I’ve just used the brake fluid bath method to remove paint from my old Bachmann coaches in an effort to repaint and freshen them up…worked like a charm. In order to clean up the cars after the bath I washed them in Dawn detergent and water…they seemed to turn out ok. Is this what others have done?? Just checking.
Thanks,
Richard
Richard, back in the day there was a lot of discussion on other train sites about using various liquids to remove paint and lettering from Bachmann (and other?) rolling stock. As I recall, some media took off more than the paint (ask me how I know this), but I don’t recall how brake fluid fared. If it worked for you than that’s great. I’d like to see a photo. The lettering in particular is especially difficult to remove or cover over. It seems like Bachmann put it on with more than a paint brush, because it is rather pronounced and tough to cover over with just paint without it ghosting. Anyway, it appears that with brake fluid, you’re on to something, so thanks.
I stopped using brake fluid after it melted some of the plastic on the model. Now I use 91% Isop. Alcohol. It doesn’t melt the plastic and it seems to take off the paint really well after just a few days.
I’ve used the 91% on a Bachmann Shay tender tank. It didn’t take much work to remove the lettering and most of the paint ; there was some ghosting of the letters in the plastic, but that disappeared under paint.
A friend who does beautiful custom paint jobs uses a tub full of denatured alcohol. 91% isopropanol is great stuff and I use it for lots of things.
I haven’t noticed any melting of the plastic from the brake fluid bath…I’d say a first soak got about 97% of the paint off…the remaining is probably due to my impatience towards the end. I needed to get things wrapped up to ready for a road trip. I tried the denatured alcohol once before by I could just let things soak because it evaporated quickly in the heat here.
Richard
Brake fluid is tricky. I have used it with wildly different results. I have a HO loco shell that is worthless. I have no idea what they used for paint but nothing took it off. So I used brake fluid and it made the plastic so brittle it just falls apart (still didn’t take the letters off). On my Bachmann 10 wheeler tender I used the 91%. Now I don’t dislike the method I just warn that it may have dire consequences on the plastic your applying it to.
put this in google:
how to remove paint :mylargescale.com
don’t forget the colon…
also try:
how to remove paint :largescalecentral.com
there’s more discussions… simple green, various cleaners from walmart etc.
I try to stay away from solvents on plastic, since they can weaken and crack it long after you get the lettering off… i.e. months later the plastic falls apart.
Always test on non-visible area, work in well ventilated area, etc. etc.
Greg
When I was an “n-scaler” I used brake fluid to remove paint and decals because my brother-in-law did that for his HO equipment. It worked so well I’ve done the same with large scale. I DO NOT soak the pieces, I brush or dab it on (sometimes used a cloth or paper towel soaked with the stuff), let it set for a few minutes ('til the next commercial on TV) and then scrub with a toothbrush and then repeat.
My experience with paint thinner and alcohol is similar, but that’s because I don’t soak. Apply and rinse!
But then, when I’m satisfied, I do wash the whole thing in liquid detergent and hot water.
The photo is of a bash-bash diner made from a Bachmann coach and a Bachmann combine. I removed all the paint and decals before assembling it, then painted the body a bright blue (a contrast from my Pullman green coaches and obs) with silver trucks.
I used to save “donated” model airplanes in 1:48 scale and 1:72 with brake fluid. Most of the time it worked well and rather quickly. But I did turn a model Cessna 337 into mush. So it all depends on the type of plastic used to make the model. But that was removing model paint and decals. Some of the paints they use to pad print the equipment in our scale, are tougher and take a bit more effort, and some come right off with the right cleaner. So be careful.
I carefully wiped the lettering off an Aristo 100 ton hopper with a rag dampened (not wet) with lacquer thinner. All it did to the base colour was make it a bit shiny. But thats risky, because if you don’t work fast enough, you could strip the base colour and/or soften the plastic.
If brake fluid works on the Bachmann cars, I will have to see if I have any. I have a gaggle of Bachmann passenger cars that I would like to do something with…someday.