i want to get the paint of of my loco shell its plastic, and i dont know what to use. i know alot of things will attack the plastic, and i dont have anything to test it on, so i was wondering if anyone had a for sure way of stripping paint off plastic, with out damaging it
what kind of paint is on it? it could be colored plastic and if that is the case then your best bet would be to sand it prime it and repaint it. You can try a thinner or mineral spirits but test it on a small area first. Auto body sand paper would be the way I would go…sand the heck out of it and prime and paint
yeah dunno what paint it is…it looks sprayed on, the only reason im shying away from sanding is it has a tendencey to kill all the little details
what scale are you in? is it possibe to get a detailing kit for the loco? If you can then the little details can be replaced
I have had very good success with Pine-Sol. It doesnt attak the plastic, but it sometimes takes a while to get the paint off. Sometimes I let it soak overnight. Scrub the soaked shell with a toothbru***o get all the stuff off. When you “rinse” the shell, be sure to “rince” in more, fresh P-S. If you are just doing lettering, sometimes soaking it with isopropolil alcahol does the trick too. But again, you must be pacient and let the stuff soak sometimes.
randy
I advise against Pine-sol. Thats a powerful chemical that may destroy elements in your loco shell and cause it to become brittle and/or crack in the future. Plus it will be stuck smelling like pine-sol.
I say go with 91% rubbing alcohol if you are stripping acrylic paint. It always worked for me. It may work for solvents too. Rubbing alcohol does nothing to harm the model.
If the alcohol don’t work, I use Scalecoat paint remover. Also has no negative effect on models. Just removes the paint like its supposed to.
Pine sol works good, but dont forget about em i forgot i had two Kato sd40-2 shells soaking and i left them in for over a month, oops!!! They were so brittle i touched a handrail and they crumbled…
cool yeah i have two santa fe lifelike locos that i want to strip (GP38s i think is waht they are) they are beyond repair but they would make nice scenery and yard ornaments, but i want to strip them and repaint them to match the fictional line that i am painting my other loco for.
which brings me to my next question? what is the best way to go about lettering a loco?
Glosscote the entire model, and decal it. Good decal info found below.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36259
I don’t think he will want to replace all of the door hinges, latches, etc; it would be difficult and expensive. I would never sand a model to get the paint off.
ok followup:
i cant decide wether or not to put on a roadname with decals or actually paint it on its only three letters (WCF) (fictional line) and id have to have the decals made or make them myself. is this too much work, or should i paint the lettering on?
Just get a sheet of decal paper and cut the letters out. If your going to paint it, then you should look into using a mask, but that would be hard, and not look as clean as the decals[B)][B)]. But I like the idea of having a fictional line of old locos
Danny[:D][:D]
What brand is your locomotive? Atlas, IHC, Kato, Athearn, Proto, etc…
Have had very good success with 91% alcohol. I pour 2 or 3 bottles in a shallow aluminum pan, immerse the models from 30 minutes to 2 hours. (bottles were only $1.50 ea.) Nice results. No damage or warpage. When paint has been floating off a while, turn the model in the pan continuously as you scrub with a soft toothbrush. My Bachmann Metroliners were stripped in less than 1/2 hour.
Warning: BE CAREFUL if it’s a Kato shell. Several modelers within the past 2 years have posted that their Kato shells warped.
Hope this helps.
my new loco is an athearn, and i want to take the paint off of two lifelike locos that ive had and no longer work.
Karl,
The isopropyl alcohol method will work. However, it has to be 91% or greater. 50% and 70% won’t cut it.