I’m working on re-restoring an old Lionel 150 that had been (poorly) repainted at some point, and whatever paint was used on the body has been giving me trouble like nothing before! I’ve so far soaked it in lacquer thinner, mineral spirits and acetone, and I even tried for a short time to use oven cleaner. The lacquer thinner caused tiny bubbles to appear in the paint after an extended period of soaking and I managed to get most of it off the roof with heavy scrubbing, but had a lot of trouble below that. The mineral spirits did nothing at all, and the oven cleaner seemed like it was working a little but I washed it off after a short time to prevent damage to the metal. Today, I had it soaking in the acetone for 5 hours, and even with heavy scrubbing, I was only able to get a small amount off the side!
I have no idea what kind of paint this is, but it’s crazy strong! Does anyone have other recommendations that won’t damage the metal? Would brake fluid work? I’ve never tried using that, so I don’t know if it’s stronger or weaker than what I’ve tried using already.
I’ve used two things that have worked, Simple Green concentrate and 98% isopropyl alcohol.
Try the Simple Green first, it’s a LOT cheaper! Immerse the 150 and let it sit for several days and see what happens. The alcohol’s around $40 a gallon but it may or may not work. I tried it on a Lionel MPC plastic caboose and the paint sloughed off in no time but it didn’t make a dent on Post-War locomotive paint.
I haven’t tried brake fluid so can’t comment on it but it shouldn’t hurt the metal at all.
I’ll tell you about the last resort (lol).
That’s sand blasting. In industry, it’s used to remove rust, strip paint, and process electronic circuit boards, and equipment is also commercially available for hobbyists like glass crafters.
In model trains, it uses a relatively soft abrasive and is used to pre-treat brass models before painting, and some amateurs own one too. It has also been used to strip paint from ABS resin.
The equipment is also called a “media blaster” or “abrasive sand cabinet,” and the projectile and abrasive material are also called “media.” There’s also an air eraser, which uses baking soda to erase only lettering.
Media blasting runs the risk of distorting the sheet metal. Auto body workers and old iron restorers are constantly warning about being very careful with it.
I can get it for $35 a gallon (plus shipping and handling). But provisions of the TSCA (1976) make it illegal to sell to the general public for purposes of paint or coating removal…
I did a quick search on the possibility of using MEK to dissolve epoxy paints and, depending on the threads MEK can either remove epoxy paint or soften it. You can still buy MEK but, like the other items, it is toxic and you really want to do the work outside.
In my experience, there is no risk in blasting metal with soda. I’ve blasted white metal and brass without harming anything except paint and other residues.
Thanks for all the answers! I think I’ll start with the Simple Green since it’s the cheapest and probably won’t kill me, and if that doesn’t work then I’ll try the brake fluid. The sand blasters are nice (used to have access to a very fine one for electronics work), but they’re pretty expensive, so I think I’ll hold off on that until it becomes absolutely necessary.
On a metal shell, I’d go directly to one of the ‘high performance’ paint removers marketed for use on ‘stubborn’ or high-performance coatings. I have yet to see a material that really resists softening by these.
Get at least 8mm nitrile gloves and tape the cuffs, and apply and strip outdoors. Rinse and scrub the hell out of the shell and allow it to dry thoroughly before bringing it back indoors. Etc.
I am of the tentative opinion that a good media blaster is a reasonable thing to have if you own a compressor with suitable capacity. There are multiple media, including walnut shells and beads, in addition to soda, and you can use the equipment for surface hardening or other prep (not as important in the model-railroad hobby as in, say, IC engine-building or automobile restoration, but still potentially useful…)
That would probably make sense if Darth’s going to do stripping and repainting on a regular basis. I’ve done repaints myself and when asked if I use an airbrush I say no, rattle cans are good enough for my purposes. Mind you, if I was going to make repainting a business I’d go the airbrush route but for now it doesn’t make sense.
A caution using Acetone. I had wanted to respond to this earlier but there were numerous posts and suggestions. I worked with industrial grade acetone for years. It is arguably one the best removers of MOST substances, including paint. First acetone doesn’t necessarily work with soaking. Fresh paint is not a problem. It’s certain paint that has been applied for a while. Second, once acetone is used and doesn’t work it makes the original more difficult to remove. If you used all the substaces mentioned I might think the same applies. No chemist here but the stuff has some strange properties. You might also want to try very old remedy . A bit surprised no one else mentioned it. Try a soft toothbrush and toothpaste, (must be paste). Might take forever, but won’t mar the metal.
Another thing you could try that’s fairly cheap but if it’s got anything petrochemical in it at all will dissolve it without harming it a container of good old fashioned carburetor cleaning soak in a bucket. Not the spray on stuff the stuff in a 5 gallon bucket. I’ve seen that eat flat out burned on plastic fittings paint and everything else but metal.
