Whats the BEST Way to Remove Lettering from a Factory Paint Job


What if you bypassed the chemical idea all together and tried using some tape. Like simple scotch tape and stuck it on the white lettering and pulled it off. It might take off the white lettering with it after several tries.

Chris, nice idea, but not going to happen. They are either painted on or stamp pad printed on. They are pretty much bonded on with the paint.
 
Someone told me to look up something that worked well on his layout. I can't recall the name of it right now, he said to look up "______'s garage" (I think it was Joe's garage) online. I assumed it was some manner of solvent. He said it takes the lettering right off but leaves the paint. I couldn't find what he was talking about, though. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
 
Someone told me to look up something that worked well on his layout. I can't recall the name of it right now, he said to look up "______'s garage" (I think it was Joe's garage) online. I assumed it was some manner of solvent. He said it takes the lettering right off but leaves the paint. I couldn't find what he was talking about, though. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Is it a household type product or something geared towards say, the automotive crowd? The only thing that comes to mind is Griots Garage. But its more about car waxes, cleaners, car covers, garage type stuff. Your typical car guy type of products.
 
Sweet thanks Jerome! Is Testors Thinner the only thing that will work or could I use Lacquer Thinner as well? Reason I ask is I dont have any of the Testors stuff on hand, and I will have to wait a week to get it in, and I have some Lacquer Thinner sitting here...

Josh, did you ever get the chance to order this product and give it a try?
Brian
 
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Has anyone had occasion to use this product Micro Sol ??

There is a 3 page presentation , "How to reletter a car without repainting" in the April issue of Model Railoader.

This item is described as a decal setting solution
http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=FINPROD

http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MI-2&Category_Code=FINPROD&Product_Count=1

It just seems like too much work to me. I used a Q tip and some isopropyl rubbing alcohol to renumber a walthers coil car and it worked good for me. You just have to be really careful with how much you use and how hard you rub or you'll take out the body color too.
 

When I asked a few guys at a big train show about a particular situation I had with a BP20 B-unit loco that had a bad decal on one side, I was told by most NOT to use a decal setting solution. But one fellow told me to do so.

Then I read this MRR article about using a decal setting solution to soften up 'factory printing' so you could remove it (and I assume you could just as well remove an old decal). I went looking thru various forums and found a number of positive reports on this idea of softening up the printing and/or decals with decal setting solutions, then removing them with scotch tape or a small brush.

It also appears as though there are at least two other liquids that could be used:
Walther's Solvaset
PollyS Easy-Lift-Off
 
BP20 B-unit

Here is my most immediate problem, how to get this decal off on this nice BP20 unit I picked up recently without stripping the whole thing. The foam packing bled onto the decal on one side of the car.
 
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I'm wanting to re-number a dummy unit I have it's white on black, it's a Norfolk Southern, but my DCC Athearn blue box special (19 years old and runs like new) has a twin dummy and I want to re-number it to 7094.
 
I'm wanting to re-number a dummy unit I have it's white on black, it's a Norfolk Southern, but my DCC Athearn blue box special (19 years old and runs like new) has a twin dummy and I want to re-number it to 7094.

As long as it a true Athearn BB, you should be able to remove one or all of the numbers with a pencil eraser.
 
Funny, I've never gotten rubbing alcohol, decal solutions nor a pencil eraser to remove factory lettering.
I have a Bachmann On30 locomotive I'm desperate to remove a locomotive # from to re-number it and keep the other factory markings. I've yet to find anything that'll work other than sandpaper and re-painting in a tight area (which I'd hardly suggest to anyone)...
 
May not be a 'factory job', but I thought this discussion from a brass forum might be added here.

QUESTION:
I recently aquired a couple of brass passenger cars that had been neatly painted and decals applied. I am not entirely sure if a sealing coat had been applied over the decals or not.

However, the decals are silvering in places, and I want to remove them and apply a different roadname.

Any tips on how to do this without marring the paint? The paint job itself is in quite good shape and I want to preserve it, if possible.
Thanks


ANSWER:
If they have silvered, that means air is underneath them, and the aberrancy is less than optimal.

Get a razor blade or scalpel, and very gently cut through the film. VERY gently - it is almost no pressure at all. Then, first, try water. Put it on a paint brush and brush water on liberally. Let it sit for a while, and with a q-tip rub gently. Keep it damp, repeat. If that doesn't work in 10-15 minutes, try microsol (or other decal setting solution) and repeat the steps before, substituting solution for water. The solution will soften the film and should allow you to rub it off. This really doesn't matter if the car has been sealed or not, the scratches in the film in the first step is to allow the liquid to get under the decal.

Buff the spot(s) out, and you *might* have to gloss over it for the new decal. Brass is sometimes easier for this operation, as the paint is usually harder (due to baking) and the decal didn't have a chance to snuggle into it. (Use a microfiber "rag" for buffing - also great for glass, especially, filmed glass).
 
I just removed one number on one of my Bachmann RS3's. I bought two with the same number and wanted to change the "1545" on one to "1535".

I used a simple Exact-O knife with a fresh blade. I ran the blade over the painted "4" and simply flaked it off. It did way better than I thought it would and at the end of five or so minutes...wall-a...the "4" was gone leaving the body paint intact. This was using the blade side-to-side and not in a slicing motion. A very light touch is needed so you don't scratch anything you don't want removed or marred.
 
I accidentally removed all the lettering from an old Athearn piggyback trailer. The trailer and other items were stored and wasps got into the box and made those mud nests. Lots of cleanup was needed so I decided to use my ultrasonic cleaner and Simple Green from Walmart diluted 16:1. I popped the trailer and an undecorated car in for 180 seconds. That cleaned off the mud and the lettering was gone also. The paint was fine but I really had no intention of re-lettering the trailer, I just wanted it clean.
 



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