I am painting and converting a Athearn U-30B but dont know of a product that will safely remove it, i did find a product in the micro-mark catalog( and seems a little overpriced!!) but dont know if it will harm the plastic? Also if anyone modeling the Green Bay & Western, Wisconsin Central, Ahnapee & Western and/or the Canadian Nation, Wisconsin and Southern or the Chicago & northwestern in wisconsin please email me at cte54369@centurytel.net i would like to know where you have found products to model these roads, curently i live near Green Bay and am 15 years old and am focusing on the former shops at norwood and the grain elevator there anyone who knows of a model to represent the double stall shop please also email me, and finally if anyone needs decals for wisconsin roadnames email me and i would be happy to inform you where or order and mail them for you. Thank you and may the fallen flags of the CN wisconsin central merger Live on with us
Jesse, try 91% isopropyl alcohol to remove the paint. Cheap, and can be found at wally world or most drug stores. The remover in Micro-Marks catalog will also work, but much more expensive. As to modeling the CNW, try the CNWHS <www.cnwhs.org> for info on those lines.
91% alcohol, but it may take some time a scrubbing with a toothbrush. Castrol Super Clean…a driveway cleaner (about 6 bucks at Walmart for a gallon) works great too. The only shell I had problems with using CSC was a Railpower decorated shell…which I finally just had to primer over. Either product will do well, but the CSC will probably take a lot less time and effort…BUT wear rubber gloves when handling it…trust me on this one and thoughly wa***he shell before handling it with bare hands…
By the way I gotta give credit where credit is due. ACLfan, another member here, turned me on to this stuff and it works like a champ.
WOW i am amazed at the fast response that i got Thank you “dharmon” &“oklacnw” for helping me out on this one i am going to take the loco into my paint shop and get it done. I will try both products to see which one i prefer or both who knows but thank you once again this just goes to show that what i say about model railroaders being the most kind and helpful people is true and you two have proved that! THANKS
No problem. That’s one of the reasons we supposedly all come here.
Dan
Jesse,
Make sure that when you do soak your locomotive, don’t just walk away, keep an eye on it! I soaked 3 Bachmann HO Metroliner cars with the 91% alcohol and noticed that the paint started to “float off” after just a few minutes in stead of the expected one to two hours! Got great results.[4:-)][tup]
Keeping your shell in the solution and with a soft to medium brush, turn it over continously as you scrub. Don’t worry if after you’re finished there are “tiny” spots of paint stuck in the hard to reach corners or nooks and crannies.
Rinse with warm soap and water and let it AIR DRY. (Don’t wipe with a paper towel as lint might stick onto the body by static). If wiping is necessary, use a lint free cloth.
You’re ready to paint! [:D]
BTW: What type of paint are you using? Also, are you airbrushing or using aerosals?
Make sure that you install the decals on a “Glossy” surface. You can always “dull it down” afterwards. [;)]
Cheers, Amigo!
- What do you mean by “float” off?
i plan to remove the factory paint down to the bare shell is this what everyone is responding in regards to? - i am using a airbrush with a combo of floquil signal red for the main portion and for the walkway edges engine black.
- The gbw model i am painting is supposed to be a representation of the actual C-424 that the GBW used but i am using a U-30B is this a suitable substitute because i plan to super detail it with many DW Parts and SRG Decals A whole set to do two locos only 3 bucks thats a deal!! if you would like a set email me at cte54369@centurytel.net and i would happy to order a set for you ! ( only available in wisconsin roads)
Float off- the paint will actually loosen and float to the top, I’ve never tried “409” but have heard it will also work. I have used brake fluid but you have a real clean up job afterwards.
91% alcohol works great. also, Castrol Super Clean does an excellent job. it is sold in the auto parts section of most large stores, with the cleaning products. it works great on everything but Kato paint.
Athearn did you say? Last time I checked they were still using the black plastic carbodies, soooo. Use clear brake fluid. That carbody will take as many applications as necessary to remove all traces of factory paint. It is a given, that you give it a light spray of some kind of primer(what about grey?). Don’t forget to spray only in 40% or less humidity, temps between 68 to 82 degrees, whatever you paint(carbodies, autos, whatever). Let whatever paint you use cure, until you can’t smell paint, then add styling. Southern Scale Models, by Dave Muller, Rules! acj.
Instead of just letting it air dry, you could blow off the excess liquid with your air brush so you don’t get water splotches.
I’ve heard of alcohol/ brake fluid/ pinesol for this.
Brake fluid worked for me on a black CN athearn GP7 I wanted to strip just the “noodle”, it got most of it but left a faint “cloud” of diluted paint & removed the ‘gloss’ from the black plastic.
I experimented with Pinesol [also often mentioned on this topic]. Tried it on a 40 yr old atheaern F7 someone had repainted with a spray can yrs ago. I let it soak “a while” - - 2 weeks. Just a bit too long. the plastic etched, the glued on horns bent off & broke, and the black plastic retained a lot of muddyness from the original UP colors. Rinsed & soaked repeatedly, but it STILL smells like pinesol.
Last month I tried Pinesol again on athearn’s silver CBQ bay window caboose. I thought it looked so bad there was nothing I could do to make it worse. I couldn’t remember others advice on how long to soak, I kind of remembered “for about a half hour” so I let it soak for an hour. The paint came right off with a toothbrush scrubbing. After about 2 days worth of soaking in water with detergent I got most of the smell out. My advice: soak for 30 minutes and then check.
hope this helps.
Hillyard
thanks to all of you for your help i have removed the paint and am in the process of transferring it to my paintshop after my detail work is done
THANKS AGAIN FOR THE HELP EVERYONE i shall pass this on to others if needed!
jesse another thing you might wan to try is brake fluid from a parts store in a plastic tub with a lid. it may take a week or longer but it does work. when you take the shell out use latex gloves and an old toothbru***hen rinse with warm/hot water and let air dry
tom
If you are trying to model a C424,Atlas makes an excellent model if you can find one.Since the C424 is an Alco and a U boat is a GE,the Atlas model would be my choice.I use 91% alcohol on my Athearn shells.Also Chameleon or Scalecoat wash away give excellent results.Dan
I’ve used easy-off oven cleaner with good results. Use the spray bottle, not the aerosol can. and Use in a well ventalated area (fumes) Paint on an old athearn shell came off in two applications, waiting about half an hour, scrubing with a toothbrush and rinsing off with water.