I recently painted a loco shell with Rustoleum spray paint. The paint job came out just fine, but I decided I didn't like the finish and wanted a different color. So, I need to strip it. I assume most of you would recommend Alcohol for the task, but a well known loco painter claimed that if using Alcohol, it could take a month to completely strip. 

But what about using Super Clean or Purple Power? 

Have any of you had success with these products?

A month? 91% stuff will strip it in 24-48 hours.

The weaker stuff (70%) is worthless and would take a month to strip.

I've never tried the other stuff.

Joe Loll said:

... but a well known loco painter claimed that if using Alcohol, it could take a month to completely strip. 

 

 

I'm not well known but my experience with half a dozen Hartland Locomotive Works ore tipper bins was that high percentage isopropyl alcohol took off the Rustoleum satin whatever its name boxcar red-ish hue it was,  or was it Krylon, here several years later I don't remember for sure, (what I am sure of is that the brand was not Pactra) took off the paint overnight. Put 2 bins at a time in a large plastic food storage container, poured in several bottles of alcohol, closed the container's lid, and went on about life until the next day.

Well I tried 90/10 alcohol, on these little hauler ore cars and first picture is of the car after 2 days/48 hrs. barely touched it, the second picture is after soaking for 1 hr  in purple power, had some one that I recommended it to said it didn't work after 2 days but mine did and the only thing I can say is mine is some old stock and perhaps it is now a different formula but then again he sprayed it and let it soak through some towels  

.

I have used  (in the UK)  Modelstrip  quite successfully... which MAY be available in the US..  Did quite a few N scale items and they turned out ok.  

Modlestrip is designed for removing paint without damage to the model. To use 'Modelstrip', you simply plaster your model all over with the paste (few mm thick) in the areas that you wish to remove paint from. You then place the model in an air tight plastic bag and leave it over night in a warm airing cupboard..

The following morning, remove from the bag and simply wash the model under the water tap. The paste will wash off and take the paint with it. In my experience of the product, a little light brushing is also required, but it is very successful and it is purposely made for the job: ie is does not attack plastics.

It effectively dissolves paint and has no effect on the surface on which the paint has been placed. You can therefore managed to use it successfully to remove paint from metal/brass models as well as plastic surfaces.

I use 91% all the time, never took anywhere close to a month.  Stripped this USA Trains SD40-2 in less than 24 hours using it.   I always use a stiff (not wire) brush to help it along.

    If you have cleared your model with Rustoleum clear, it will take a while longer though.    In the end, it is cheap enough to try it first.

This may seem like a dumb question, but the original factory black on most engines (Bachmann in my case) is just plastic or is it painted black?  In my case I bought a loco that had previously been weathered and I do not like the job so want to return it to original, which may not be realistic.

the original factory black on most engines (Bachmann in my case) is just plastic or is it painted black?

Yes it could be, or not. You will know when you disassemble it and the inside of the parts is or is not black. The Bachmann locomotives I have are black plastic, but as soon as I say that all black ones are black plastic, I will be wrong.

David Maynard said:

the original factory black on most engines (Bachmann in my case) is just plastic or is it painted black?

Yes it could be, or not. You will know when you disassemble it and the inside of the parts is or is not black. The Bachmann locomotives I have are black plastic, but as soon as I say that all black ones are black plastic, I will be wrong.

 

Partially correct - A lot of black locos, like Bachmann's, will have some form of lacquer coating, as with a semi-matt/satin finish to get rid of that "plasticky" appearance. So be aware if re-painting. I have noticed though that on some parts, like trucks and some superstructure on their tank cars, they do not bother. In itself overcoating an existing paint/lacquer finish should not be a problem so long as you check for your chosen paint finish's and undercoat's compatibility with the existing one. The only problem to consider then is that you do not coat too heavily and obliterate any fine detail.

 

Regards Ross's suggestion of the UK found product "Modelstrip". This is a product primarily intended  for the removal of oil based paints, such as enamels, and similar finishes on styrene plastics. Its "active" ingredient is Sodium Hydroxide. Careful if selecting a product sold as a household cleaner for an alternative where this compound is  included, it can be formulated to be quite caustic - like oven cleaners - and could damage plastics. Sadly, in the UK, household product makers stopped using this as a base for their products a few years ago cutting off cheaper alternatives to the Modelstrip product. Phoenix Precision Paints, also from the UK, make a similar fluid product rather than a paste. Perhaps similar is available in the US ?

Hey Max..how about this then     It shows enamel on model small scale car being stripped.

https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Paint-from-Metal-and-Plastic-Models-with-Dettol

Yep...DETTOL!!   (  For US readers - it  is an anti-sceptic liquid   (& needs dilution before medical use in most cases.)

  I believe it is one of the ingredients that does the job.

Plenty of info on Googs if you query Derrol paint stripping.  Seems the plastic kit aeromodellers use it......

I have used it with some success  on a large scale wagon....but it can turn  out a bit expensive for full immersion...although it can be diluted!

Just found this  on a forum about DETTOL  &   models/stripping.... :-

I believe the active ingredient, stripping wise, is Pine Oil and this is why it does the same job as Simple Green as it too contains Pine Oil. 

One wonders just how this method was discovered!

Very interesting Ross, one to add to the list. I have a bottle of the stuff hanging around, I'll give it a go sometime. Some years ago a chemistry teacher of my acquaintance gave me the low down on why Sodium Hydroxide would be so effective in the removal of oil based paints and similar - hence its inclusion in a lot of preparations that fulfilled that purpose. I forget now what he told me, as ever was the case for me in science classes (my father had a degree in chemistry, shame on me !).

I note that a lot of "specialist" providers of various preparations for cleaning and removal of substance, and other things, are loath to put in plain English what are the active ingredients of whatever potion with an extraordinary mark up they are pushing. For obvious reasons. These days one cannot avoid those stories, now in most tabloids, of people who exclaim. " How I cleaned a whole house with nothing but a lemon, a tin of bicarb' of soda and a bottle of white vinegar and added £30K to its value !". Perhaps there is a need for central database (sticky topic ?) where these more basic economical alternatives to common hobbyists issues can be listed ? Remember the days you could walk into a British chemist shop and only had to look for the suffix "BP" to know you were not having to pay for a lot of someone else's top heavy marketing budget and getting a good no nonsense product that would "do the job" ? Have I pushed this a little to far away from the OP's original topic ? Sorry.

Ross Mansell said:

Hey Max..how about this then     It shows enamel on model small scale car being stripped.

https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Paint-from-Metal-and-Plastic-Models-with-Dettol

Yep...DETTOL!!   (  For US readers - it  is an anti-sceptic liquid   (& needs dilution before medical use in most cases.)

  I believe it is one of the ingredients that does the job.

Plenty of info on Googs if you query Derrol paint stripping.  Seems the plastic kit aeromodellers use it......

I have used it with some success  on a large scale wagon....but it can turn  out a bit expensive for full immersion...although it can be diluted!

Just found this  on a forum about DETTOL  &   models/stripping.... :-

I believe the active ingredient, stripping wise, is Pine Oil and this is why it does the same job as Simple Green as it too contains Pine Oil. 

 

 

One wonders just how this method was discovered!

Ah, so is that why some folks say they use Pine Sol to strip paint? I never tried it, but now I just might have to.

Yesterday one of the newspapers mentioned APHIDS and what they excrete can strip the paint from a car if it is left underneath trees (particularly the Sycamore ) - as there are some types of aphids partial to that tree).....

Apparently the excreted stuff is sticky..turns black and the paint soon deteriorates!

(Which reminds me..my old Triumph 1500 lasted years without  a spot of rust mainly due to parking next the  aircraft apron of the airport I worked at..unburnt jet fuel laid a film over the car preventing rust...just needed the occasional wash and repolish (like once a year). 

Who would have thought bi carbonate of soda (baking soda) would strip paint off if used in a suitable airbrush. (Badger has one) but cheaper available on EBAY.