I have an HO scale Atlas B40-8 that I want to remove the decals and re-letter for a different railroad. However, I don’t want to repaint it. Basically, is there a way I can remove the decals without damageing the paint?
You are probably out of luck. Most of the time when people want to change the engine over to another road, they re paint, cause the other road uses a different paint scheme. I never heard of taking off just decals. Also, most decals are sealed onto the car with DullCote. To get the decal off, you have to get the DullCote off. AFAIK Dullcote is like paint, anything that will take off DullCote will also take off paint.
And, commercial models don’t use decals. The lettering is paint, silk screened onto the shell.
If you can find it … look for something called E L O…Easy Lift Off…I forget who makes it …but it works slow enough to be able to take lettering and sometimes decals off of a model without damaging the paint underneath.
That product is by Polly Scale or Testors. Not sure if it is going to be discontinued like the rest of the Polly S line. If you like it might want to stock up.
Is your model you want to remove the lettering on custom painted or factory painted?
Chris
ELO used to be a Floquil product, but has been rebranded as Testors. Most hobby shops carry it. Make no mistake about it, the Testors (or Rustoleum, yhe corporate parent), buyout of Floquil / Polly Scale was all about eliminating the competition, not about the failure of the hobby. But to the OP’s original question, careful work with ELO and a Q-Tip should allow you to remove the lettering and not affect the base paint layer. Be aware, however, that you may have to touch up the base coat, repaint one side, or even the whole shell. A good job of masking can minimize the damage if you screw up, but if you strip down to plastic, there is no going back.
Is it a decal or paint?
Rub it with a q-tip soaked in alcohol, it works on Bachmann engines.