because the motion was made to start one, here’s his original post:
[quote user=“dstarr”]
The 91% Isopropyl alcohol that others have suggested ought to work. To strip a plastic shell, you want a solvent strong enough to soften the paint but not so strong it eats the plastic. Trouble is, plastic and paint are fairly simular chemically speaking, so solvents that eat paint often eat plastic too.
Leave the shell in the solvent no longer than necessary to soften the paint. If you give the solvent enough time, it may eat the plastic shell too. Get the shell out of the solvent as soon as the paint is soft enough to remove with an old toothbrush.
Alcohol is a fairly benign solvent, it won’t eat most things. It’s worked for me. I’ve also had some good luck with Pinesol, full strength from the supermarket. Others have used brake fluid, although word has it that brake fluid can make the shell brittle. I’ve never used it myself. Nor have I tried Easy Liftoff. When using a new (new to you) solvent try it on a small, preferably expendable, piece just in case something goes wrong. Keep an eye on it . Don’t leave the piece in the solvent any longer than necessary.
Keep notes on what worked, what it worked on, and how long you left it in the solvent, and what it was. Different paint, (different manufacturers used different paint at various times) will require different solvents and different soak times.
If we were really brisk here, someone would start a topic on paint stripping and note down what worked for them. Others could add comments about what worked for them. We could keep it going for years. I’d kick it off except I haven’t stripped anything for a few years and I didn’t keep notes, so I don’t really remember what I used, and how long I used it.
I’m not a big fan of ELO either, but only because it’s fairly messy to use. It can be rough on some plastics, and the instructions on the can specifically advise against immersing items in it. I use it mainly for removing lettering and, in rare instances, paint that methyl hydrate won’t touch.
Brake fluid works fairly well on some paints, but is messy in the same way as the ELO. Stripped items need to be cleaned in methyl hydrate or isopropyl alcohol to remove the greasy-feeling residue. It also attacks some plastics - I used it to strip paint from an Atlas diesel (methyl hydrate had no effect on the paint), and while it easily removed the paint, the plastic shell was deformed severely after only minimal exposure.
While I’ve always been a proponent of methyl hydrate as a paint stripper, isopropyl alcohol is probably a better choice, as it’s less toxic (although I find its odour very unpleasant). Methyl hydrate is readily absorbed through the skin and can cause liver and kidney damage. It also passes easily through latex gloves and through most respirators, even those intended expressly for solvents. With my paint stripping days mostly behind me, I’ve pretty-well discontinued its use.
For stripping metal, I prefer lacquer thinner. Another toxic chemical, I like to place the object to be stripped in a suitably-sized glass jar, completely submerge it in thinner and then tightly cap the jar. In most cases, the thinner will do the work, with little or no scrubbing. Do not use lacquer thinner to strip plastic items - they will be dissolved.
After stripping, items should be thoroughly washed in warm or hot water, using liquid dish detergent, then rinsed thoroughly and air dried.
I gave 70% ISOpro Alcohol today on my SOO Locomotive. It’s what I had on hand, and I felt I’d have a wee bit of control to what I was doing. So I let it soak for about 10 hours…a lot of the paint feel off, some more with a gentle rubbing from the gloved hand, and a little more with a stiff toothbrush. I think it’s going to all come off with a few soaks.
I’ve never had a problem using brake fluid, but it should be noted that I’ve almost exclusively used it on Lionel plastics from the 50’s. So maybe the thickness and composition of early versus modern plastics makes a difference? Any thoughts?
For metals I use the kinds of paint strippers you find at stores like Wal-mart. But only if I really need to get the job done quickly, i.e. I’ve just aquired a tinplate car in December and want to get it running on my pre-war Christmas layout asap. Otherwise I take my time and strip steel with a dremel tool so I can polish the metal and remove rust as I go.
Yes, the type of plastic and thickness thereof is probably as important as the type of paint. Modern shells are polystyrene plastic. I don’t remember what Lionel used in the '50s, but I don’t think it was polystyrene. Could have it been bakelite?
For stripping metal you can use about anything, it won’t eat the metal.
Most of my equipment could almost be classified as antiques, such as AHM/Rivarossi passenger cars, Athearn Blue Box, etc. I rarely have had either the need or desire to strip the paint from one of the modern new, highly-detailed beauties.
That said, I use primarily DOT3 brake fluid. I soak the typical Rivarossi coach for about an hour, then scrub it with ordinary dishwashing soap (usually Dawn) and tap water and a one-inch bristle paint brush - the cheapest I can find. Pat dry with a paper towel, then air dry for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. It works great. Ditto Athearn BB shells (loco or passenger car).
For freight cars, I get undecs, so that stripping paint is not a problem. I do not own any Kato equipment or cars, so the brake fluid remains my primary method of stripping.
For removing lettering without disturbing the underlying paint, brake fluid on a cotton swab, scrubbed over the lettering will work well for me, with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, again on a swab, as a backup.