Stripping?
- Thread starter jbaakko
- Start date
jbaakko said:
If you mean stripping paint off the shells, I've used Scale Coat Rinse Away, but it isn't reccomended for some plastics and it is expensive. One of my fellow model railroad club members turned me on to Pine Sol. It works great and doesn't hurt most shells. I did find that if I left a shell soaking in it too long (overnight), it started to soften the plastic, but when I took it out and let it sit it hardened right back up. I bought some 1 gallon cans of house paint to paint a room in my house and found that the cans were made of plastic. When I had used up the paint, I rinsed out the cans and now use them for paint stripping. I fill them with Pine Sol and submerge the model I want to strip for about 15-20 minutes, then I rinse and scrub with an old tooth brush. If all of the paint didn't come off, I repeat. I've never seen it hurt any plastic when I removed the shell within the 15 to 20 minute time frame.
Sounds like a plan, I'll try that. I used up a dirty bottle of Testors thinner, it worked fast & well, and hasn't hurt the plastic.
Its sitting in simple green right now, cause I heard that works, but its not going well.
Its sitting in simple green right now, cause I heard that works, but its not going well.
Try Pine-Sol. At $4 a bottle, I've found it works great. I even use it to strip the chrome plating off of plastic parts. Hope that helps.
Thats some good info right there! I had no idea that Pine Sol would strip paint. :thumb: I've never stripped a shell but I have spent hours on one with 3000 -5000 grit sand paper. 
Pine sol is definetly the way to go. I've used it on many projects and it leaves your house smelling piney fresh! (don't use the other scented versions, they don't seem to work as well)
Wulfmann said:
Brakefluid works, but it tends to dry out the plastic more than Pine Sol. Also the solvent in brake fluid that does the work is denatured alcohol, which can be picked up in the paint dept of any home improvement store. I think the Pine Sol leaves the plastic in better shape, and I think it is cheaper than brake fluid or denatured alcohol.
Again, it has been some time but it seems that the brake fluid was best suited to Atlas plastic and it dried out the Athearn stuff too much but that long ago I can be mistaken.
I am even surprised I remember any aspect.
I also remember that when drying painted wooden cabooses in the oven a very low setting is required. If not, and I speak from experience, it will catch on fire! sign1
Wulfmann
I am even surprised I remember any aspect.
I also remember that when drying painted wooden cabooses in the oven a very low setting is required. If not, and I speak from experience, it will catch on fire! sign1
Wulfmann
I used brake fluid to strip the paint from the shell of an older Atlas S-4, but it destroyed the plastic. (Did a good job of removing the paint, though! :thumb: ) I usually use methyl hydrate or E-Z-Lift-Off, from Polly Scale. The Pine Sol sounds like a good alternative.
Wayne
Wayne
I ruined an AHM passenger car shell with brake fluid, for years my usual stripper fluid. Someone mentioned Pine-Sol on The Gauge here about three years ago and, by golly it worked, so I've used it ever since. As Glen said, use the original formula, not any of the scented versions.
Glen Haasdyk said:
If you don't use rubber gloves the Pine Sol will clean your hands as well as the shell.
The pine-sol works great. I tested a scrap peice of plastic with different things before the real work, and a 1oz bottle of Thinner, from HoK (the current Wal*mart paints) stripped it almost immediately BUT it left the issue of cleaning up the thinner! It did NO damage to the part, its still smooth. But the Pine-sol is cheeper!
One issue, is layered paint. I have 3 shells right now, the Bachmann shell is slow, the paint is sticking to the groves. The Athearn shells were primed, painted, gloss coated, decaled & dullcoted, it has ripped the clear coats off and the decals, but the primer/paint is slowly chipping away.
One issue, is layered paint. I have 3 shells right now, the Bachmann shell is slow, the paint is sticking to the groves. The Athearn shells were primed, painted, gloss coated, decaled & dullcoted, it has ripped the clear coats off and the decals, but the primer/paint is slowly chipping away.