I have a Proto 2000 E6 that I am getting ready to re-paint for my freelanced railroad (the BB&C, or Boston, Burlington, and Capital). And I am wondering how I should go about doing this. I’ve looked at it, and I notice that most of the windows will come out, should I take as much off (that can be safely removed)as possible, or should I mask it. Also, how do I get the paint off of it, the current scheme is UP (city of LA. It was the only one that I could find, and I think that it is a beutiful paint job) should I douse it in thinner, or what?
Coincidentally I started my first (paint) stripping project today. If you use my method you will definately want to take the windows out and any other item on the body that doesn’t need to be stripped. Here’s my method:
What you’ll need:
tweezers (optional, but very helpful)
pine-sol
2 medium-large size bucket (one for pinesol, one for water)
one toothbrush (preferably new)
papertowl or napkin to put wet tools on
rubber gloves (Pine-sol is a skin irritant, according to the bottle anyway)
How to do it:
Fill one bucket about an inch or so with pine-sol, the other one with 1.5 inches of water. Put the body in the pine-sol and let sit for about 1-2 minutes, then begin scrubbing the section that was soaked in Pine-sol with the toothbrush. If there are any intricate details, use the tweezers to carefully pull the paint out (the paint will need to be a “sheet” to do this well). Every so often dip the body in the water to get Pine-sol and some pain off. In about 30-60 minutes that inch section should be done (I never said this would be quick!). Add another inch or so of Pine-sol and continue with the next section.
After about half of it is done go ahead and drain the Pine-sol and water. Put the body in the water and let it soak for about 5 minutes to assure all the Pine-sol gets out. Once it has soaked in the water put it on a paper towl to dry. Thent he next time you have some time you can repeat the above procedure and do the other half.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
You don’t necessarily have to get every last paint chip off, just get most of it off so that when you go to re-paint you won’t fill in any details.
Let dry for a day or two before painting just to make sure every last drop of water is off.
The plastic I’m doing this on is Athearn RTR, I’m not sure if Athearn and Life-Like plastic is different, so watch closely for any sign of plastic damage and discontinue immediately if any shows.
I have always painted my own locos. I buy what I can get regardless of roadname, I however buy Polly S ELO paint remover. Follow instructions on the can. Never fails for me.
if i want to strip a model i use automotive brake fluid for a couple of days.
tom
From my 20 years + painting experience, for a beginner I would recommend one of the commercial strippers available at your LHS such as Poly S Easy Lift Off, Chameleon or Scalecoat Paint Remover.
I have never had a problem using the Poly S product on a wide variety of models over the years. Just follow the directions.
After you’ve gained some experience you can try some of the other homespun methods.
I personally use brake fluid for everything except KATO and older KATO/Atlas bodies as they are made of ABS plastic rather than Styrene. Brake fluid and ABS are not compatable. I use the Poly S product for these.