When I was new to modelwerking I was not skilled at painting or weathering. Rather than going and building new I was thinking about refurbishing. There are layers of acrylic based paints and such and layers of oil based paint. Using good old-fashioned water has failed to remove the acrylics. Before I do anything more I was hoping for some ideas.
if it is acrylics, 409 with the orange peel in it works great, if it is enamels or even lacquer Simple Green or Castrol Super Clean work… if you use one of the last two make sure you wear gloves as they are fairly caustic!!! Just put them in a baggie and spray it in so it covers most of the model, ziplock close and let it soak overnight… it might take a toothbrush to get off the hard to clean spots…
Good luck!!!
It won’t melt the plastic will it? I used pine-sol once and the plastic became deformed and soft.
Windex or any ammonia-based cleaner should remove most acrylics (I’ve only found one exception). They will not harm the plastic in the amount of time it takes to remove the paint (15 minutes to 1/2 hour, depending on number of coats).
What about alcohol or nail polish remover?
Plain old denatured alcohol (here in Aus, aka. supermarket grade methylated spirits) works fine on Tamiya acrylics. Zero adverse effects on the underlying plastic. Nail polish remover will work too, but I suspect it may be too aggressive for the base styrene.
I’m with Phil_H
After a failed weathering exercise, I stripped my Gunze acrylic two nights ago using plain old metho. Applied it with a rag, let sit for 10 secs and then wiped it off.
Ready to go again.
Hope it works for you.
any of the above mentioned except for nail polish remover would work. The acetone in the remover might be a little hot for the plastic, especially if it sat on the plane too long… I’ve used most of the above with good results… since your paint has had awhile to cure it may take awhile so the soaking technique might be in order…
Plain old 409 takes off acrylics. Spray once, let it sit for a minute. The force of the second spray is enough to take the paint off after that.
I use castrol super clean and get great results.I bought a gallon jug of it at Wally World and a cheap plastic container big enough to fit most model bodies in.I Let them saok overnite then use a toothbrush under warm water to get whats left.It also strips chrome in a matter of minutes.
I’m kinda liking the time factor on that 409. I assume there is a need for a rinse with water fairly soon afterward.
yeah, once you take it out of the ziplock and scrub any stubborn parts out with a toothbrush just rinse it under running water. Warning: if you use castrol super clean or simple green to clean it wear gloves… it has a bite to it. (which is why they work faster than 409 and will clean even (most) lacquer off)