…from factory-painted diesel locos?
I have a few Kato SD38-2 models painted for EJ&E, I want to remove the big ‘J’ logo from the ends and sides with minimal [preferably ZERO] damage to the underlying orange paint. I know somebody posted a topic about something similar during the past year, but I’m not sure where to start.
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Ken;
Is NOT going to happen. Factory lettering is pad printed paint, same paint as used on the rest of the locomotive. Anything that removes the lettering, will also remove the rest of the paint.
That said, for Kato, try straigh PineSol (original) or 91% Isopropyl Alcohol on a Q-tip. For many otherbrands, the alcohol works best.
Itried the Pinesol on a BLI tender-did’nt even touch it. Fourtanately Poly Scale is a perfect maych for the paint BLI uses. I just repainted & then put my decals on. This probably won’t help you.
Tom
An eraser actually will do the trick, however be warned that you might want to have some touch-up paint handy before you go attacking that J with an eraser.
Red(pink) erasers will mar the paint, hence the touch-up paint being handy
I have heard, but not tried myself, that white drafting erasers work better with less maring.
This technique works on Atlas, Life Like, Athearn and Walthers kit and locos. A friend of mine bought 7 of the same Chessie engines and changed all the road numbers using this technique, with a close look your really can not tell the difference as long as you use the same paint the manufacturer uses. If you call and ask they will tell you.
One thing I have done as well with tyhe Walthers wood sided caboose (ONLY BECAUSE THE SHELL IS THE BASE COLOR AND NOT PAINTED) is soak 91% rubbing alc. on the type that I want to remove, then after it sitts on it for about 5 minutes using the back side of an xacto knife you can chip off the paint, the tricky part is the paint that falls into the cracks. Once again, use a sharpe blade and be very careful not to cut up you rolling stock.
Obviously the next step after removing type using any of these techniques is applying new decals
Hope this helps
Happy modeling
Just a comment on the white drafting eraser - I have an old electric drafting eraser. If you haven’t seen one, it’s a hand-held motor with a tube down the center that holds a rod of eraser material. Now that most all draftsmen use CAD software for making drawings, I don’t know if these tools are still available. If you can locate one, it’s a handy tool for your collection. At best, it may leave a dull looking spot on the paint where the lettering was removed but dull-coating or semi-gloss sprays and light weathering techniques can blend this nicely. Just don’t get carried away and make a “hole” in the paint. Then you will need to do some paint touch-up.
Chuck
I just finished removing the roadnames and numbers from six Proto1000 Fowler boxcars. None of my usual selection of chemicals had any affect on the lettering so I used a wide X-acto chisel blade to scrape off the unwanted portions of the lettering. It sounds pretty crude but it worked well and there wasn’t too much damage to the paint. New lettering and a little weathering should cover any flaws. The trick is to hold the blade at right angles to the work and to use the non-bevelled side of the blade. A light touch helps too. This may not work as well on an area that has details in raised relief, but it may provide an alternative method for some other project. I hope that this may be of some assistance.
While it is true the lettering is pad printed it is not true that it is the same paint as used on the bodies. It is an entirely different material specally made for pad printing.