Stripping lacquer paint

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

I’ve botched the body of my build and would like to strip all the paint and start over. It’s Tamiya TS lacquer spray and soaking in alcohol hasn’t done anything. The last post I saw on this is from 20 years ago and brake fluid seemed to be the leading suggestion. I was wondering if there were any other recommended techniques for stripping the paint. Thanks!

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2

I had always heard that 90% Isopropyl alchol does the job

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3

That might have been the problem - I used 70% instead of 90%. I’ll try again with the 90. Thanks!

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4

Haven’t tried it,just what I’ve heard,hope it helps

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5

If the alcohol still doesn’t work, oven cleaner works great. Place the model on a zip-loc bag, spray a healthy amount of the oven cleaner on it and seal it up. Let is sit over night and you should be good. You may need to scrub with a toothbrush any tight areas that hold paint, but it usually works great.

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6

I’ve previously used Dettol with great success, but it doesn’t agree with resin or putty. Not recommended if you’ve used anything except sprue goo to fill gaps

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7

I have had great luck using a product called Super Clean. It’s a car part degreaser (purple liquid) in a purple one gallon jug available in the auto parts dept. at Walmart. I cover (submerge) the item(s) in the cleaner and soak it overnight (freshly painted parts strip off faster). Brushing the painted parts with an old toothbrush will clean the items nicely most of the time.

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8

Great tip! Soaking parts in Super Clean overnight and brushing with a toothbrush makes cleaning easy and effective.

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9

I use SuperClean as well. I use baths of different sizes, glass jars, or old glass baking dishes, depending on the piece. I have never had any paint, on metal, resin, or styrene, that it didn’t remove. Sometimes you can see the paint dissolve into the solution, sometimes it takes a longer soak and some gentle scrubbing with an old toothbrush, but eventually the old paint is gone.
And it’s a bargain for the price and volume. I buy it by the gallon at Walmart.

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