Spring of '08 I saw some Model Power Amtrak heavyweight coaches at $2/each. I bought several. I soaked one in 91 percent alcohol to remove the paint. I was surprised to see: 1) The silver came right off, but the blue and red stripes did not 2) The car had been repainted. It started as a "Pullman" named Theodore Roosevelt. 3) The gold lettering did not come off in the alcohol. I was quite surprised to see that it had been repainted. I was equally surprised at the alcohol's failure to remove all the paint. This surprise was followed by a 14-month journey to the Republic of Iraq and back. Last week I decided to put this same heavyweight coach shell in Chameleon paint remover for a few hours. Nothing. What the heck, over night. Nothing. Hmm, I am a scientist. How about another day, or two, or seven... Results after one week (checked daily): 1) No deterioration of the plastic. 2) Every remaining trace of Amtrak silver was gone. 3) Not one bit of the red, blue, or gold paint had changed at all! I have 10 of these cars. How am I going to build a cheap fleet of heavyweight coaches if I can't get the old paint off? What do I try next? tia, Terry
When submerged in either one of these solutions did you try using a Toothbrush on them periodically during the process? If not I would try to add that step and see if things work better. As far as additional chemicals I have no suggestions.
Your best bet is probably an even coat of primer gray over the red, blue and gold, followed by your finish colors.
This is what I had to do. I have some of the same cars and the stripes faded but there still there. A light coat of primer and your good.
Like said, if ya can't go around, go over it.. lol.. Primer, then paint.. Also, like I have mentioned several times, and also again in a recent thread concerning stripper. Ya might try what I use. It does very well, with so far, no ill effects on the plastic. NON-Acetone fingernail polish remover. I have tried two cheap store brands so far with good results. Top Care : Walmart brand (I am a walmart hater, and do not buy from there anything unless there are no other options..) Body Sense: I think my wife got that at the dollar store. They work very well. I also use a toothbrush to help get paint out of the details.
Pay her more? j/k, I know it works wonders on 1:24 model cars with decades old paint, try Wesley's Bleach White. We used to use it to take the protective blue paint off RLW on tire sidewalls back when my family had its own business. I totally stripped down a vintage MPC 67' Dodge Charger with it in a day and a half. You can sually find it in automotive stores/section of a dept. store.
Terry,you could send them to me,and I'll throw them in my Ultrasonic cleaner..Just cover the shipping...
terry Try a small amount of semtex it removes all traces of everything !!! j/k... i have the same problem with kato's in CSX paint. 91% wont even budge the stuff:thumbs_down: Try pine-sol i had to soaked a csx c44-9w for two weeks and the paint came off..
A tip I picked up that I have successfully used on MP heavyweights and a bunch of other stuff that I have repainted is to strip the paint using undiluted Pine Sol. Yup the cleaner. Just immerse the shell in Pine Sol for a couple of hours and then scrub with an old, soft, toothbrush. /chris
Semtex? Hmmm, that would be a blast! (Don't get me started, I've gotta million of 'em!) I had to run to the drugstore a bit ago to get something for my wife. While I was there I picked up some 91 percent alcohol and some acetone-free nail polish remover. I knew already that the alcohol wouldn't work on the red, blue, or gold, so I just tried the acetone-free nail polish remover. Yikes! Within seconds I had thick silver goo smeared on the inside of the baggie I was using as a container. The red and blue disappeared. The silver swelled up and was thick/gooey. I now have the shell in alcohol to see if it will remove the silver. This might be one for the semtex - have any for sale? Lou - I might have to take you up on the offer! Thanks. Terry
If the nail polish remover does that to whatever the silver is, you might have to do what I do to "lift" ink off the kato cars. It is a thick black goo when doing this too. You might need to try something a little more subtle then soaking it with that color. What do if the ink turns to that, is "dab" on the cleaner, let it swell and goo up, then take a Q-Tip and start at the end of the ink, and rotate the q-tip as I move along the ink and it kind of "lifts" the goo up and onto the q-tip. Of course, you have to clean, or change the q-tip as it comes around so it doesn't lay the goo back on the plastic. Tidious I know, but with some of the gooey thick inks or paints, it might be nessisary. I did it a letter at a time on over 25 kato superchief cars, and it worked awesome, and you couldn't tell any lettering was ever on them..
