I purchased Bachmann Lil big hauler ore cars which have colorful graphics on them and I’m trying to strip them off so I can paint the cars, so far I have tried purple power my all time go to stripper, alcohol, 409, green machine, and decal set to no avail, the alcohol has turned the graphics white or gray color but have not loosen them, they look like a cross between a decal and a sticker. any other ideas out there?
If they are indeed stickers, Naptha should loosen them up.
BTW, Zippo lighter fluid is naphtha(https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif).
Joe Zullo said:
BTW, Zippo lighter fluid is naphtha(https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif).
Thanks Joe I’ll give it a shot, I’ve got a couple of different types of goo off I might try as well
99% iso alcohol? I’ve never found anything that 91% won’t strip after 24 hours of soak.
Double post.
Craig Townsend said:
99% iso alcohol? I’ve never found anything that 91% won’t strip after 24 hours of soak.
Yes it was 91% did not try 99 % but only soaked for 3 hours as usually the purple power takes about 2, I’ll try again, thanks, Bill
Soak it for 24 hours. It won’t make the plastic brittle if you soak it longer.
Worse case, try brake fluid. It will strip, but makes the plastic brittle.
Craig Townsend said:
Soak it for 24 hours. It won’t make the plastic brittle if you soak it longer.
Worse case, try brake fluid. It will strip, but makes the plastic brittle.
funny you mention brake fluid, didn’t even think about that even though I stripped my entire 59 corvette with it, Thanks for the reminder
Bill Barnwell said:
I purchased Bachmann Lil big hauler ore cars which have colorful graphics on them and I’m trying to strip them off so I can paint the cars, so far I have tried purple power my all time go to stripper, alcohol, 409, green machine, and decal set to no avail, the alcohol has turned the graphics white or gray color but have not loosen them, they look like a cross between a decal and a sticker. any other ideas out there?
It’s actually paint, applied with a rubber block. And very tough paint as you discovered. I usually take it off with wet emery cloth/sandpaper and respray the whole car.
Pete Thornton said:
Bill Barnwell said:
I purchased Bachmann Lil big hauler ore cars which have colorful graphics on them and I’m trying to strip them off so I can paint the cars, so far I have tried purple power my all time go to stripper, alcohol, 409, green machine, and decal set to no avail, the alcohol has turned the graphics white or gray color but have not loosen them, they look like a cross between a decal and a sticker. any other ideas out there?
It’s actually paint, applied with a rubber block. And very tough paint as you discovered. I usually take it off with wet emery cloth/sandpaper and respray the whole car.
Pete planning on repainting just didn’t want to loose the small rivet detail, right now I’m trying brake fluid, let you know
Stripping update
well placed the car in a small amount, enough to cover 1 side of car, of brake fluid it took the name portion of with in 10 minutes and was deleting the color from the graphics at that time let it sit for about 1/2 another 1/2 hr and all the color for the graphic was gone but left a white coating where the graphics was located so I let it sit longer. after about a hr later I rechecked it and good thing it was working on the white coating but also starting to affect the plastic of the car so I took it out, side is not totally smooth but doesn’t need to be as it is an ore car, i’ll try something else after I do the other side of the car
I used to use brake fluid on 1:48 and 1:72 aircraft models that I “inherited”. It would strip the paint, but only some models got brittle. One model, a Cessna 337, became nice and flexible, like the brake fluid restored some kind of plasticity to the plastic. So it must depend on the type of plastic, if it gets brittle or not.
Did you try 91% for 24 hours? Again, that seems to work the best, and you don’t have to worry about making the plastic brittle. Brake fluid is always my last resort.
all I have ever read about on facebook is same as Craig said 91% acohol , leave it at least 12 to 24 hours with no harm to the plastic. nee to let it do the work, submerge it in the 91% and leave it
Yep, the fact that the lettering started to grey was a sign that it was working. Black and grey take the longest to strip. But, never had anything that 24-48 hours if soak wouldn’t remove. Heck, even the HO guys swear by 91% for the tough Kato paint.
I’m with Craig and Pete. I use 91% alcohol. I’ve stripped 2 Aristo Coaches and a Combine, 3 LGB Flats, 2 Bachmann hoppers, and a USAT boxcar in the last week. I buy 6 320z bottles, fill a waste bucket and do a bunch of cars within a couple of weeks as it will evaporate and become weaker by the day.
being as I have 3 more cars to do I’ll try the alcohol again for longer, thanks everyone for the input, Bill
Dang it. I saw the title and got excited. Open it up and you all are talking about paint. . .Bummer.
I use 95% ethyl alcohol:
I put the car body in the alcohol, and I put the alcohol in my body too as a backup plan.
If the paint does not come off, I use more… eventually either the paint comes off or I don’t care anyway, success either way.
Greg
