How do you remove decals from a proto 2000 locomotive without damaging the paint?

[Anonymous]

I have a proto 2000 sd45, and I would like to remove the decals so I can reletter it for my freelanced shortline. How can I remove the decals without damaging the paint?

[Virginian]

Bad, news. That is paint, not decals. You can try Pine Sol on a Q-tip, but be prepared to do a repaint. They had an article in MR about doing this to a BN loco, and it was white, and all they had to do was a little touch up.

[dknelson]

At an NMRA divisional clinic yesterday on airbrushing, the clinician (I forget his name, sorry, but he is a commercial painter) showed a Pasche blaster -- it looks like an air brush but you load it with finely ground pumice or other materials and can throttle it down so that he said he can remove lettering without disturbing the paint. I imagine it takes practice and I would not start with your P2K engine if you go this route.
He said this blaster was the best $60 he ever spent.
He said something else that was interesting. He is happy to paint and decal models for customers but refuses to weather for others -- because weathering is so personal a thing, he got tired of dissatisfying his customers or having to do it over to please them.
Dave Nelson