I’ve got an old model that I haven’t finished yet; I had been painting it by hand, as I didn’t have an airbrush yet, and would like to return to it. Now, the old paint has been on there for over two years, and I want to strip the old, uneven paint job and start over. I tried using mineral spirits, as that is what I use to thin enamel paints, but have had little luck with that. I have also tried sanding like crazy, which has worked, but of course takes a lot of time and wears away both my sanding sticks/pads and some of the panel lines. I’m thinking about trying to use lacquer thinner, but I’m not sure whether or not that will work. Can anyone help me out some?
lacquer thinner will melt the plastic. recomendations around here are Castrol Super Clean, brake fluid or oven cleaner. Apply to the paint, or let the model soak in the liquids for a while, then use an old toothbrush. Repeat as necessary.
Well, I’m sure I’ve got some oven cleaner somewhere; that sounds like the easiest and cheapest way to go, so I’ll try it!
If it is an aerosol, take it outside. if it is the thick kind that you can paint on, you still want good ventilation. Sometimes it doesn’t work. good luck.
given the time it will take, you’d almost be better off getting a new kit?
Leather Luster is a brand of boot polish for everything from boots to gun holsters, with it though you must use the “stripper” to clean the oils off of the boots and such. At $3.00 per can of stripper, I can assure you that it will do the trick to remove old paint from a model
Oven cleaner works great and doesn’t take long at all. The key is to seal it on a large ziplock bag or plastic container after you spray it. This keeps the oven cleaner from drying and evaporating away. Let it sit overnight and it will eat the paint away. There should be minimal clean-up with a toothbrush required. It will remove most of the paint just by sitting there. Your model will be stripped to the plastic and it will not eat away the glue either.
For acrylic paint use regular 409 cleaner. Strips the paint right off without damaging the plastic.
I can vouch for the oven cleaner, took of the enamel and acrilics of a piece I was not happy with.
I’ll go with the Brake fluid I’ve used it a couple of times with no probs.
Scott
OK guys, how do you strip an aircraft… wouldnt the afore mentioned methods mess up the cockpit???
Yeah, what’s the best way to remove unwanted paint from clear plastic?
I’ve soaked clear pieces in 409 orange cleaner and it came off after an overnight soak. (I had sprayed it with lacquer so it should go through anything with enough time) it hazed the clear plastic but future took care of that… I wouldn’t do it unless ABSOLUTELY necessary as I would hate to lose a canopy or something when painting over the old color would have been easier.
As far as cockpits… I just stripped a Zero I was doing in Castrol Super Clean and was careful not to spray it in the cockpit area and beyond a few touch ups it looks like it will be fine! I used a toothbrush to bring the castrol up to the sides of the fuselage near the cockpit so I didnt have to spray too close to it.
I’m not sure what this would do to the plastic, as I’ve never tried it myself, but I know Off Bug Repelent would problably remove the paint. I’ve taken the art off 3 DVDs accidently when I wasn’t paying attention to where i was spraying it.
As I said, I would suggest testing to see what it would do to the plastic before you commit a model to it.
Well I used Easy Off oven cleaner on several models and I’m happy. Overnight in a container.
The canopies get a little mottled but some buffing with Turtle Wax finish restorer does the trick, then a dip in Future.
Now if there is a dull coat or gloss coat, you may have to break the seal with alcohol.
I’'ll have to try that Castrol item, where do you get it??
matt
Easy Off can ruine some putty work, and even soften epoxy if i remember correctly.
Oh and also, its great for removing paint, but also skin, so watch out! The first time i used this oven cleaner, i got some on my fingers. It fealt viscous, but i couldn’t rinse it off, so i had to scratch it off along with some of my skin. So yes, this one actually IS a corossive one, unlike all these other cleaning fluids with a corrosive warning label on them.
I use both Castrol Super Clean and Simple Green the cleaner works really good on acrylics and will not hurt plastic or putty work.
Cheers,
Thom
My best friend and i use this industrial cleaner/degreaser you can get at Advance Auto, called Purple Power. You can strip ANYTHING with it, from paint to clear-coat (stripped 8 layers in a week) it’ll take paint off of all plastic and windows, and what is left can usually be sanded to smooth in a few seconds. it runs about 20.00 for a 5-gal. jug, and that’ll last you just about your whole life. but for best results, use auto primer (pref. spray can) as a base to protect the body. oh, and trust me on this: USE GLOVES WHEN USING THIS PRODUCT, ITS AN ACID!!!