ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
Has anyone had any trouble stripping the paint off of a blue box loco with just 91% Alcohol? I soaked and scrubbed and soaked and scrubbed for 2 weeks with minimal results. Only once I added some brake fluid (about 4:1 alcohol:bf) did the paint start to come off. It still took another 48 hours to get the rest off. Did I get some bad alcohol, or was this just some really stubborn paint?
When it comes to stripping Athearn "BB"s, alcohol just dosn't cut it. What I always use on them is PolyScale ELO (easy lift off). ELO works great on the "BB"s.
I used 100% brake fluid, }with a twist{
however I've seen a lot of cheapies and Athearn shells destroyed (made brittle) by soaking them in a bath.
I just paint the brake fluid where there is paint to be removed, and use old tooth brushes to remove the paint after the fluid is allowed to work on it for awhile.
Another point to consider using this method is that the painted on roadnames etc. will come off first leaving the base paint below it intact. Then you really have to be careful removing the remainder of the lettering (base paint color) from the shell. It isn't easy and it's very time consuming but it works well. As much as possible keep the fluid from the unpainted plastic.
Cheers
Willis
Easy Off oven cleaner in the yellow can works as well ! I liberally spray the entire shell, then stick it in a Zip-Loc bag for about half an hour and the paint washes right off. Have yet to experience any adverse effects with the plastic going bad.
Easy Off oven cleaner in the yellow can works as well ! I liberally spray the entire shell, then stick it in a Zip-Loc bag for about half an hour and the paint washes right off. Have yet to experience any adverse effects with the plastic going bad.
Be careful with oven cleaner, it will take the moisture/oils out of some of the plastics used in making the shell and craze and crack the surface of the shells and make some of the small parts of the casting break off.
Be careful with oven cleaner, it will take the moisture/oils out of some of the plastics used in making the shell and craze and crack the surface of the shells and make some of the small parts of the casting break off.
Be careful with oven cleaner, it will take the moisture/oils out of some of the plastics used in making the shell and craze and crack the surface of the shells and make some of the small parts of the casting break off.
I'm not surprised ! 15 to 30 minutes is plenty of time for it to work.
I recently did a run of 70 Life Like boxcars that all needed the lettering removed. A 15 minute soak in EZ-Off oven cleaner took all the lettering right off and didn't even touch the base color coat.
The trouble / problems people have with products like these is they leave them to soak. They only need to be covered for as long as it takes to soften the finish - then scrubbed clean and neutralized. I've been stripping plastic with brake fluid / oven cleaner / alcohol for over thirty years and have never experienced any of the horror stories I've read about on the forums.
The ONLY time I had a problem was when I inadvertantly grabbed my laquer thinners jug thinking it was alcohol .... the paint started coming off REAL quick .... then it got kinda gummy !!!
The ONLY time I had a problem was when I inadvertantly grabbed my laquer thinners jug thinking it was alcohol .... the paint started coming off REAL quick .... then it got kinda gummy !!!
I believe that all of us who custom paint has done that on occasion. I have been fortunate in that I only did it to one of my own, and not someone's new loco.
Has anyone had any trouble stripping the paint off of a blue box loco with just 91% Alcohol? I soaked and scrubbed and soaked and scrubbed for 2 weeks with minimal results. Only once I added some brake fluid (about 4:1 alcohol:bf) did the paint start to come off. It still took another 48 hours to get the rest off. Did I get some bad alcohol, or was this just some really stubborn paint?
When it comes to stripping Athearn "BB"s, alcohol just dosn't cut it. What I always use on them is PolyScale ELO (easy lift off). ELO works great on the "BB"s.
I used it for a while as well. What I noticed was that any specs of paint that came off and attached themselves to another part of the loco wouldn't come off, period!
It was around this time that I got a Passche air eraser, and started using it on all stripping. Baking soda on plastic, and aluminum oxide on metal. No paint specks at all.
Carey
Can you give me some info on your setup for the air eraser what pressure do you use for the baking soda Do you use a cabinet for it ? What baking soda do you use, (not just from the grocery store I presume)
thanks for the info mike
Carey
Can you give me some info on your setup for the air eraser what pressure do you use for the baking soda Do you use a cabinet for it ? What baking soda do you use, (not just from the grocery store I presume)
thanks for the info mike
Air pressure is limited to the min & max of the gun. My Passche kept acting up on me, so I bought the HF version, and it is a vastly superior gun. I've been using it on both brass and plastic for three years with not one minute of trouble out of it. It's max AP is 65lbs and the lower is 35lbs, IIRC on the lower, but with plastic, I run it about 50, testing first on the inside of the shell for any "digging". If the soda still digs, I lower it to 45 and test again. It depends on the "hardness" of the styrene. I've been able to do many models at the max of 65, but occasionally even between two identical models, one will be "softer" than the other one, and the pressure needs to be dropped. I've rarely had to go below 40lbs.
The baking soda I use IS the grocery store type. But I've found that of the grocery store brands, that Arm & Hammer is the best. It seems to have a finer grind to the powder. I do use a tea strainer if the soda is clumped some. This insures a smooth flow through the gun.
Carey
Thanks for the info I went down to HF yesterday and got their gun I think I need to get some different soda mine is an off brand and old (like me) I tried the cabinet at HF and couldn't get my hands back out of the gloves I was trapped they were way too tight
one other question how long does the little bottle last when you are using it I was looking at the passche LAC3 it has a larger bottle on it
Thanks for the info mike
A lot of good Passche's air eraser bottle size did me. I couldn't get thru one without having to empty it out to unclog the trigger. I kept getting blowback through the housing and the trigger well would fill up with media. Funny thing was, there isn't any gaskets or anything to prevent it from doing that. It somehow blewback through the airline.
I believe that all of us who custom paint has done that on occasion. I have been fortunate in that I only did it to one of my own, and not someone's new loco.
Hah! Once upon a time I soaked a brass Harriman coach in lacquer thinner overnight. The next morning the roof vents were all gone! Luckily it was mine, and I had some Walthers roof vents on hand. Turns out the roof vents were plastic Live and learn!
I have used denatured alcohol on Athearn, both BB and newer RTR cars. The paint comes right off, and if you are careful you can get lettering off and leave the base coat intact.
I used chameleon paint remover. Its a really strong detergent type paint remover that is re-useable. Just pour the stuff through a coffee filter back into the bottle. I stripped 17 Athearn BB Heavyweight passenger cars. No problems.
I tried ELO on a Victor Model Products racing sailboat hull and it just crumbled!
I used 100% brake fluid, }with a twist{
however I've seen a lot of cheapies and Athearn shells destroyed (made brittle) by soaking them in a bath.
I just paint the brake fluid where there is paint to be removed, and use old tooth brushes to remove the paint after the fluid is allowed to work on it for awhile.
Another point to consider using this method is that the painted on roadnames etc. will come off first leaving the base paint below it intact. Then you really have to be careful removing the remainder of the lettering (base paint color) from the shell. It isn't easy and it's very time consuming but it works well. As much as possible keep the fluid from the unpainted plastic.
Cheers
Willis
The one and only time I used brake fluid was on a set of Atlas/Kato N scale RS-3's. It was recommended to me that I use brake fluid. Anyway, after soaking the bodies cracked and were very brittle. One of the bodies literally disintegrated in my hand.
I had to absorb the cost of replacing the bodies for the customer as well as give him 3 free paint jobs for my mistake. This was back in the 1980's so there wasn't a thing called the internet, and I spent almost 9 months tracking down 3 bodies from different hobby shops across the country.
Since then I have strongly urged modelers who paint their own stuff NOT to use BF. The guy who told me about it was the custom painter who got me started as one, in the 1970's. Like him, I'd specialized in brass, but those jobs were beginning to thin and I started working in Plastic as well, whereas to this day, he still does only brass. The price for one of his basic paint jobs starts above $800, and right now, there is a 3 year backlog. (He's IMHO the best brass painter in the country, and even now he still makes Alan and I look like rank beginners. Sorry Alan.) When I told him about the BF, he was shocked, but said he had never had that problem with brass.
I have been fortunate in that I only did it to one of my own, and not someone's new loco.
) When I told him about the BF, he was shocked, but said he had never had that problem with brass.