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Hey guys,
7 of the 9 Bachmann 70-Toners arrived this afternoon for my Modesto & Empire Traction Company Engine Project (which is in the Blogs forum, see thread
The Motive Power of the Modesto & Empire Traction Company). I ordered 9 of the green ones since Bachmann doesnt offer them in undecorated gray plastic. These ones are painted green with yellow handrails and black frames
I need to strip these down to the plastic, and i wanna hear what you guys use and do when you have to strip something. I want this to be as easy and painless as possible lol. I dont mind them sitting for a day or 2 in a solution, as long as i dont have to sit there and scrub the paint off of them. I have 9 of these to do, so im looking for something fairly easy and painless. I know im probably going to have to do some scrubbing, but i wanna get some stuff that does most of the work for me if you know what i mean LOL
So what do you guys use to strip paint?
I took a few pics of the 70-Toners, i couldnt resist, i opened the box and saw the 7 of them sitting there, i just had to pull 2 of them out, set up a few coalporters and make a small train on my photo diorama LOL
I just repainted 2 of these for a guy. I used the Scalecoat II paint stripper. Its green in color. It works very well! However, the shell is molded green plastic. Be really careful if you take the cut levers off. Their a pain and they can break very easily.
pine-sol took the paint off my bachmann dd40 in about two hours.
but that was older factory paint
Did you even read the thread in this same section at
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14184? You are asking almost exactly the same questions and there answers there. There's such a thing as thread fatigue and guys who answered one thread are unlikely to answer two more threads with almost the exact same question.
90% isopropyl usually does a great job on most painted plastics
I found 99% isopropyl alchohol at my local Rx store. Giving that a try for 2 reasons
1. Chameleon product smells EXACTLY like rubbing alchohol
2. I looked at an older thread here on the forum and that was one of the suggestions.
I placed one of my shells in 70% isopropyl (had it laying around)and it is slowly working. It seems the longer I let them soak, the better it works.
Steve
Thanks everyone for the replys
Ill get some 99% Isopropyl Alcohol next time im at my local CVS drug store
Jeff, thanks for the tips and heads up on the fragile parts too, ill be sure to be extremely careful
Let me know if the 99% Isopropyl Alcohol works. It didn't work when i tried it on the 70 toners. That's why i used the Scalecoat II stripper.
Its working! Slowly, but it is working very nicely. Member Laidoffsick is right about the isopropyl alchohol. It just takes patience. So far the one shell has been soaking for over six hours. I just checked it and was able to scrub the paint off with a medium bristle toothbrush. It is sitting on its end in a glass jar 3/4 full of the 99% isopropyl. I flipped it over to let the other end soak. I will check it tomorrow morning when I get home from work and keep you posted. I have another shell soaking in 70% and that is working nicely as well. I have to scrape at it with my finger nail, but it is doing the trick. Check the post I made recently about the Chameleon Stripper. Lot of the same info there too.
I have never had much luck using it. I have had shells soaking in it for days with little to no luck, yet people seem to have good luck with it all the time. The only shells i have had luck stripping with it is some of of the Stewart shells.
There are a couple types of paint that the 90% just won't work on. I use the 70% to thin acrylic paints when I am weathering, and also as a water/glue additive for scenery. Instead of water with a drop of soap, I just use the 70% isopropyl with water.
Think about it, if whatever stripper you are using eats paint off in 20-30 minutes, what is it doing to the integrity of the plastic. I used brake fluid many years ago when I started custom painting. Works great, and fast but it also weakens the plastic in most cases. I put my fingers right through an Athearn shell once after many hours of kitbashing.
I got 3 bottles of 91% Isoproyl Rubbing Alcohol today and poured 2 of them into a large container. I stripped one of the shells from its details and separated the cab from the main body, placed them both in the container, and already within the hour that they have been in there, the paint is dissolving and coming off of the shell. I can see the bare black plastic in some spots now, so i think if i leave it in there for a couple more hours it will be pretty good to go and i can take the old toothbrush to it and scrap the rest of the paint off.
that method works me me every time
ok 99.9% of the time
I finally got the old Athearn shells stripped this weekend. I bought the cheap (1.67) brake fluid at WM & left the shells soaking in 2 pints for about 3 hrs. & used a small scrub brush to get "all" of the paint removed. Then I washed them in Dawn dish soap for about a minute & set them up to dry. The soap left a white film on the plastic, so, I'm going to wash them w/70% alcohol. probably paint them next week.
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