I have a Santa Fe passenger car and I want to remove the lettering from the nameplate on the side under the windows. Tried 99% alcohol. Any ideas?
Good question Jerry, I want to strip my Geep 9 down as well so this will be good info. Have you tried Testor’s ELO? I have some maybe I will see how it works for you. There is also the sketchy ways of doing it, oven cleaner and brake fluid. Break fluid used to work great for me. Then I did it to an old HO loco and the plastic became so brittle it is borderline useless. So I will forever be leery of it unless I had a good practice piece to work with which I will have but would my loco and your car be the same?
I have used a product call ‘OOPS’ to remove the lettering from a Bachamnn ‘Gramps’ tank car. I left a bit of a polish to the area where the stenciled lettering was applied, but I believe it will cover fine with the new decals. I have also heard folks talk about ‘Goo Gone’ but do not have experience with it.
Bob C.
Castrol Super Clean will remove the lettering
The lettering could be printed with ink, so you might need a solvent. Others are painted and you’ll need a thinner…
Now that’s plausible! My job is done here…
Aw Santa, I’m being good!
Happy Spirits to all.
John
I removed the lettering from an Aristo hopper car with a rag lightly, and I mean lightly, dampened with lacquer thinner. I worked quick on each letter and it did shine up the base coat of paint, but it did not remove it enough to notice. There was a slight tinge of the base colour on the rag, but not enough to affect the model.
I have removed lettering on the USA passenger cars with a q-tip and nail polish remover. Be careful and fast.
I use 91% rubbing alcohol to strip everything. Takes a day or two but doesn’t get the plastic all brittle. I’ve heard of people using microsol decal softern to remove lettering but never have tried it myself.
Bob “IA3R#7” Cope said:
I have also heard folks talk about ‘Goo Gone’ but do not have experience with it.
I can vouch for this stuff. We use it at work sometimes to remove printed labels applied to metal chassis that are incorrect or misplaced. It’s very effective in removing the entire paper label, adhesive, print, and silkscreen off with ease.
I have successfully used “Bon Ami” Cleanser. Don’t rub too hard. It does not have harsh abrasives. Rinse well. If the placard is not removable, you will probably use Q-tips.
Thanks. I’ve tried most of those and they don’t work. It’s a metal passenger car, so I’ll just use metal duct tape over the nameplate, then put the lettering on it.
How about acetone? I have used it on metal, works good. You can get straight acetone at a home supply store.
I missed the part about it being a metal passenger car. Tired eyes or something. Don’t they anodize the aluminum? That makes whatever is on there darn near impossible to remove. Covering it, or painting over it, may be your best alternative.
Yeah a metal car would be a different beast. What is the paint and lettering?
I’ve used brake fluid, but there’s a fine line between paint layers. You have to kind of sneak up on it. Wait too long and the base coat disappears.
Another old hand way if the name pad is aluminum and not plastic would be either jewelers rouge or a dry SOS or Brillo pad. The soap acts as a lubricant. Use light circular motions(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Acetone wiped it right off in seconds. Being on metal there were no worries about underneath.
Good Jerry. Glad you found a solution.
Jerry, I keep a number of solvents, and pretty much try them in order from mild to wild when removing paint, adhesives, etc.
At the low end, lift-off is great, milder than goo-gone, never damages plastic…
Also, I keep cans of kerosene and mineral spirits.
Tougher stuff calls for paint thinner, then things like spray brake cleaner, lacquer thinner and MEK (acetone and alcohol work on some things and not at all on others, I have 99% alcohol)
If MEK does not get it, it’s time for physical abrasion.
Greg