Hello fellas,
Any of you have experience removing the reporting marks and car numbers from a recently-relased Walthers Gold Line car? I’m removing the reporting marks and numbers from a 16,000 gallon tank car to letter it for another owner.
I’ve used Pine-Sol on other brands to safely remove pad-printed letters without damaging the underlying paint. Will Pine-Sol also do the trick on Walthers cars?
Thanks, Bergie
when removing reporting marks or car numbers, I just use 2000 grit sand paper, and carefully polish the desired lettering off, I find that after the new decals are applied, and dull coat put down, if any base color paint that was disturbed it tends to blend in seamlessly.
Then of course you can also “patch” a new area for the new reporting marks and numbers if you are so inclined as well.
James.
P.S. Did you ever read my International Fan Club of Bergie Thread?
Has anyone tried WD40?
Yes. Very clever. I was going to reply but I guess I got distracted. I’m humbled. [:I]
Bergie
Well Im glad you enjoyed it.
James
Erik,
I haven’t used it on any of the Walthers cars but I’ve had good success with the mechanical pencil erasers on Accurail cars. Removing it mechanically is somewhat slow but that allows me to check my work frequently. It seems to be just enough to remove the lettering without disturbing the paint underneath. Worth a try…
Tom
I stripped off old decal (Champs) and the Dullcote cover with Walthers Solvaset. I did that prepared to repaint the tender should disaster strike.
I dont know about gold line cars, I simply painted over one with a solid color and went onwards with the lettering.
Erik!
USE 71% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL. Trust me. I’ve had an accident weathering one of these! [:I]
Good luck,
Matt
71% removes the letters but doesn’t harm the paint? What about 91%… is that too strong?
Tell me the accident didn’t stem from removing the letters with Isopropyl Alcohol!
Thanks for the help, Bergie
Be careful when using Alcohol as it can soften paint. (Funny, though, with Athearn BB equipment alcohol seem works well most cases.)
Always a good to test a tiny section first.
So what was the verdict Bergie? I need to renumber a few of my gold line C&O cabooses.
91% will ruin some factory paint. I know specifically about Branchline cars, 91% applied with a Q-tip stripped the paint right off the car down to bare plastic with the first pass.
I use this stuff.
http://joesmodeltrains.com/Paint%20and%20Decal%20Remover.htm
It’s expensive, but works really well.
It stripped off the NOPB and the car numbers like the were never there.
B-4
After
Easy! Paint some graffitti on it! 
Personally, I wouldn’t use alcohol or anything else that could ruin the paint, and stay away from those temptations…I’ve had more than my share of troubles in that dept.
I now, and have had for some time, used only an office eraser (the kind from the office store, that looks like a pencil with eraser stuff in place of the lead). They come with a “pencil” end and an “ink” end that can be sharpened to a point, one being harder (more aggressive) and one softer (less aggressive). I just carefully erase the lettering that I don’t want…It works great, although may take extra time.
On the other hand…When I’ve had to repaint because of the “solvent” damage…The eraser seems to be well worth the time!
And, BTW, thanks Bergie for all you do!
I have removed paint from Walthers cars using 91% isopropanol.
I have used nail polish remover before. It’s quite effective at quickly removing road numbers from a locomotive but you have to be very very careful with it. I use a Q-tip and just a bit to rub out the numbers. But if you put too much remover or rub too hard, you’ll take the paint off. It’s also good to rinse it off very quickly. I tried removing road numbers off an Athearn GP35 and essentially fouled up the plastic to where it looked like it had melted in that area. But with a Proto 2000 GP30, I was able to remove the entire shell and rinse it in water right away and though there was some smudging of paint, it wasn’t too bad and as this was meant to be a rebuilt GP39 with many year’s service, some discoloration did not look out of place.
I remember that I tried using 70% isopropanol before using the 91%. The 70% did remove the lettering. For the most part it left the paint alone. However, there were a few places where the paint came off, but I think it took scrubbing to remove it.
I am not going to comment on what medium to use. Too many variables. I will say however that one time when my supply of druggists’s alcohol ran out I did use vodka with some success And it worked on the trains, too!
My focus is on the products used with the medium to remove lettering and paint. And for that I suggest a visit to a well equipped artist supply shop.
When removing lettering you might want to try rubber tipped shaping tools such as artists use – you can probably find them at an artist’s supply store (or Bergie, go to Galesburg, watch some trains, and shop at the Dick Blick outlet store! You might even catch the train to or from Peoria which goes right behind it)
http://www.dickblick.com/categories/rubbertippedtools/
These paint erasers might have uses here too although I have not tried them specifically.
http://www.dickblick.com/zz601/12/
http://www.dickblick.com/zz303/12/
The art swab is much better than a Q-tip because it doesn’t release fibers onto the work. It is also slightly more abrasive than the little tiny Testors tips. I have used these and they are great.
http://www.dickblick.com/zz048/26/
There is also an art product called a tortillion – sort of like a pencil made of rolled paper. They range from pencil size to much fatter. The paper gives it a very very slight abrasive quality (paper is abrasive which is why your mother did not want you using her best fabric sissors to cut paper). I have used tortillions with success in removing lettering because you have a rather small area touching the work. In fact it might work well to polish the surface after removing lettering using