QCS Paint Remover-A Story

[Raoul Ross]

I was sold when somebody posted about this product here so I bought some to try. I wanted to remove the too thin Model Master paint and thought this would be a good time to give it a try.

Poured it into a container and dropped the parts in. After 10 minutes it was already starting to crack:

I didn't have a funnel to pour it back into the container so I quickly went to the store and bought a few and came back. So after 30 minutes I pushed the paint around with a small screwdriver:

 

I took my container over to my kitchen sink to do a wash and found my container had leaked a bit. It takes *all* paint off!

Running the part under running water was enough to remove it completely, no scrubbing needed!

I did scrub some with a tooth brush and warm soapy water but found this afterward. There is a visible line where I had only submersed part of the cab into the QCS, as I didn't know how it would react to the putty I'd put on the bottom of the doors, even after scrubbing with warm soapy water.

Not sure how this will affect the primer, maybe I'll dunk the whole thing in and re-scrub with warm soapy water again and see what happens.

QCS seems to be a highly efficient surfactant, it felt really slippery to my fingers, kinda like liquid drain cleaner. (yea, should'a worn gloves)

Anyway, I was highly impressed with it's efficiency.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Raoul Ross

[Miatatom]

A few questions. How much was in the container, what was the cost, what types of paint does it remove and where did you get it? PS the ultimate test is Tamiya lacquer primer.

[peteski]

I also tried this miracle plastic-safe pain stripper.  While it strips paint it also affects polystyrene. It seems to slightly swell it and makes the surface really soft.  The surface was so soft that if I poked at it with a fingernail, it would leave an impression, and even a stiff brush left bristle marks. Fortunately I only tried 2 items, but I thought the items were ruined.  Ever after rinse (with dish washing detergent), the softened items had strong smell of the stripping solution.  I figured that I had nothing to lose, and I placed them on my furnace to see if they will "dry".  The surface of my furnace is just warm (not hot).  After few days the surfaces of the stripped pieces did become hard again, so I managed to save them. But I will never use that stripper on my plastic models again.

Funny thing is that the company that makes the stripper emailed stating that they have heard of some modelers having problems stripping plastic models and they also asked me to fill out a survey.  I did that, telling them of my experience, but never heard anything back from them.

I'm curious about what recycling number your damaged plastic container had?   I used a container made from polypropylene (recycling symbol #5) and it was unaffected by the stripping solution. Actually the stripping solution is still in that container (for about 5 or 6 months now) and it is unaffected.

[yh70]

11 minutes ago, peteski said:

I also tried this miracle plastic-safe pain stripper.  While it strips paint it also affects polystyrene. It seems to slightly swell it and makes the surface really soft.  The surface was so soft that if I poked at it with a fingernail, it would leave an impression, and even a stiff brush left bristle marks. Fortunately I only tried 2 items, but I thought the items were ruined.  Ever after rinse (with dish washing detergent), the softened items had strong smell of the stripping solution.  I figured that I had nothing to lose, and I placed them on my furnace to see if they will "dry".  The surface of my furnace is just warm (not hot).  After few days the surfaces of the stripped pieces did become hard again, so I managed to save them. But I will never use that stripper on my plastic models again.

Funny thing is that the company that makes the stripper emailed stating that they have heard of some modelers having problems stripping plastic models and they also asked me to fill out a survey.  I did that, telling them of my experience, but never heard anything back from them.

I'm curious about what recycling number your damaged plastic container had?   I used a container made from polypropylene (recycling symbol #5) and it was unaffected by the stripping solution. Actually the stripping solution is still in that container (for about 5 or 6 months now) and it is unaffected.

thanks Peter. i know now to never buy any.. ill stick with my Easy Off Oven Cleaner & 99% Isopropyl Alcohol..

[Raoul Ross]

I just got done sanding the body and there are no ill effects that I can tell. It sanded fine just as if it was new out of the box.

The container I used was the bottom of a cheap jug that had distilled water in it. I had dropped one of them and that may have been the one I used.

P.S. On the label it says Non-Caustic. Plus I used it without gloves and you can see I still have all my skin! ?

Edited March 4, 2023 by Raoul Ross
grammer

[Raoul Ross]

Here was the bottom of the container when I was done. The paint just fell off, literally!

[Raoul Ross]

3 hours ago, Miatatom said:

A few questions. How much was in the container, what was the cost, what types of paint does it remove and where did you get it? PS the ultimate test is Tamiya lacquer primer.

It is pricey. I don't see the Model specific stuff on their site but I think it's all the same.

This is where I got it.

https://www.stripwell.com/store/p6/32oz._Bottles.html#/

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Raoul Ross

[Raoul Ross]

I'll just say one more thing for it, you can reuse it over and over. I used a funnel with a coffee filter in it to pour it back in the jug. You can't say that about any other paint stripper!

Edit: Here's the thread where I saw it first:

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Raoul Ross

[Mike 1017]

15 hours ago, peteski said:

I also tried this miracle plastic-safe pain stripper.  While it strips paint it also affects polystyrene. It seems to slightly swell it and makes the surface really soft.  The surface was so soft that if I poked at it with a fingernail, it would leave an impression, and even a stiff brush left bristle marks. Fortunately I only tried 2 items, but I thought the items were ruined.  Ever after rinse (with dish washing detergent), the softened items had strong smell of the stripping solution.  I figured that I had nothing to lose, and I placed them on my furnace to see if they will "dry".  The surface of my furnace is just warm (not hot).  After few days the surfaces of the stripped pieces did become hard again, so I managed to save them. But I will never use that stripper on my plastic models again.

Funny thing is that the company that makes the stripper emailed stating that they have heard of some modelers having problems stripping plastic models and they also asked me to fill out a survey.  I did that, telling them of my experience, but never heard anything back from them.

I'm curious about what recycling number your damaged plastic container had?   I used a container made from polypropylene (recycling symbol #5) and it was unaffected by the stripping solution. Actually the stripping solution is still in that container (for about 5 or 6 months now) and it is unaffected.

Is it possible you let it soak too long? From the pictures it looks like it is fast acting.

[peteski]

What exactly is too long? There were no instructions or suggestions included.  The gold painted truck bed was in for probably about 15 minutes - I was checking on it every few minutes.  The other one was a very old Revell seat painted probably 50 years ago. On this one the paint was not coming of. I scrubbed it with a brush, then put it back in for another few minutes, and scrubbed again.  When the paint was still not fully coming off but I noticed that the plastic surface was getting soft.  There was another item I tried.  I have a computer printer where some Minwax urethane clear got splattered (small dots).  The printer's case is made from ABS (type of polystyrene also used by some model companies).  Since I could not immerse it in the stripper, I took a piece of facial issue, soaked it in the stripper and placed over the affected area.  I checked about 5 minutes later and while the splatter was not affected, the plastic surface was already "melting".  Like I mention, the manufacturer contacted me mentioning that others had experienced problems and asked my for my input (which I provided).  I will not use this product on any plastic or resin models again.

This product appears to be designed to strip finishes from wood surfaces (furniture).  I suspect that the version for stripping models is the same chemical but  the bottles are relabeled.

[Raoul Ross]

6 hours ago, peteski said:

What exactly is too long? There were no instructions or suggestions included.  The gold painted truck bed was in for probably about 15 minutes - I was checking on it every few minutes.  The other one was a very old Revell seat painted probably 50 years ago. On this one the paint was not coming of. I scrubbed it with a brush, then put it back in for another few minutes, and scrubbed again.  When the paint was still not fully coming off but I noticed that the plastic surface was getting soft.  There was another item I tried.  I have a computer printer where some Minwax urethane clear got splattered (small dots).  The printer's case is made from ABS (type of polystyrene also used by some model companies).  Since I could not immerse it in the stripper, I took a piece of facial issue, soaked it in the stripper and placed over the affected area.  I checked about 5 minutes later and while the splatter was not affected, the plastic surface was already "melting".  Like I mention, the manufacturer contacted me mentioning that others had experienced problems and asked my for my input (which I provided).  I will not use this product on any plastic or resin models again.

This product appears to be designed to strip finishes from wood surfaces (furniture).  I suspect that the version for stripping models is the same chemical but  the bottles are relabeled.

And this happened with the same Stripwell QCS product as shown in the the first pic I posted?

[Raoul Ross]

Just received this reply from Debbie at Stripwell. I had asked if there was a difference between their furniture stripping product and their Model specific product and the fact that I didn't see the Model specific product listed on their website.

"Hi Raoul!

Thank you for being a QCS Model Safe customer! We still sell QCS under the Model Safe label and are in the process of finalizing a new sales channel for that product.  QCS Vintage Finish Remover and QCS Model safe are the same product, just labeled for the specific purpose and with different directions.

Thank you!

Debbie

Stripwell Customer Service"

[peteski]

12 hours ago, Raoul Ross said:

And this happened with the same Stripwell QCS product as shown in the the first pic I posted?

Yup, here is mine (bought 2 bottles last June).

 

This is the damage it did on the printer case where I tried to remove the splatter of Minwax urethane clear.  The printer's case is bare ABS plastic.  I placed QCS-soaked piece of facial tissue on the surface, and after about 5 minutes I lifted the tissue.  What I found is that the surface of the plastic was almost melted - it was very soft and the natural texture was destroyed. I took the photo right after I lifted the tissue and realized there was a problem.  It eventually dried, but the texture is ruined.

If it works for you guys - that's great.  But I won't use it on any styrene plastics again.

 

[Raoul Ross]

That's really weird as I had none of that. I do notice the liquid appears yellow in your bottles whereas mine is pretty much clear. Maybe a bad batch, I dunno.

EDIT: Well now looking at my first pic it also appears yellow. They never got back to you at all?

Edited March 6, 2023 by Raoul Ross

[peteski]

I bought the stripper in June 2022 and tried it not too long after that.  I did not contact them about the problem, but on November 2022 I received the following email from QCS:

Dear QCS Model Safe Customer,

You are receiving this email because you have purchased our QCS Model Safe product. As we received feedback from our QCS Model Safe customers like yourself, we heard mostly positive reviews, BUT we did hear that some users were having trouble and that our “model safe” product was damaging some models. This was deeply frustrating to some users and understandably so. Because of this, we have decided to temporarily remove our QCS Model Safe product from our website until we gather more information from all of our QCS Model Safe users.

In the meantime, if you love QCS Model Safe and would like to re-order, you can do so by contacting customerservice@stripwell.com. Our customer service team can process that order for you and make sure that you still get what you need.

I just have a word of caution for anyone still using QCS Model Safe or planning to order more in the future - use caution. There are many brands of models and a variety of plastic types. Any models or parts that have been 3D printed should definitely not be stripped using QCS Model Safe. The damage reports we have received appear to all have one thing in common - submersion in QCS Model Safe for an extended period of time…often over-night. We highly recommend that you keep your eyes on your projects to avoid any irreversible negative effects. Most users have found that QCS Model Safe works within the first hour with no ill-effects. This is not a “dunk it and forget it” process. You can immerse your model, but check it frequently.

We appreciate your business and your understanding as we work to create innovative products. Your feedback is so valuable to us as we continuously strive to improve. So, please share anything about your experience using QCS Model Safe whether great, awful or somewhere in the middle. Below is a link to a quick survey. Please take a minute to fill it out. We only know what you tell us.

Thank you so much and happy model building!

Sincerely,
Gary LeClerc
Owner of Stripwell

I did take the survey, and that is where I described (in detail) the problems I experienced.  I have not heard anything from Stripwell after that.  I'm not really looking for any reimbursement from QCS.  I'm simply not going to use the product on plastic or resin anymore.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Given that there is a wide range of variations in plastics used in kits it may be that it isn't compatible with all ,it plastics. It depends how extensive there testing has been.

Given the price of current kits it would be really bad to miss a kit up and even worse with an older rare kit. Think I'd stick with alcohol or easy off I have never heard of issues with them.

[peteski]

For continuity, the original thread about QCS can be found at http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/164852-new-way-to-strip-paint-from-bodies-safe-and-simple/

[Raoul Ross]

So now as I get ready to re-paint the parts I stripped I find that they are a little soft, soft enough that I can put a scratch in them with my thumbnail, granted with some effort. They are not bendy wobbly, they're still plenty stiff but they *are* softer than the other parts that were on the same sprues. However the body was/is fine. The parts that are soft now were on two different sprues and the body of course was by itself. Are some parts molded with different types of styrene?

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by Raoul Ross
grammer

[peteski]

Usually all the kit's parts that are molded in the same color plastic are all laid out on a large tree which can often be divided before boxing it up.  The body is also usually molded from the same plastic (if the body has the same color as the other  parts).  Were all the stripped parts and the body all immersed for the same period of time?

If you smell the stripped parts can you also smell the odor of the stripping solution?  Like I mentioned, I placed them in a warm spot, and after few days the plastic got hard again.  But that is just not what I would expect from a plastic safe stripping solution. 

[Raoul Ross]

10 hours ago, peteski said:

...Were all the stripped parts and the body all immersed for the same period of time?

If you smell the stripped parts can you also smell the odor of the stripping solution?  Like I mentioned, I placed them in a warm spot, and after few days the plastic got hard again.  But that is just not what I would expect from a plastic safe stripping solution. 

All the parts were immersed for the same amount of time, about 30 minutes. The last pic in my first post shows the line diagonally across the door where I only immersed the cab part way, as I'd only painted the inside of the roof. There's no difference in softness between the upper and lower part of the cab and after almost a week I can't really smell the solution, but my smeller isn't what it usta be

Here's a pic of a scratch I was able to inflict using my thumbnail.

[peteski]

That looks similar to my experience Raoul.  Not really sure why some plastic parts were softened more than others.  Maybe it has something to do with what paint was on those parts?  Not sure. Bit if only the inner part of the roof was painted but both top and  inner surfaces are softened, then that theory would not hold.  But the line on the body at where the body was submersed is also proof that the stripper does affect the plastic. Seems that plastic absorbs the stripper.