Removing Paint

[mbshaw]

I remember seeing a thread about this a couple of months ago but it don’t appear to be up anymore.

Anyway, I have several Walthers Thrall Well cars and am considering striping, detailing, repainting, and decaling. What is the best way to go about removing the paint?

Second, I also have a couple of Kato SD-40-2's that I have been thinking of stripping the paint and redoing. Is there a good or "special" method for doing this? Or would I better of calling Kato and getting undecorated shells?

Thanks for your help.

Matt

[Anonymous]

Hello Matt,

I'll answer the last question first: You're better off buying undecorated Kato shells. Paint strippers can leech the plasticizers out of most styrene shells, and Kato's seem most suspectible to this, leaving the shells brittle.

That said, rubbing alcohol (the 91 percent type available at a drug store) works well to remove paint and lettering.

Hope this helps,

Paul Schmidt
Contributing Editor
Trains.com

[BentnoseWillie]

That reminds me - I've had a car in the alcohol bath since Sunday. D'Oh! Guess I'd better get that when I get home...good thing it isn't brake fluid :^S

[mbshaw]

Paul,
Thanks for the alcohol tip. Although it's not Guinness it still worked GREAT!

Do you have any suggestions for removing the numbers off P2K's SOO SD60's and 60M's?

Matt

[Anonymous]

Hi Matt,

You could try a cotton swab dipped in 91 percent isopropyl alcohol. Be careful not to remove the paint underneath the lettering.

Another method I've had success with is to gently scrape away the lettering with the tip of a hobby knife blade. Polly S's East Lift-off is another option I've had success with.

Now don't go using that nectar of adult beverages, brewed with loving attention by our good Irish friends, to remove paint. Guinness is too precious!

Paul

[mbshaw]

I tried the isopropyl alcohol on one of my P2K Soo SD60M, like you described, and I started to see a little red on the q-tip so I stopped. I will have to try the Polly S. I'm a little hesitant about using a hobby knife, but it may be my only hope.

If all else fails, I may have to sacrifice a pint in the name of the model railroad gods.

Matt

[snowey]

I've heard the Chamelon paint stripper works great! Even on Kato shells, and that's what I plan to try. Their web site is WWW.CHAMELON-PRODUCTS.COM

[nfmisso]

Take a look at:

http://www.hosam.com/

On the left; PAINTING,
then PAINTING YOUR OWN,
part 2 PREPERATION.

Nigel

[Anonymous]

There is also quite a variation between different colors of paint on any given manufacturer's products. Recently I purchased a couple of Athearn reefers (factory painted) which I intended to strip and repaint. One was painted yellow and the other was white.
The yellow paint came right off after soaking for half an hour in brake fluid. The white paint was another story. brake fluid merely caused it to get a little "lumpy' but it still clung to the body. you could scrape it off with a finger nail but it was impossible to get in around ladders etc. Next I tried 91% isopropya alcohol. Wouldn't even touch it ! Pine Sol dissolved the paint, but it turned into a sticky mass that clung to the car side. I finally broke down and bought a can of Floquil Easy Lift-Off stripper and that did the trick. sometimes it's wiser to spend the extra money and do the job fast rather than waste a week trying various "home remedies".