Has anyone had good luck with this product in removing the markings only? I’d like to leave the boxcar red on the shell, but remove the markings off it. If it helps, these are Atlas 36’ wood reefers that I’m working on.
All you need to do is coat the decal with micro-sol (or possibly the decal remover you mentioned) and rub lightly with a regular eraser. That should take the decal off without damaging that paint.
I thought Micro-sol was for setting the decal, not for stripping it off.
I’m pretty sure it’s micro-sol! It kinda makes sense, you apply it before to soften the decal so it fits into the grooves in the shell, then you soften it so you can rub it off. That’s my reasoning, anyway.
Try non-acetone nail polish remover. It works for me when it comes to removing roadnames an such.
Happen to have a brand name? I thought they all had acetone in them.
dlm
I waisted some money on Joes. Didn’t work worth a damn. I had better luck with a Q-tip and Micro-sol; or just 99% alcohol. I’ve heard Joe’s is just handcleaner with some blue dye in it.
Tom
Doesn’t always work, but on a lot of those decals, you can take the name off of the car with a white eraser and some elbow grease (but not to much!!!). Did this to a SP caboose and made a Monon one out of it this way.
I use the cleaner called SIMPLE GREEN. I used an old olive jar , filler it with SIMPLE GREEN and put the car shell in it . let it sit a few hours then witha toothbruch and Q-tip remover onlt what I want removed. I just did a caboose , removed the old lettering and number but left the white strips on the stairs and bottom. The caboose was a Atlas , not sure how this would work on other shells , but does a great job , along with the toohbrush at removing only what you want.
I took off markings from 4 NE Cabooses from Atlas. The Joes did work well but it was the choice of material I used to rub with that left the small marks in the model. After further cleaning they are ready for re-decaling in the future.
I bought a bottle of the stuff as an experiment and it did the job that I wanted done. I have NO idea what to expect in future models and probably will buy them undecorated and paint them in the future.
My preferred method is buying the unmarked ones too. But this is not always possible. Hence my wondering what is the best to remove the lettering, not all the paint. An eraser has served me well. Take it easy and the markings come off without much hassle. I break off about 3" of a pencil and use my drill. An overall dull-coat, and presto, a new look!
Im half tempted to take the photos of the four red Atlas Ne cabooses with thier TCRR lettering and numbers removed. With my luck they were out of production and it was the last 4 the hobby shop had on hand.
The one thing I have not really learned about the Joes is how to clean it. Once the last of the factory letters came off, I buried the whole thing in water and wiped it down.
Undecorateds are the least attractive option. They cost just as much as painted versions and give you the pleasure of assembling all of those tiny parts.
Now I will rate the Joe’s decal remover at about 4 anvils of 5. Probably because several small applications of fresh Joe’s from the bottle is required to really get all of the stuff off and if you put in too much elbow grease, damage the paint below.
It would be nicer if they issued undecorated models as base painted unlettered models like they do with engines.
Anybody got any ideas on an easy way to remove all the paint on a body shell without damaging the plastic?
Thanks,
Paul
Sometimes the “Paint” on that shell IS the bare plastic.
In my case, for what that’s worth, even my 4-4-0 engine needs to be stripped of it’s lettering. An undecorated version was simply not available due to it’s being discontinued a couple of years ago. Lettered ones are available though. So ripping it all down for a soak in alcohol, or what have you is still an option, but I’d rather not go thru all that. So the eraser has proved to be my best friend.
Soak the plastic body in a purple cleaner like Castrol Super Clean or Purple Power. Some paints respond in a few hours; others need longer (like overnight). Some people use generic Pine-Sol knockoffs or automotive brake fluid, but both of those can melt plastic. The purple cleaners are a lot less likely to cause damage.
Formulated solution in parts of very fine abrasive, a patented ink remover, denatured alcohol, and citric acid in a light gel petroleum base with a lemon oil fragrance scent. NON-TOXIC / Non Flammable / Non- Hazardous Shipping.
**Blue dye added only to confirm a well-stirred solution before use.
Fades or removes painted or pad printed Ink detail and will remove decals.
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Welcome to the forums, joepol!
This thread is over 17 years ago, so I’m not sure the readers who posted are even around anymore.
Its still a popular topic. 4,700 views. I use it and so do many modelers. We still research all these forums for this exact subject on methods and ideas though. The covid pandemic caused a severe interruption in who is still open and has a particular product and joesmodeltrains.com was still operating, so I provided a link to the updated formula for paint removal product.
Cheers!
Thanks!