Paint removal help...

5 years or so I bought an SD40-2 Snoot from Kato, undecorated. I painted it to fit my needs. Now my needs have changed & I would like to remove the paint to repaint it into an ICG. What should I use to remove the paint as to noy hurt the plastic shell? I tried to find a replacement shell but Kato no longer has it in production & told me they do not plan on runing it in the future. I need some tips to remove the paint & decals.

 

You'll hear as many different ways as there are people doing it..........some good, some not so good.
I used to build a lot of models cars, and paint removal was always an issue when buying and re-building junkers.

I tried brake fluid ( MESSY & only partially effective )
I tried 90% alcohol ( effective, but FLAMMABLE )
I tried Pine-sol ( fumes gave me a headache, and NOT that effective )

I use a product called "SUPER CLEAN"............comes in a "people eater purple" jug at the auto parts store. It is for cleaning grease, etc. from parts. It is bio-degradable, WILL NOT HARM PLASTIC ( you can leave your part in it for days, but you won't need to)
It is re-usable quite a few times, just strain through a coffee filter to remove paint residue.
USE GLOVES, as it will leach the skin oil from your hands, other than that, harmless & NOT flammable.
When you have used it to the extent of it's usefulness, pour it down your drain......it eats grease.
It is killer effective on almost all paints in 24 hours, although lacquer may take awhile.

Hope that helps...................JJ

 

Ditto..Super Clean,or any "purple" cleaner is really the ONLY thing that will remove paints like Floquil or Scalecoat besides brake fluid,which can damage plastic.Wear gloves,though,bad for skin..

 

Excellent! Here's their website:

SuperClean

I'm going to give this stuff a shot and see what it can do. I've got a few model buildings that I built when I was a kid that could seriously benefit from a complete stripping before repaint/weathering.
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Learn from my blunders and disasters........

I have learned via experience that Japanese produced plastic is a little different than other types we are more accustomed to. It seems to react, melt, dissolve, wear down more easily under normal chemical circumstances than you would expect.

Regular hobby shop paint removers may dissolve the plastic and detail engraving if you use it on your stuff, particularly the early Kato models which had the truly delicate plastic. I almost ruined a Kato GP38 trying to remove paint with Unpaint, but as I saw the effect, I ran it to the kitchen and washed it off, resulting in minimal damage.

This effect was discussed in the old Atlas forum boards, Railwire, and early Trainboard sporadically over the years, with the common fact that Japanese plastic is more delicate but can produce sharper details.

So, I learned, and try not to paint any Kato diesel, and hunt for shells to replace in the event I wish to do so.

What I do now, is probably not the best alternative, but I use a model car polishing kit with xf sandpaper and run it lightly over the paint and decals. Then I take Duplicolor sandable primer and paint it inside and out to prevent any chemicals contained in paint to attack the plastic. Duplicolor is a lacquer sealer primer and does not attack plastic and is available at most auto parts stores.

Then I paint over the Duplicolor and so far have had satisfactory results. Nothing bleeds through Duplicolor sealer. I just finished refinishing a ConCor Kato J3a Hudson undecorated, and first order of business was to primer it as outlined above. It came out great.

Great news is that my ex-wife found my Nikon digital camera software start up disks and operating manual I loaned her years back and she supposedly lost. Since then, my computer was cleaned out which removed my installed camera software leaving me unable to post, store, print, save and send any photos. I have a website now to accept my images and hopefully very soon will be able to post photos of my work. It will be my very first time I ever posted on a railroad site myself.

Ken "FloridaBoy' Willaman

 

Overseas availability?

This stuff sounds like it should be available in Europe etc as well. Any ideas under which name(s)? I tried under superclean, but nothing outside North America.

 

The ONLY thing?

I regularly use 90% alcohol to remove factory paint and decals from locomotive shells. Fill an appropriate-sized container (I use aluminum loaf pans from the grocery store - cheap and disposable). Fill it with the 90% alcohol, enough to immerse the shell. Let it sit for an hour or two, when you can begin to see the paint lift off - then brush it off with plenty of water (a garden hose works good).
Does not damage the plastic.

 

Thank you for this tip. Looks like I can buy this at my local Walmart. Do I submerse the shell in the salotion over nite then? & do I rinse with water after words? & will this remove the dacals I added as well?

 

That's what I use. It works well for me but may not be the best. I have used Easy Lift Off; I think the 90 percent alcohol works just as well.

 

Perhaps you should go back and read my post..I specifically said model paints like Floquil or or Scalecoat,which is most likely what he's trying to remove.I routinely use 93% alcohol for factory water based paint removal,but alcohol will do little more to solvent based paint than remove the gloss..

 

Swissboy,ANY of the "purple" cleaners,Super Clean,Purple Power,Purple Stuff,ETC,will get the job done.Nearly every one I've seen in any auto parts store,ETC,said "purple" in the name.Once again,though,I really only use it on solvent based repainted/painted shells,for most factory painted stuff,the FIRST thing to try is 90% or higher strength Isopropyl alcohol.
By the way,most model paint strippers are based on lye,[Super Clean has lye in it..]brake fluid,[alcohol based] or denatured alcohol,[could KILL plastic..]There's simply no reason to use them over Purple cleaner or alcohol,they're the same thing,and WAAAAY more expensive.And Pine Sol has mineral spirits in it,[paint thinner..] it doesn't work any better than purple cleaners,it will TOTALLY destroy some types of shells and not touch the paint,and the stink is there FOREVER.I've painted thousands of locomotives,I've tried ALL the model paint strippers,I never bought more than one bottle because Purple Stuff or 90%+ alcohol will strip anything that can be stripped.THe only other thing I may use on something big like say,a structure,is Easy Off Oven Cleaner,and that also has lye in it..

 

You can soak a shell anywhere from overnight, to "days"......and in my experience, it will not damage plastic. Most require just an overnight "bath".
After paint is removed to your satisfaction, rinse well with warm water, then scrub with toothbrush & "Mr. Clean"............again rinsing well.......you're done.

This stuff will blow off decals & chromed plastic in NO time flat!

 

Brake fluid will remove the paint and not hurt the plastic.

 

I have just finished stripping old Humbrol enamel off an Ibertren ALCO shell. The alcohol solution worked eventually as took a while to 'soften' the old enamel before it began sliding off. Some of the side grills are a little problematic however but am persisting and slowly winning.

 

Ahhh...good point. I did gloss over that :tb-ooh:

 

I think you will find that brake fluid will dissolve some plastics.