Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to remove lettering on a Bachmann tender and prepare it for paint. I have tried denatured alcohol and have not had good results.
Thanks for your input.
Ken
Ken,
I have had good luck with a product called OOPS! I get it at the big box home center in the paint department. I near soak (not dripping) a Q-Tip with OOPS, then hold the Q-Tip on the letter for a couple seconds only, then gently rub the letter off. Depending on the under surface, you may get a bit of glazing. I have only done this on Big Hauler tank cars, but there is no reason it should not work the same on a tender. When I finish the twelve cars I am working on, a Connie is next on the hit list.
Good luck,
Bob C.
Bob,
Thanks for the tip. I’ll give it a try.
Ken
Kenneth Matzick said:
Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to remove lettering on a Bachmann tender and prepare it for paint. I have tried denatured alcohol and have not had good results.
Thanks for your input.
Ken
One of these is mentioned in the an article in GR April Issue. (NOT this particular brand) but similar. Quite cheap from China Uses bicarbonate of soda…
DO NOT USE A PAINT AIRBRUSH!
Kenneth Matzick said:
Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to remove lettering on a Bachmann tender and prepare it for paint. I have tried denatured alcohol and have not had good results.
Thanks for your input.
Ken
The lettering on Bachmann cars, in my experience, is paint. Removing it will affect the surface, unlike a decal. As the surface will need refinishing anyway, I usually just sand the lettering off with 600 grit emery and water.
You could always try this method-
http://largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/24764/renumbering-cars-amp-locos-idea
-Kevin.
This thread is of interest to me, as I have a bunch of the Bachmann 1:20 boxcars I’m renumbering, with mixed results. Here are the two Ive done so far. After trying various different things unsuccessfully, I ended up using tiny amounts of Strypeeze. I apply it ONLY to the white lettering, and then start scraping the paint off with various clay modeling tools almost immediately. Each set of numbers takes maybe five minutes to get off, but there is minimal damage to the surrounding paint. You can see on the left where I tried wiping the stripper off the area, only to damage the surrounding area a bit. I think some weathering of the car will hide that. YMMV of course.
I have successfully used “Bon Ami” cleanser. It is a bit pricey as far as cleansers go, but it is without grit, and one can will last a long time.
I wonder how it would work for taking the haze off of plastic headlights?
I have stripped many a Bmann car. They actually use stencil ink which is great for durability but sucks for us modelers. It is very close to paint chemically and does not come off easily. I use a product called Wash Away by Scalecoat II. It will attack paint as well as the ink (but not as aggressively as other strippers) so I am careful to put it on just the lettering using a medium round paintbrush. It takes a few applications since you do not want to leave it sitting there for an extended period.
Not a great solution but I am usually doing a full repaint of my cars. Those of you trying to preserve the original finish may have to do some repair. Big Hauler cars are mostly cast in color but Spectrums are painted. I have also had pretty good luck doing what Pete suggested with gentle sanding using wet dry sandpaper. Sometimes gentle scraping with an Exacto blade will do the trick. A shot of Dullcoat will usually hide any marring. On wood side boxcars always go with the direction of the siding not across.
If you can find them Spectrum and Accucraft offer there rolling stock and engines as Data Only or Painted Unlettered.
Now where did I put my green paint?..
Forgot to mention a couple other things about Wash Away:
It is a bit pricey: $13 for a pint.
I have found that an old electric toothbrush (especially the sonic type) is a good scrubbing tool. Messy so this is an outside toy.
It is reusable if undilluted. I pour it through a coffee filter to get the chunks out.
Water soluble. Clean up with water and dish detergent.
Plastic safe.
Lou Luczu said:
I have successfully used “Bon Ami” cleanser. It is a bit pricey as far as cleansers go, but it is without grit, and one can will last a long time.
I wonder how it would work for taking the haze off of plastic headlights?
Lou, I salvaged a plastic cover one time by first scrubbing it with Comet cleanser to get the worst of the crazing off, and then polished it the rest of the way with Bon-Ami. The lens had MEK splashed on it, so it was fogged up really bad. So you just might be able to polish the headlights with Bon-Ami. I used to use Bon-Ami to remove paint from model airplane canopies, and it shined up the canopies quite nice too.
But I have to hide my Bob-AMi from my mom. To her cleanser is cleanser, and she will use it all up for me.
Lou Luczu said:
I have successfully used “Bon Ami” cleanser. It is a bit pricey as far as cleansers go, but it is without grit, and one can will last a long time.
I wonder how it would work for taking the haze off of plastic headlights?
I don’t know about using Bon Ami for clear plastic, but if you have haze on clear plastics, you can use toothpaste. It’s a mild abrasive, I use to use it to remove the haze from the speedo lens on my '74 Sportster, and it removes the yellowing from the windshields on the cars on the layout. Just rub it on like you would wax a car, let it dry, and buff it off.
I first heard about using toothpaste at a family picnic in California last year.
Don’t say speedo…Doh! Too late!
Thank you everyone for your tips and suggestions.
This is my first kit-bash project and I have a fairly steep learning curve. I really appreciate all of your suggestions.
Ken
You could just paint over the lettering, just like the big boys do, and have a nice “ghost” image.
Steve, yes, except that the ghost image on our models would be so much more pronounced then the ghost image I saw on the WM F units down in Elkins West Verginney.
David Maynard said:
Steve, yes, except that the ghost image on our models would be so much more pronounced then the ghost image I saw on the WM F units down in Elkins West Verginney.
Or the Nickle Plate ALCos at Lambert’s Point in 1980s.
Sorry for the very late reply but I just saw this post. I use brake fluid and an eraser. Let the fluid soak a while then rub the letters with the eraser, it even removes the ghost lettering. It eats up erasers though.
Joe, I used brake fluid on many plastic models. Most of the time there were no ill effects. But, once in a while I would end up with either very soft plastic, or very brittle plastic models after stripping them in brake fluid. So, it does work, just be careful.