What is the best way to remove paint from “plastic” body shell in order to pepaint with different color?JDAY
Hello John,
Would help if you provided some details. Is it a locomotive, freight car, passenger car? Is it made by Athearn, Atlas, Kato, Bachmann, etc?
This might be of some help, click on this link:
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/159534/1759082.aspx#1759082
Post back!
There are two things that I have used successfully for stripping paint, the first is an old model railroaders standard of brake fluid. If you’ve ever spilled any on the finish of your car you’ll know how good it works.
The second and what I pretty much stick with now is 91% Isopropyl alcohol. On average i leave a body shell or piece of rolling stock in a plastic shoe box (home made dip tank) for 20 to 30 minutes. Wearing rubber gloves armed with an old tooth brush the finish usually comes right off leaving a little in the nooks and cranny’s hence the tooth brush goes to work. Unlike when you use brake fluid you need not rinse it off immediately as the alcohol evaporates very quickly, when your satisfied with he way the piece look just rinse it off in cold water. Then do your normal paint prep.
One note: Other may know the exact reason why but for some reason Kato locomotives seem to be made of a different type of resin and I have read where there are issues regarding stripping paint and leaving them in the baths too long or something like that.
allegheny2666.What do you wash the model with if you use brake fluid? rambo1…
I use Dawn dishwashing detergent. Wash thoroughly with a soft-bristled paint brush, working up plenty of lather. Rinse well, air dry.
Plain water will work just fine since brake fluid is alcohol based which is why it makes a good paint stripper. Just be careful of the newer brake fluids that contain silicone. They will not strip paint and will not wash off as well.
As to the kato plastic question. kato uses a grade of styrene that is not as friendly as most when it comes to striping. I have heard that some people don’t have trouble at all and some have nothing but problems striping paint. I have also heard but, unable to confirm that the paint they use is actually printers ink and not paint as we know it which makes it harder to strip.
I have not used liquids to strip paint for at least two years now. I use a sand blaster with 180-220 grit abrasive to remove paint from shells. It is fast and efficient…getting all paint out of the nooks and crannies
Kato and the old Atlas/Kato shells are made of ABS plastic, not polystyrene and often do not fair well when brake fluid is used to strip them. The bodies often crack, this can usually be easily fixed with some liquid cement applied from the inside and made invisible. The trick is to use fresh brake fluid and do it quick, don’t let it sit and soak for more than a few minutes. When done soak in water for at least 30 minutes to neutralize all the brake fluid, then wash in soapy water.
In general all the lettering/logos are pad printed with some kind of printers ink, but every manufacturer has a different formula, some come off easy, some don’t.
As a custom painter I don’t have time to mess around trying different stuff all the time, so I just use the commercial strippers, they work pretty reliably and are reusable, I’ve used the same quart I bought 4 years ago, (just screen out the paint particles every now and then), which makes them also quite economical. I’ve probably stripped 350 shells with this batch. You get what you pay for.
I use Polyscale’s Easy Lift Off (ELO) on all bodies without any issues. Scalecoat’s stripper also works well, as does Chamelion.