Hi,
Is there a good way to remove melted foam that has adhered itself to the paint work of my model trains?
How did this happen?
Besides morbid curiosity, a bit more info on how the foam got melted on to the trains in the first place would give us a better chance at coming up with the right solution.
What kind of foam? What kind of trains? How much of the model got foam on it?
I bought some old brass models. The foam had started disintegrating due to age and got stuck to the train as I had not wrapped every single one with a plastic sheet.
So it didn’t really melt, just kind of oozed around the engine?
I would start with a Q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol from the drug store. Alcohol is pretty benign to most paints. You may find that with a bit of softening with alcohol or maybe even water, the foam will soften up and flake off.
The foam may already have interacted chemically with the paint, though. In this case, you’re not going to be able to simply clean it. Depending on the value of the engine and your own skills, the options range from having it repainted to applying some weathering and enjoying an “old” engine.
I would gather from the adhered foam there is a message here somewhere, I believe these beautiful (works of art) were never intended to be stuffed away in a box of rotting foam never to looked at but were made to run, how sad.
I’ve only had a couple of instances where I bought a used brass loco that the foam had ‘rotted’ itself onto the finish. In both cases, they were unpainted, so I simply used a soft toothbrush and warm soap and water to ‘disengage’ the rotted foam. Worked for me. I agree with Tatans, it’s too bad that the locos were stored away in their boxes–they should have been run, or at the very least, displayed.
Tom [:)]
Maybe you should start a “Save the Brass” coalition. I can just see the TV commercial now…[(-D]
Mr B, I assume you are talking about 70% isopropyl alcohol; the 90% is definitly a paint remover!! [:(][oops]
I had that problem with a brass loco I bought. The dealer didn’t include the foam because it had deteriorated and some did stick to the body/paintwork.
I used some alcohol to remove the residue, but it also removed the paint from the pilot. As the pilot had been damaged and needed to be re-attached, not a majour problem. I cleaned it off and reattached it after painting. Some spots remain, but they are hard to see so I will leave them as-is.
This has happened to me with both brass and AHM steam, where the packaging it came it used foam rubber to cushion the model. Evidently some of the glues used, or perhaps just natural aging, or, I have also heard speculation about, fumes in the air of our basements due to oil or gas heat furnaces, causes the foam rubber to disintegrate – not melt like a hot wire does to hard foam, but it leaves a mess.
If you have ever opened up an old pillow that has lost its firmness you might find a similar mess of disintegrated foam rubber.
What I have done is to attempt to remove as much as possible using mechanical means. I keep all my old toothbrushes and the soft bristle kind can remove a surprising amount of the crud without scratching paint or flicking off details. Slow careful work is needed; don’t get tempted to press into the work like you are brushing teeth but rather a sort of gloss over.
Do it over a clean well-lit surface just in case a detail does go flying. Initially the mess is disheartening but once you remove the grossest amount you feel much more confident about finishing the job without harming the model.
After that process for what is left I used Q-tips soaked in pure alcohol, or a pure alcohol/distilled water mix. I think it is wise to dry up as much of that liquid as possible since alcohol seems to leave a mark. it seems to have very slight solvent characteristics. For particularly stubborn bit a small amount of diluted Pine-Sol seems to do the trick. After that I brush the model with a very light brush, I think it is an old woman’s make up brush (the brush is old, not the woman).
Dave Nelson
Definatly thought you meant layout foam! Scared me there for a minute!
Hi this is Joe superstar…
Did you know that every day dozens of brass models are wasting away from poor storage and under use by their owners? For just pennies a day, we at the “Save Some Brass” foundation can help…(insert soulfull music and a montage of tarnished brass equipment here)
Right! They’re meant to be put on display tracks locked away in cabinets to collect dust and be veiwed on occasions through a pane of glass.[:D]