4 hours. That is just the start.
Some people use denatured alcohol. It has methanol or other agents in it which are not skin safe, as they can be adsorbed. Wear gloves.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I've never used, or heard of this ScaleCoat II. I've used everything that has been suggested in many threads on many railroad forums. I have to give this stuff a try.
Mike.
My You Tube
I would be curious to know what the chemical properties are with a VOC's rating of 99%.....Volitale Organic Compounds. That is pretty high....sounds like it has Ammonium Carbonate in it...vapors are harmful in large doses.
Take Care!
Frank
zstripeI would be curious to know what the chemical properties are with a VOC's rating of 99%
Any of the alcohols are also nearly 100% VOC
https://www.generalgraphic.com/msdsisop.htm
Generally, if it evaporates quickly it has a high VOC. Whatever is in the "Wash Away" they keep it a pretty good secret. I can't even find a MSDS on it.
Acetone is an exempt VOC:
http://www.paintcenter.org/rj/mar05c.cfm
Regards, Ed
I've mentioned this product before in posts, so I'll repeat it here: Super Clean- in a purple bottle- is a very mild and highly effective, not to mention ECONOMICAL solution for stripping paint off styrene models.
I have used it on new and decades-old models effectively. Soak for 12 hrs, then use an old toothbrush to clean out paint remaining in crevices.
Available in a large 2 liter purple bottle at Wal Mart.
Cedarwoodron
gmpullmanGenerally, if it evaporates quickly it has a high VOC. Whatever is in the "Wash Away" they keep it a pretty good secret. I can't even find a MSDS on it.
ED,
I could not find any MSDS on it either, but I still would be leary about using it. I did notice that what I could read about the instructions....it did not say to soak it, just to put a coating on it and rinse off.
I'll stick to lacquer thinner for metal and DNA for plastics or even simple green, it has DNA in it. Denatured Alcohol Marine stove fuel is what I use...have not harmed at plastic shells/trailers in all the yrs. I have been using it.
I see that the Scalecoat stripper has not been out very long.
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/technical-overview-volatile-organic-compounds
BTW: I love Your Huletts......If I was younger, I would redo the layout just for them.
zstripeI'll stick to lacquer thinner for metal and DNA for plastics
Hi, Frank
I use DNA in my track cleaning operations, too.
I used to use 99% Isopropyl since they would throw away gallon jugs of it at work! Yep. Past its expiration date, out it goes. I've nearly used up all of that so I buy the denatured at the big-box.
Sometimes I forget to shut the needle valve on the CMX tank and the track gets soaked in the stuff. As long as I let it evaporate on its own, no harm done.
Thanks for the kudos on the Huletts Around the Cleveland area there were about twenty of the monsters within a fifty-mile radius. Ten in Cleveland alone. Lots of fun to watch.
zstripe gmpullman Generally, if it evaporates quickly it has a high VOC. Whatever is in the "Wash Away" they keep it a pretty good secret. I can't even find a MSDS on it. ED, I could not find any MSDS on it either, but I still would be leary about using it. I did notice that what I could read about the instructions....it did not say to soak it, just to put a coating on it and rinse off. I'll stick to lacquer thinner for metal and DNA for plastics or even simple green, it has DNA in it. Denatured Alcohol Marine stove fuel is what I use...have not harmed at plastic shells/trailers in all the yrs. I have been using it. I see that the Scalecoat stripper has not been out very long. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/technical-overview-volatile-organic-compounds Take Care! Frank BTW: I love Your Huletts......If I was younger, I would redo the layout just for them.
gmpullman Generally, if it evaporates quickly it has a high VOC. Whatever is in the "Wash Away" they keep it a pretty good secret. I can't even find a MSDS on it.
So de-natured alcohol (DNA) will NOT harm plastic? It's safe for stripping paint off off a plastic shell?
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
I tend to do things in the wrong order....(sigh)
Does anyone know if any of these strippers work OK if I have already used putty (squadron white in my case) to patch over some stuff before I decided to strip the paint?
Is de-natured alcohol (DNA) safe to use for stripping paint off off a plastic shell? Yes or no?
[quote user="Jumijo"]
Jumijo.
Yes.....
I have been using it for about 20yrs. and it has not damaged any plastic shells, train/trucks in all that time. I pour some in a pie tin and brush on with a stiff artist flat brush, tooth brush will also work. After a few minutes the paint will start to wrinkle, then I brush that away and add more solvent until shell paint has been removed, then wash with warm water with a little detergent added....rinse off.....ready for paint. I don't bother to save or strain, just throw away.
The kind I use......:
https://www.menards.com/main/paint-stain-cleaners/thinners-solvents/sunnyside-reg-denatured-alcohol-thinner-1-gal/p-1444444212510.htm
Comes in quarts also.
The trailers in the pic' are plastic, Herpa, Walthers, CMW, were all stripped of paint with DNA. The tractor is metal from CMW and I used lacquer thinner to strip that.
The trailer in the top left of pic' is a CMW with all the paint stripped off. The tractor below it is a metal CMW truck with paint stripped with lacquer thinner.
cedarwoodron I've mentioned this product before in posts, so I'll repeat it here: Super Clean- in a purple bottle- is a very mild and highly effective, not to mention ECONOMICAL solution for stripping paint off styrene models. I have used it on new and decades-old models effectively. Soak for 12 hrs, then use an old toothbrush to clean out paint remaining in crevices. Available in a large 2 liter purple bottle at Wal Mart. Cedarwoodron
Super Clean works for me as well.
dbhone I'm going to repaint a steam loco with a plastic shell and tender and want tips on best methods and stuff to use for stripping off the exisiting paint.
I've used Pine Sol on an Athearn blue box locomotive shell, and on an old Tyco caboose shell. Had to soak it over night, but old Athearn, as well as Tyco have very thick coats of paint on them. I tried 91% isopropyl alcohol on them and it didn't even touch the paint, even with soaking for several days and hard scrubbing.
I am, however, intrigued by the Scalecoat product, as previously mentioned. Sounds like a good alternative. So too, the denatured alcohol (if that's not the same thing as isopropyl), I will try on my next paint stripping project.
Has anyone had success, in using this product on the last production runs of MDC Roundhouse Kits, that used colored plastic (s), to match a freight car decorated color, with letter stamped on in a different color.
I have one of the 40'0" XM's, for AC&Y, a extra of the twin, which I had attempted to strip the letter, in soaking in the old stand by, automotive hydraulic brake fluid.
After a 24 hour soaking, it did not even put a dent in the lettering.
Run EightAfter a 24 hour soaking, it did not even put a dent in the lettering.
I've run across that type of lettering also......It appears it is some type of laser printing that sort of burns into the paint and plastic......The only way I have found to remove it, is with lacquer thinner.....but You really DO NOT want to use that on plastic. Projects with that type of lettering, I have primered first with Automotive Acrylic enamel primer....it is a solvent lacquer based primer with acrylic polymer pigments.....safe on plastic's.....best used with an air-brush.
Brake fluid!
Take a look under the hood of an old car, is there any paint left around the brake vacuum booster... nope, only rust. :)
I used it once on an old atlas shell, dont remember how long it was in the fluid, but it shows when paint start to fall off, and with some help of an old tooth brush you get the job done.
-Pete
I have found on many cars it is not necessary to remove all the paint and lettering. Get the edges smoothed out, and you can paint over what is left, and no one will be any the wiser.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
LastspikemikeAny ideas about removing the remaining silhouette before I repaint gratefully accepted.
I've had some sucess with removing what You speak of, with 3M or Mirka Very Fine Scuff pads. Just about all Automotive Paint/Body supply stores carry them or go on-line. But if You have a place near You, You usually can just buy as many as you want.
I was able to do rivet detail carefully by using the tip of My finger directly over any rivets and press down in a circular motion on part of the pad, which can be cut easily with a pair of scissors:
Type in scuff pads in search box........
https://mirka-online.com/
Photo may be clicked on for larger view.
Z-Stripe..........those semi-trucks are beautiful! That is excellent work.
Good point about the 3M Scotch Pads. I've been using them for years and they work very well. Here's a photo sample. Below it is a chart that lists the various pads available with their grit number equivilents and suggested applications.
zstripe Lastspikemike Any ideas about removing the remaining silhouette before I repaint gratefully accepted. I've had some sucess with removing what You speak of, with 3M or Mirka Very Fine Scuff pads. Just about all Automotive Paint/Body supply stores carry them or go on-line. But if You have a place near You, You usually can just buy as many as you want. I was able to do rivet detail carefully by using the tip of My finger directly over any rivets and press down in a circular motion on part of the pad, which can be cut easily with a pair of scissors: Type in scuff pads in search box........ https://mirka-online.com/ Photo may be clicked on for larger view. Take Care! Frank
Lastspikemike Any ideas about removing the remaining silhouette before I repaint gratefully accepted.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Just thought this was worth mentioning:
For modelers that own and want to paint strip older-production (1980's-early 2000's) KATO locomotive and rolling stock shells, it is NOT a good move to immerse those shells in brake fluid. Consider using the other products mentioned (ELO, Super Clean). I do remember that some years back several modelers reported, on multiple forums, that brake fluid can cause some immersed shells to become brittle.
A modeler whom I had been giving metalizing tips to emailed me a few years ago and told me that, unfortunately, brake fluid warped 2 KATO passenger car shells that he had immersed in a container.
Keep in mind that most isopropyl alcohol is a kind of denatured alcohol, usually with a bitterant because it is easier to deter consumption: IPA is great when characterizing a beer but not so much a 'surgical spirit'.
I doubt very much current high-proof ethanol is denatured with methanol (which releases carbon monoxide into the blood as humans metabolize it, causing the expected consequences) BUT a key difference is that people can get very ingenious removing or neutralizing denaturants both in desire to 'drink' and to capitalize on the enormous difference in tax between 'beverage' alcohol and denatured. Since it is easy to do frantional distillation or column filtration on alcohol fairly easily you see some highly goofy-looking denaturing chemicals that don't distilled out -- like hexane or heptane! -- used in place of chemicals that deter consumption but are more easily extracted. These still make nifty antiseptics or sanitizers... but will leave an oily film that may react with plastics or complicate subsequent cleaning.