I have about a dozen riv rs-2 locos and want to paint them in my own paint scheme. I would like to know how to safely strip the paint off these old locos without melting the plastic. Do I remove the clear parts before stripping with your suggestions or can they stay in. The apple valley, apple canyon, apple creek,(still locking down a name) will be a black and orange scheme with i think a silver stripe between the two colors. Also if i airbrush a steam loco and paint gets on the shiny part how do i remove that paint? Thanks again guys for your help. Hopefully I will get to work on these in the coming weeks and post pics of the progress.
There are many commercial strippers and many people use many different solvents.
I have had success with 99% isopropyl alcohol (not the denatured stuff) and a tooth brush. Yes, it takes some time and effort, but it has worked for me with both solvent and water based paints.
Remove the shell, windows and any small details. Put the shell in a shallow pan with the alcohol and have at it. Rinse it with water and you’re ready to re-paint.
Do you have an airbrush? Try an air eraser. Worthwhile of getting if you intend to do a lot of stripping. I was stripping some Kato engines, and for them, it’s the only safe way to go.
BTW…you obviously like apples. With names like that, have you thought about having a paint scheme an apple-ish red?
Soak in isopropyl alcohol. While a previous poster says he uses 99% iso, I’ve only seen 91% iso available in drug stores. You may need to soak for a few days, scrub and soak some more.
While I haven’t tried this on a plastic shell, some of the current citrus cleaners do an excellent job when I use them to clean old paint jars. An overnight soak and the bottles are as clean as a whistle.
Use a small snad blaster to remove the paint. Badger makes one that works well, you’ll need a blasting booth and a good airsupply. The method works well, a little time consuming, and if done correctly it does not harm the shell.
Yes i do have an airbrush. Where do i find a small sand blaster for it. I was not the one who picked the name. It was my wifes idea. My attempt to include her in on the hobby. I do have a green gp7 and rs-2 with a caboose already painted. Apple whatever for the moment is a modern town with a second hand railroad that has been in existance since the 1920’s. It has bought second hand equipement all its life and has thrived very well because of the skilled mechanics and metal workers. The current owner just dosen’t have it in his heart to scrap a perfectly good old dog.
My wife is also in charge of picking out houses and downtown shops, coming up with the outside color and will also try her hand at decorating the insides of the building.
The alachol technique will it also work on engines i have airbrushed with polyscale paint and other makes of railroad paint.
What kind of citrus cleaner are we talking about. I have some goo gone, some fantastic orange? I do have a espee rs-2 with a broken front step that was not sent with it so it became my parts engine. If you think one of the citrus cleaners i have are good then i will experiment with the old dog that went to the bone yard.
I will post the results of the experiment on a new post so all members will see it.
By the way jktrains where in northeast ohio are you. I live currently in orrville with plans to move toward the medina, north ridgeville, strongsville area. My wife and I both now have jobs up in lorain county. I grew up in twinsburg. I guess the point to my rambling[:I] is where is your lhs or do you do everythng online? I would love to find a good lhs to shop at and support.
I used to remove paint on my boxcars this way. Just let it soak in a deep aluminum bread pan for a few hours and then rinse off with water using a toothbrush to remove the paint in small cracks and crevices.
Yeah I thought about that but have had some very ugly results when i stripped a 1/24 scale 1957 chevy.[V]I had to look at my favorite car with a caved in roof. It was a sad day for the old girl. Fortunately after a little makeup(bondo) she looked a bit better. Have you had any softening results with brake fluid on mrr stuff.
Well, the trick is not to let it soak too long. From what I recall it was between 1 and 2 hours, otherwise it can get too soft. Although I never left mine in that long so I never experienced your problem.
I’ve used brake fluid in the past with varying results. Some good, some bad depending on the type of plastic used. Years ago I stripped a Tamiya model in brake fluid, it say for days and didn’t have a problem. I stripped some Walthers aitrslide covered hoppers in BF and it softened the styrene a little. It would be something you can use, maybe as a last resort and definitely under a watchful eye. Results will vary depending on the type of styrene used. Remember, all styrene is not created equal.
Castrol Super Clean strips paint and does not harm plastic, no matter how long it’s left to soak. I’ve been using it for years. It’s available at auto stores and even Walmart. Walmart also sells a less expensive version called Purple Power.
I once tried to clean an oil smudge on a Lionel post war steamer with 91% iso alcohol and it stripped the paint off the shell as I wiped! Who knew?
thanks for all your help guys. i am going to start my citrus cleaning solution experiment today. i will take pics and time it to see how it does. I will definately try the alcohol and super clean as well and see how that works.
For 62 bucks, if you’ve got some significant stripping to do, it’s worth it. Not having to mess with stuff like brake fluid and other nasty chemicals, soaks and resoak and work that process, is worth that price of admission, IMO.
Pick up an old engine shell that you don’t care about and practice a bit first. It’s easy to get a feel for it.
Just got to set up a booth to contain the abrasive bits, which shoot about quite a bit. Trust me, found out about this the hard way. I use a large, long old cardboard appliance box in my garage, works just fine. Plus, you can collect some of the abrasive compound to use again.
Again, just FYI, if you have Kato engines, all evidence I’ve seen is that you don’t want to strip them with any kind of chemical, it’s real bad for their kind of plastic.
I strip locomotives all the time with Easy Off Oven cleaner. Spray it on, leave it for 2 hours then remove. It will never harm the plastic. They even have a no-fume version available (which I use).