I read this months article about masking, but when it came down to it, I was just to lazy to cut those small pieces of masking tape, so I tried to paint it by hand. Having seen the result [xx(], I would like to start over. What’s the best to remove enamel paint from a canopy? Is it safe to use Easy Off, or should I use thinner and some q-tips[?] By the way, I did Future the canopy and let it dry for several days before I tried to paint it. Thanks in advance for your help.
maybe windex. Windex will strip the future so its worth a try
DON’T use strong thinner! It will fog the plastic. Been there, done that. I don’t know what Easy Off would do. Other choices might be brake fluid or Castrol Super Clean but I would highly recommend trying it on something you don’t want first.
If the enamel adhered to the Future you might be able to get it off with Windex or Simple Green or something like that.
An alternative would be to just make a new one. Get a piece of clear Thermoform from Squadron (www.squadron.com) and use the existing canopy for a mold a make a new one. Put a pencil in a vise, put a big wad of clay or silly putty or something like that on the top end and then put your old canopy over it. Heat the Thermoform with a candle until it starts to droop, then pull it down over the old canopy and it will mold to it. Pop the old canopy out and trim the new one up.
Soak it in any ammonia based cleaner and the paint should come off with the Future. You may have to polish it a bit before you re-Future, but no permanent damage should have occured. Heed MusicCity’s caution on using paint thinner as it will fog even with the Future.
I let it soak for a couple of hours in a small bottle of windex, and everything wiped off clean. Thanks for the help.
Whenever I’ve gotten paint on where I don’t want it on the canopy, I’ve used a pointed toothpick to scrape it off…it’s enough to get the paint off, but doesn’t scratch the clear plastic…
removing paint from canopy doesnt take any kind of solvents at all just take a piece of sprue cut it so it has a sharp straight edge at on end and use it to chip any excess paint you dont want . it works perfect!