I recently purchsed a Proto 2000 EMD SD9 in Conrail livery.
I would like to remove the CR logos on the locomotive and leave the black paint intact. Are there any safe ways of doing this?
Cody mentioned in a free video that they were going to demonstrate removing numbers from a loco. I don’t know if that that video is free or you need to be a member of MRVP, but you might try searching. I tried 90% alcohol on a athearn caboose logo and it started to remove both the logo and the underlying paint, so I just stripped the whole car.
The last time I was at Walthers, I got into a conversation about removing lettering with one of the guys at the counter. He seemed very knowledgeable about modeling, as he was the guy that takes care of the huge island type layout that they have in the showroom, and he said what has worked for him, is using Solvaset, and an eraser. It takes awhile, but the Solvest softens the ink used in lettering, and doesn’t hurt the paint.
He also went on to say that loco and car lettering is stamped, using ink, and not paint.
I haven’t tried it yet, but I will be on many of my projects I have going on.
Mike.
The April issue of Cody’s Office mentions that MR published on article on removing lettering only in the April, 2013 issue.
Dave
Dave’s right, I remembered incorrectly.
Well, I just tried both methods today. Cody’s method in the article worked for small numbers, and letters, sometimes, taking a couple, or more, tries. Also, I didn’t use a tooth pick for burnishing, as Cody did, I used the end of a wood handled paint brush.
The eraser method worked the best for me, as I was removing huge white letters, SANTA FE, from a black 50’ Roundhouse tank car, and that also took a few applications.
I used a quick wipe of 91% alchohol to remove any sticky residue left.
Both methods took the shine off the black car, but didn’t hurt the paint. Also, with both methods, a slight ghost is left behind, but, you have to be looking at the car in just the right angle and light to see it. After all, I’ve seen the ghost of past lettering on the prototype, too.
A touch up of clear gloss brought the car back to normal, and prepares the area for the new decals.
Now I need to get more Solveset. My bottle is ancient, from the 80’s, but has always worked ok.
Mike.